Anonymous wrote:

like I said. mcps are followers, not leaders

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DL in MoCo is working much better in the fall than it did in the spring. Certainly not for all, but for many.

It may make sense to find a way to bring specific groups of students back into schools if they don't do well with DL.

But I think hybrid instruction -- with kids in school some days, out of school other days, probably not learning from a live teacher on some of the DL days, and probably not having the same teachers every day -- would be more disrputive to learning than DL would.

I realize that others may disagree. I'm hoping that when they do bring kids back in school for some sort of hybrid experience that they give parents the option to continue full-time DL if they want to.

Hello teacher without young kids who is loving your WFH situation and side tutoring gig. Don’t worry, school will be out long enough for you to earn enough to take that vacay to Mexico post vaccine.

Anonymous wrote:DL in MoCo is working much better in the fall than it did in the spring. Certainly not for all, but for many.

It may make sense to find a way to bring specific groups of students back into schools if they don't do well with DL.

But I think hybrid instruction -- with kids in school some days, out of school other days, probably not learning from a live teacher on some of the DL days, and probably not having the same teachers every day -- would be more disrputive to learning than DL would.

I realize that others may disagree. I'm hoping that when they do bring kids back in school for some sort of hybrid experience that they give parents the option to continue full-time DL if they want to.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:From the article:

"School board members and Smith emphasized multiple times that they do not yet know when in-person instruction will begin in any capacity, but said it is important to begin planning for the possibility."

They have not even started planning. Absolute failure.

According to the article you cite, they have started planning.

Anonymous wrote:DL in MoCo is working much better in the fall than it did in the spring. Certainly not for all, but for many.

It may make sense to find a way to bring specific groups of students back into schools if they don't do well with DL.

But I think hybrid instruction -- with kids in school some days, out of school other days, probably not learning from a live teacher on some of the DL days, and probably not having the same teachers every day -- would be more disrputive to learning than DL would.

I realize that others may disagree. I'm hoping that when they do bring kids back in school for some sort of hybrid experience that they give parents the option to continue full-time DL if they want to.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:At one of the back-to-school town halls last month, I heard our assistant principal (of a Bethesda-area high school) basically say that we won't be back in person during 2020-2021.

That should come as a surprise to no one.

DP- my concern is that if a vaccine isn’t available next summer, we may not even go back next year. There’s just so much inertia and paralysis, the lack of leadership is really stunning.

PP, to make you feel better:

MCPS WILL DO WHAT THE OTHER DISTRICTS DO.

They won't be the only one to be closed when everyone else is open. They won't be the only one to be open when everyone else is closed. All of the districts in the area are going to more-or-less do what all of the other districts in the area are doing.

This is absolutely correct, and it should be obvious to anyone following this all along. THEY WILL ALL DO THE SAME THING, MAYBE ON A TIMELINE SHIFTED A FEW WEEKS.

Anonymous wrote:From the article:

"School board members and Smith emphasized multiple times that they do not yet know when in-person instruction will begin in any capacity, but said it is important to begin planning for the possibility."

They have not even started planning. Absolute failure.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:According to article in Bethesda Beat, MCPS hasn't even started planning for returning to school. Since March, they have not made any effort to make schools safe.

MCPS NEVER had an intention to bring kids back. it's just too hard so we aren't going to do it.
Smith makes 300k with the sweetest benefits packet. We have hundreds of overpaid staff in central office. And none of them have the leadership skills to get the kids back in school.

Other districts here in the US and in other countries are moving forward. They have real leaders who aren't going to let the desires and special requests from each individual in the district stop them from meeting the educational needs of the larger population of kids.

They know how this is affecting kids mentally, they just hired more counselors!! They know that a lot of teachers are realizing this isn't working, parents realize this isn't working. And I am not talking the small percentage of kids who are doing ok with DL, I am talking of the majority of kids. But they still haven't started outlining the plan for return.

How hard is it to make few calls to other superintendents to get some guidance since no one has any clue what to do?
Secure PPE, set up schools/classrooms with social distance desks with partitions, set out sanitizer stations throughout school, survey parents to find out who will be returning and who needs bus transportation, require masks and handwashing breaks (make these MANDATORY), work with building services to sanitize high touch areas, set up isolation room, involve school nurse, establish DL program for those who can't abide by rules and don't want to come into the school. Select DL teachers and assign kids to them from the entire county population.. A kid might not get a teacher from their school, but we all must make sacrifices.
Unless you ask parents what option they want, you can't really plan, and they haven't even done that.

There are so many staff who aren't working, but getting paid...assign jobs to them, there is plenty for everyone to do.

At the end of the day, you will not please anyone, but you will have attempted to do what you are supposed to do...educate the kids.

If we all have to make sacrifices, we should stick with the current system, which at least requires the same sacrifice of everyone. All kids are doing DL. All teachers are doing DL. Once we start shifting some students at week 10 to teachers they have not started to build a relationship with, it creates a second first two weeks of school. My daughter has a great relationship with her AP teacher. We also had to share some sensitive info about a foster son with several teachers who now understand that he is so eager to not be trouble that he will suffer in all kind of silence rather than ask for help. All know to really check in on him even if he gives the thumbs up in Zoom in response to a generally query.

"School board members and Smith emphasized multiple times that they do not yet know when in-person instruction will begin in any capacity, but said it is important to begin planning for the possibility."

Anonymous wrote:

I'm 11:32, and I agree with that. But I also think that MCPS will be the very last school district in the area to return, and if even one other holds out, they will, too. It's unfortunate they're focused more on politics than data.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:At one of the back-to-school town halls last month, I heard our assistant principal (of a Bethesda-area high school) basically say that we won't be back in person during 2020-2021.

That should come as a surprise to no one.

DP- my concern is that if a vaccine isn’t available next summer, we may not even go back next year. There’s just so much inertia and paralysis, the lack of leadership is really stunning.

PP, to make you feel better:

MCPS WILL DO WHAT THE OTHER DISTRICTS DO.

They won't be the only one to be closed when everyone else is open. They won't be the only one to be open when everyone else is closed. All of the districts in the area are going to more-or-less do what all of the other districts in the area are doing.

This is absolutely correct, and it should be obvious to anyone following this all along. THEY WILL ALL DO THE SAME THING, MAYBE ON A TIMELINE SHIFTED A FEW WEEKS.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:At one of the back-to-school town halls last month, I heard our assistant principal (of a Bethesda-area high school) basically say that we won't be back in person during 2020-2021.

That should come as a surprise to no one.

DP- my concern is that if a vaccine isn’t available next summer, we may not even go back next year. There’s just so much inertia and paralysis, the lack of leadership is really stunning.

PP, to make you feel better:

MCPS WILL DO WHAT THE OTHER DISTRICTS DO.

They won't be the only one to be closed when everyone else is open. They won't be the only one to be open when everyone else is closed. All of the districts in the area are going to more-or-less do what all of the other districts in the area are doing.