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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]
 You didn't win here- you bailed and  are  helping to put everyone's lives at risk.  Let's  not debate this any further, as I am just tired of this nonsense.  If you need validation (!), you know where to go for that.  Just express your opinion on one of a few local  FB sites, I'm sure you know which ones, and the same  25 people will pile on to pat you on the back. You are likely their hero/heroine,  sweetheart.  Don't waste your time with me. [/quote]

NP.

Please, please don't try to insult someone using childish phrases like "sweetheart." I am supportive of fully DL right now for most schools, but your cringeworthy and condescending rhetoric fully turns people off to your point. I haven't seen anyone actually engage with the actual science and policy recommendations that are being put forward but rather just snipe at one another.

If anyone is interested in engaging in thoughtful consideration (on their own), a good place to start is AFT's blueprint that was referenced above.

https://www.aft.org/reopen-schools
[/quote]

This is helpful. Putting aside the Facebook faction demanding reopening no matter what, more moderate families like mine off have been turned off by the lack of substantive discussion about what needs to happen in order to reopen schools. If the answer is that the pandemic needs to be over, families will continue to bail because no one knows when that will be.

I was against reopening public schools for a variety of reasons in the late summer/early fall and was outraged by the reckless push to reopen without regard for necessary mitigation measures at both the federal and state levels.  Even so, I was impressed by the County health officer's presentation at the meeting in which the metrics were established. I particularly appreciated her attention to the test turnaround time, a metric that has not been made public at the state level, but which is highly relevant to reopening decisions. That meeting gave me hope. However, when it appeared in subsequent meetings that the metrics might not be acted upon even if they were achieved, I was completely discouraged. Whether or not it is true, we have yet to see evidence that there is any possible plan that would work for teachers and the majority of the board. There need to be fewer students in the buildings in order to promote physical distancing, yet the teachers do not want any plan that involves concurrent teaching, taking a hybrid plan off the table. It is much easier to shoot down every plan presented than to propose an acceptable solution, and the failure of the teachers union representative or any board members to present anything resembling a solution if off putting to say the least. The tone adopted by the union representative also does not help. Teachers hate DL, refuse to do a hybrid plan that involves concurrent teaching, and won't go back into the buildings because it isn't safe. So . . . what can we do?  That's a genuine question.

Perhaps with the new federal administration in place stakeholders will move toward putting specific protections in place to formulate and support reopening plans. Obviously funding is key. What do we need? More testing? School based testing? If we could go from simply stating that it is not safe and move toward specifying what will make it safe enough, that would go a long way. It doesn't mean that schools would definitely reopen this year, but at least there would be hope for families struggling with DL. Everyone is doing their best under unprecedented circumstances. I haven't always been a big Dr. Martirano fan, but his work and the work of his staff during the pandemic have impressed me. I hope that work can come to fruition to allow students, or at least some students, to get in person supports sooner than 2022. [/quote]

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