Anonymous wrote:I'm tired of arguing with the sociopaths that infect every thread. If only they knew how much I want them to be right and me to be an alarmist... IF the numbers are not insane we might send our kids back next week. If they continue their vertical climb, we will not.

It's not just about our kid. I wish you people got that.

Then again, if you did, there might not be this vertical climb.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

What happens to high schoolers and their grades? Now that colleges are test-optional, grades matter more than ever.

Can schools calculate a grade based on what the student has handed in prior to the excused absence, and not penalize them for what they have missed?

I would suggest pulling your child out to homeschool them versus relying on the school to somehow provide adequate instruction for little Larla who can't be exposed to covid19 even vaccinated and boosted.
Why should teachers and the school system provide extra support to your family when school has been deemed safe and appropriate in person for your county? Because you choose to not agree with public health officials? Because teachers want parents to cause drama and pull their children out because of the state of emergency so they can say, "look! see! Parents don't even want to their kids here?"

If you don't need in-person instruction and your child will thrive at home, homeschool them and avoid covid19 until the pandemic ends. Don't add to work of the overworked and stretched thin teaching staff to somehow keep your child up to speed or be added to the already long list of legitimately quarantined students.

There are some people who are pulling their children out, not because they are concerned that the children are at risk, but that the children are putting other family members at risk. I know one parent who has a 2nd grader and also has 4 yo twins who have severe lung issues and have been in and out of the hospital with RSV multiple times. There is no vaccination for RSV and the twins are too young to be vaccinated for Covid-19. The parents checked and the pediatrician and pulmonologist have said that all of the local hospitals that these doctors have admission privileges to are full and not accepting patients except ER patients and also both hospitals ICU's are full. They said that essentially the family would have to rely on 911 and being taken to whatever hospital had available space and that the family would have to rely on the pulmonologists on staff there.

The concern here is that the older sibling could easily be exposed and be a carrier and bring Covid back and infect the two younger siblings who are both extremely high risk. Their doctors have recommended that the family do whatever they can to reduce transmission risk, so the parents are trying to keep the 2nd grader at home, but would like some form of education to continue or at a minimum, want the absences to be excused.

The point is that the school district needs to be flexible. One size does not fit all. There are 57K students in HCPSS and there isn't going to be one solution that works for everyone. I agree that they should keep the schools open, but even if there are no options for virtual schooling, they should at least excuse the absences of those who have special circumstances. We've made it a rule that schools must accommodate children with special needs. They should also be able to accommodate children who have families with special needs.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

What happens to high schoolers and their grades? Now that colleges are test-optional, grades matter more than ever.

Can schools calculate a grade based on what the student has handed in prior to the excused absence, and not penalize them for what they have missed?

I would suggest pulling your child out to homeschool them versus relying on the school to somehow provide adequate instruction for little Larla who can't be exposed to covid19 even vaccinated and boosted.
Why should teachers and the school system provide extra support to your family when school has been deemed safe and appropriate in person for your county? Because you choose to not agree with public health officials? Because teachers want parents to cause drama and pull their children out because of the state of emergency so they can say, "look! see! Parents don't even want to their kids here?"

If you don't need in-person instruction and your child will thrive at home, homeschool them and avoid covid19 until the pandemic ends. Don't add to work of the overworked and stretched thin teaching staff to somehow keep your child up to speed or be added to the already long list of legitimately quarantined students.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:+11 to the homeschool suggestions above. What good is excused vs. unexcused absences? Who cares?

If your child is old enough for being home, or too young and you want them home, the most important thing is that they keep learning, right? Focus your energies to teaching them yourself rather than piling onto teachers to make special allowances / differences for one student vs. the class.

There's a swathe of middle students, students with mental/social needs who are vaxxed and need to be in-person with their teachers.

+ a million. Some of us our having our asymptomatic students forced out with zero support while quarantined. What you are looking to do is all voluntary.
Resources need to go to the students staying with in person, not your boutique requests.

Here is a lovely man whining that his kids can't go to school and infect other people.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:+11 to the homeschool suggestions above. What good is excused vs. unexcused absences? Who cares?

If your child is old enough for being home, or too young and you want them home, the most important thing is that they keep learning, right? Focus your energies to teaching them yourself rather than piling onto teachers to make special allowances / differences for one student vs. the class.

There's a swathe of middle students, students with mental/social needs who are vaxxed and need to be in-person with their teachers.

+ a million. Some of us our having our asymptomatic students forced out with zero support while quarantined. What you are looking to do is all voluntary.
Resources need to go to the students staying with in person, not your boutique requests.

Anonymous wrote:+11 to the homeschool suggestions above. What good is excused vs. unexcused absences? Who cares?

If your child is old enough for being home, or too young and you want them home, the most important thing is that they keep learning, right? Focus your energies to teaching them yourself rather than piling onto teachers to make special allowances / differences for one student vs. the class.

There's a swathe of middle students, students with mental/social needs who are vaxxed and need to be in-person with their teachers.

Anonymous wrote:Interesting, I did not know this.

Parents if you want to keep your students home from school for COVID related reasons, PLEASE communicate with the MD state Superintendent of Schools, Mr. Mohammed Choudhury. He needs to know that not every parent is clamoring for in person instruction at this time.

Anonymous wrote:

What happens to high schoolers and their grades? Now that colleges are test-optional, grades matter more than ever.

Can schools calculate a grade based on what the student has handed in prior to the excused absence, and not penalize them for what they have missed?

Anonymous wrote:

What happens to high schoolers and their grades? Now that colleges are test-optional, grades matter more than ever.

Can schools calculate a grade based on what the student has handed in prior to the excused absence, and not penalize them for what they have missed?

III. Lawful/Excused Absence
Students presently enrolled in public schools are considered lawfully absent from school, including absence for any portion of the day, and may receive make-up work under the following conditions:
[...]
H. State emergency – The Governor/designee makes these determinations.

Lawful Absence
Absence from school, including absence for any portion of the day, shall be considered lawful
only for the following reasons:
[...]
 State of emergency

Determining Whether an Absence Is Lawful or Unlawful
d) Students enrolled in public schools are considered lawfully absent
from school, including absence for any portion of the day, only
under the following conditions: [1]
[...]
(8) State emergency

[1] Lawful absences are to be considered as excused absences.