Anonymous wrote:They won't. McKnight and the BOE have zero incentive to recant on their policy choices, and no one can remove them or change their minds.

They're afraid to grow a backbone and do what's needed to keep people safe so this will drag out for another 6 months.

The chaotic planning is a mess. But it's worth noting that my 2 kids are in 2 different MCPS schools (MS & HS) and they are NOT experiencing massive teacher or student absences right now.

once Monifa gets kicked out

Please don't think the W schools in MCPS are in any better shape, because we are in a W cluster, and it's not. This is MCPS's disaster of their own making with no plan and poor communication.

On the bright side, nowhere to go but up!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am also really disappointed with MCPS, for all the reasons described above. We have three kids and can’t afford private. If you left and moved to another county for better public education, where did you go?

You might want to lurk around the DCPS, FCPS, and MD other schools forum. They are having similar discussion that MCPS are having.

Similar, in that sense, that people are worried about Covid.

The extremes are not there at all.

We moved to a neighboring county, and I can tell you the whole vibe is different. Both of my kids have gone the entirety of the year without having to quarantine, mostly due to more relaxed quarantining rules than MCPS.

The biggest difference is that the few times I've emailed a BOE member or administrator, I've gotten a response! within 24 hours. I even had a phone conversation with a BOE member after swapping some emails

And basically, the tone where I am is: we may need to switch to virtual if there's not enough staff. But that will be a last resort. and first, it will be by classroom. Then, maybe by grade. Then worst, case, by school. and even if that happens, it will only be 5 days, I believe.

Generally, its a much more level headed response it feels

Maybe Howard county?

Anonymous wrote:I am also really disappointed with MCPS, for all the reasons described above. We have three kids and can’t afford private. If you left and moved to another county for better public education, where did you go?

You might want to lurk around the DCPS, FCPS, and MD other schools forum. They are having similar discussion that MCPS are having.

I am also really disappointed with MCPS, for all the reasons described above. We have three kids and can’t afford private. If you left and moved to another county for better public education, where did you go?

Sadly, I don’t think it will.
It’s too large, too diverse, too focused on equality (rather than equity), and cannot meet everyone’s needs well, so everyone suffers. The fact that they made their own curriculum for a bit says it all.
We left for good.

I would think it’s going to be a mess for at least another year. My kid was in 2nd grade when this started, we homeschooled for 3rd and are now in private. Hope to go back to mcps for HS.

MCPS is very disappointing right now with its Covid response, but don't forget we're in a really mind-boggling, jaw-dropping surge and no one is handling this well anywhere in the world, except for the usual suspects of Japan, S. Korea and New Zealand. Some things should get better in periods of low Covid cases. Unfortunately, teachers quitting their jobs for less bullying, less stressful work, won't be easily replaced, so that consequence will last for quite a while.

That being said, I've always found that elementary is the worse period for behavioral issues: it's the time when a lot of parents don't yet have formal diagnoses for some types of ADHD and ASD - type problems, and when their kids don't yet have IEPs or accommodations that the school can implement. My own child got an IEP in K for his ADHD, and he was not a pain in class (daydreamer type), but we've lived through some interesting years, pre-pandemic, with some students' behavioral issues! We're in the Bethesda/Chevy Chase cluster.
I can only imagine things have gotten worse now because the pandemic held up all kinds of progress on evaluations and therapies.

We found that middle and high school went much better, to be honest. The issues there are more in the overcrowding category, as well as dealing with the peer group, if your kids get in with the wrong crowd, but overall, academically, classrooms were never disrupted by too much mayhem.

This year my kids are in the Virtual Academy, so I can't comment on current teacher absences.

Anonymous wrote:they won't. we left. tough, tough decision, but they are with their heads in the sand

DP. But we made the very difficult decision to leave MCPS last spring. Tbh, it was the best decision we made for our kids. It wasn't just the poor response to Covid (not going to comment on open/closed, but it was just poorly communicated and always seemed reactive instead of proactively planned) but the whole culture of the school system.

I lurk on this board because we still have friends and family in MCPS, and I'm rooting for things to improve. But I don't see that happening within the next 2-3 years

they won't. we left. tough, tough decision, but they are with their heads in the sand

They won't. McKnight and the BOE have zero incentive to recant on their policy choices, and no one can remove them or change their minds.

Serious question. Our current ES is a mess. It’s not in a “W” - it’s a solidly middle of the road socio-economic mixed school (I’ll say it here: busing to increase FARMS). There is only 1 administrator right now, everyone else quit or is on leave. Lots of substitutes. Even more behavior problems, specifically in the younger grades. It’s been a disappointment. DD is suffering and it’s hard to see your kid go from loving to hating school in just a few months.

Realistically, when do you think MCPS will return to some semblance of pre-pandemic education and administrative stability? School year 22-23, 23-24, never…

Trying to decide whether moving to a different cluster would help or if planning for private is the better option.

It really seems like Covid or not, until MCPS gets a superintendent and a board/teachers union willing to focus on students, it’s not going to improve.