Anonymous wrote:In my area, two large daycares have already closed for two weeks because of student and teacher outbreaks. How will any school with more than 100 kids open for a sustained amount of time before outbreaks begin? It would be more disruptive than just planning for virtual learning in the fall.

I agree. I desperately want kids back in school but I fear for the unpredictable and constant shut downs that will happen (not to mention potential spread but I’m putting that aside for purposes of this post). One of the major benefits of having schools closed was that it provided Pressure on employers and leverage for employees to negotiate working from home. That allowed them to deal with untenable situation of kids being home from school as well as work exposure risks. Having random classrooms close here and there does not provide the Same leverage, likely leaving many workers in even more difficult positions with respect to childcare and work.

We live in a failed state. Life won’t be back to normal until massive vaccinations.

Anonymous wrote:Why are we still arguing? DCPS is 100% doing hybrid. What model remains to be seen but it WILL NOT BE FULL IN PERSON EVERYDAY.

If we are truly worried about underprivileged children in parents let's lobby for DC to put trauma centers, libraries, more affordable grocery stores, more job training, etc.

I mean really at the end of the day the parents also really need help and that's really not the job of the school. To fully help children I am a firm believer in helping parents as well. Idk how many times as a teacher I have actually had to be a therapist for parents. So much so that I am now getting a masters in counseling so I can actually help.

Students are 100% my main priority but I found so many of my students were not making as much progress as they could due to parents. AND I am not blaming them, we are all a product of our environments, etc.

Thanks for this. Needed perspective and fwiw I think you are absolutely right.

Why are we still arguing? DCPS is 100% doing hybrid. What model remains to be seen but it WILL NOT BE FULL IN PERSON EVERYDAY.

If we are truly worried about underprivileged children in parents let's lobby for DC to put trauma centers, libraries, more affordable grocery stores, more job training, etc.

I mean really at the end of the day the parents also really need help and that's really not the job of the school. To fully help children I am a firm believer in helping parents as well. Idk how many times as a teacher I have actually had to be a therapist for parents. So much so that I am now getting a masters in counseling so I can actually help.

Students are 100% my main priority but I found so many of my students were not making as much progress as they could due to parents. AND I am not blaming them, we are all a product of our environments, etc.

Anonymous wrote:I will send my kids when the school opens to the extent that is permitted. My kids miss school.

It's interesting to me that you all think schools will close again if teachers start spreading it.

I doubt they will close schools again quickly.

At that point, offices will be opening, so teachers will not be the only workers seeing co-workers again. Offices will put people in far closer proximity than schools (most DC workers are in cubes) so I think by the fall we know more about where we are at.

Nothing will ever shut down like it did last time, no one is gonna follow the rules the train has left the station and it has no driver!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I will send my kids when the school opens to the extent that is permitted. My kids miss school.

It's interesting to me that you all think schools will close again if teachers start spreading it.

I doubt they will close schools again quickly.

At that point, offices will be opening, so teachers will not be the only workers seeing co-workers again. Offices will put people in far closer proximity than schools (most DC workers are in cubes) so I think by the fall we know more about where we are at.

I agree that they would not shut all schools down again if there is an outbreak. They would shut down individual schools for a limited amount of time, which is the sensible thing to do. Schools being open would be the status quo, and that is a powerful force. Our problem right now is that schools being closed is the status quo, and they are afraid of opening them again and see what happens. Teachers are scared to go back to work, (some) parents are scared to send their kids, because everyone has been put under the impression that closing schools was necessary to keep everyone safe, mounting evidence that kids are not significant vectors of Covid notwithstanding. They rung a giant bell in March that they now can't unring. Michael Osterholm warned of this outcome back then when he wrote an article skeptical of a national lockdown.

This is so interesting and I think it hits the nail on the head about closed being the status quo right now. I hadn’t thought about it that way.
It makes me sad that nobody is thinking about the needs and wellbeing of kids in any of this.

Anonymous wrote:In my area, two large daycares have already closed for two weeks because of student and teacher outbreaks. How will any school with more than 100 kids open for a sustained amount of time before outbreaks begin? It would be more disruptive than just planning for virtual learning in the fall.

And what if it’s not just the fall? We can’t count on a vaccine to bail us out quickly. We need to figure out a way to open schools before that happens.

In my area, two large daycares have already closed for two weeks because of student and teacher outbreaks. How will any school with more than 100 kids open for a sustained amount of time before outbreaks begin? It would be more disruptive than just planning for virtual learning in the fall.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Any family that supports schools to be closed or on a rotating schedule in the fall is absolutely privileged. As one of the previous post already stated: The economic strain, the ever widening of the achievement gap, and the socioemotional damage cannot be overstated.

Only those (predominantly white middle class families) who are able to afford help, private tutors are pushing for this. Their privilege completely blinds them. These people don’t care about black, brown or any other underprivileged families without resources, and wants our kids to stay underprivileged while their kids get ahead with private help.

To those who continue to push for school closure due to Covid-19, look inside your hearts and souls when you go out protesting for BLM with your privileged children. You don’t really care about our lives, you just want to virtue signal that you are better than others and that you are not racists.

Thank you social justice warrior. I, however, am concerned about the HEALTH of those same groups. I don’t want their older family members to die. I don’t want our African American teachers to die. I don’t want kids to experience more trauma surrounding deaths of loved ones.

Are you sure you are not talking about yourself? We don’t need your concern about our communities when black and brown people have the highest death rate due to poor socioeconomic status. You want to keep us behind while you home school your children. You don’t have to go in even if the school opens, but you also wish to forbid kids whose families have few resources to go. You want to assure that we can never match your level of privilege by playing the good liberal. Stop hiding behind “HEALTH” as if you care about anyone outside your suburb. It’s phony.

Hi! Well I guess I need to start identifying myself before posting. I am a female POC who is in her mid to late 40s with pre-existing health conditions. I am a teacher in a Ward 3 school while living in Ward 7. My children attended their neighborhood school before attending Hardy. One is currently at Banneker and the other is at Walls.

You don’t get to tell me I am privileged and don’t care about OUR communities. I do care about the community. I live in my community. I see what is happening to our children. I see what is happening to our families. I see the toll this is taking. I also see the trauma of children with dying parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles. I see the children scared that more of their family will die. I see the heartache of a community in mourning. I am not trying to keep our community down. I am making sure we don’t allow some white Social Justice warriors who suddenly care about our communities to kill us. You are killing us while pretending to care. Help us get better healthcare. Help us get a Trauma center in Ward 8. Help us get more grocery stores. Help us get safer and cleaner housing. Don’t tell me I don’t care about my community. Don’t you dare.

Anonymous wrote:I will send my kids when the school opens to the extent that is permitted. My kids miss school.

It's interesting to me that you all think schools will close again if teachers start spreading it.

I doubt they will close schools again quickly.

At that point, offices will be opening, so teachers will not be the only workers seeing co-workers again. Offices will put people in far closer proximity than schools (most DC workers are in cubes) so I think by the fall we know more about where we are at.

I agree that they would not shut all schools down again if there is an outbreak. They would shut down individual schools for a limited amount of time, which is the sensible thing to do. Schools being open would be the status quo, and that is a powerful force. Our problem right now is that schools being closed is the status quo, and they are afraid of opening them again and see what happens. Teachers are scared to go back to work, (some) parents are scared to send their kids, because everyone has been put under the impression that closing schools was necessary to keep everyone safe, mounting evidence that kids are not significant vectors of Covid notwithstanding. They rung a giant bell in March that they now can't unring. Michael Osterholm warned of this outcome back then when he wrote an article skeptical of a national lockdown.

Anonymous wrote:I will send my kids when the school opens to the extent that is permitted. My kids miss school.

It's interesting to me that you all think schools will close again if teachers start spreading it.

I doubt they will close schools again quickly.

At that point, offices will be opening, so teachers will not be the only workers seeing co-workers again. Offices will put people in far closer proximity than schools (most DC workers are in cubes) so I think by the fall we know more about where we are at.

Have you read the OSSE guidelines? If a student or teacher has been exposed to Covid (identifier through contact tracing, eyc) that classroom along with any adults or students who interacted with those in the room or the room itself must quarantine for 14 days. How long do you think it is going to take before someone is exposed (parent or teacher) before the classrooms start shutting down? If a parent becomes exposed through work that e tire classroom plus all staff who were exposed to that classroom will be quarantined. It’s not going to take long.

I will send my kids when the school opens to the extent that is permitted. My kids miss school.

It's interesting to me that you all think schools will close again if teachers start spreading it.

I doubt they will close schools again quickly.

At that point, offices will be opening, so teachers will not be the only workers seeing co-workers again. Offices will put people in far closer proximity than schools (most DC workers are in cubes) so I think by the fall we know more about where we are at.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Parents are looking out for the best interest of themselves and their children.
Schools are looking out for the best interest of the most vulnerable students and staff. It’s a different outlook. They don’t want to be the reason people get sick and die.

I don’t understand why that is so hard for people to see. We need to look out for the “we” not the “me”.

It isn't that simple. It's not about "we" or "me". Keeping schools closed also harms the community significantly. Arguably, it harms more people. Arguably, parents who "are looking out for the best interest of themselves and their children" are thinking in terms of "me". The same is true for the school administrators who "don't want to be the reason people get sick and die," i.e. are concerned about liability. That doesn't mean they aren't also genuinely concerned about the well-being of the community, but so are the people who think schools should open.

Ultimately, the question is whether you consider the harms from closed schools greater than the potential virus-related harms resulting from opening them, not whether you care about the community vs. yourself. Both choices entail risks for the community and we need to decide which risk is greater. It's a complicated problem with no simple answer.

The most sensible post so far. But to the society at large, the harms from school closing would be way greater than the potencial harm from Covid-19.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Any family that supports schools to be closed or on a rotating schedule in the fall is absolutely privileged. As one of the previous post already stated: The economic strain, the ever widening of the achievement gap, and the socioemotional damage cannot be overstated.

Only those (predominantly white middle class families) who are able to afford help, private tutors are pushing for this. Their privilege completely blinds them. These people don’t care about black, brown or any other underprivileged families without resources, and wants our kids to stay underprivileged while their kids get ahead with private help.

To those who continue to push for school closure due to Covid-19, look inside your hearts and souls when you go out protesting for BLM with your privileged children. You don’t really care about our lives, you just want to virtue signal that you are better than others and that you are not racists.

Thank you social justice warrior. I, however, am concerned about the HEALTH of those same groups. I don’t want their older family members to die. I don’t want our African American teachers to die. I don’t want kids to experience more trauma surrounding deaths of loved ones.

The risk of dying for the average individual is small. The overall increase in deaths from opening schools, according to presently available data, would be minimal. The harms from keeping schools closed, both educational as well as economic and social, are an absolute certainty, and will be added to the already existing and likely, even if we keep schools closed, continuing trauma inflicted by the virus.

Can you find data from another country with our obesity and diabetes rate? No? Right, so your data from Germany and Sweden doesn’t relate here. Beijing just had to close schools again. If you don’t think that is going to happen here you are nuts.

The data that's relevant here is the data that indicates that kids do not spread the virus as much as adults. They haven't been able to contact-trace a single case of a kid infecting an adult - it's always the other way around. They also have not found increased infection rates among children in Sweden despite normally operating elementary schools. None of that has anything to do with the greater risk of the virus to a population of unhealthy adults. What matters with regard to opening schools is if we have evidence that KIDS are significant vectors, and so far that does not seem to be the case.

Totally agree

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Any family that supports schools to be closed or on a rotating schedule in the fall is absolutely privileged. As one of the previous post already stated: The economic strain, the ever widening of the achievement gap, and the socioemotional damage cannot be overstated.

Only those (predominantly white middle class families) who are able to afford help, private tutors are pushing for this. Their privilege completely blinds them. These people don’t care about black, brown or any other underprivileged families without resources, and wants our kids to stay underprivileged while their kids get ahead with private help.

To those who continue to push for school closure due to Covid-19, look inside your hearts and souls when you go out protesting for BLM with your privileged children. You don’t really care about our lives, you just want to virtue signal that you are better than others and that you are not racists.

Thank you social justice warrior. I, however, am concerned about the HEALTH of those same groups. I don’t want their older family members to die. I don’t want our African American teachers to die. I don’t want kids to experience more trauma surrounding deaths of loved ones.

Are you sure you are not talking about yourself? We don’t need your concern about our communities when black and brown people have the highest death rate due to poor socioeconomic status. You want to keep us behind while you home school your children. You don’t have to go in even if the school opens, but you also wish to forbid kids whose families have few resources to go. You want to assure that we can never match your level of privilege by playing the good liberal. Stop hiding behind “HEALTH” as if you care about anyone outside your suburb. It’s phony.

Very well said.