Anonymous wrote:Can I ask what real trauma high SES kids are going through? (due to the pandemic, besides family dying) I work at a low SES school and even before the pandemic of course many of my students had trauma.

I'm in no way saying more wealthy children cannot suffer, I used to work in CA at a school nestled in a neighborhood where the homes started at 1M, and a few kids were suicidal.

However not seeing your friends in person, dealing with online classes won't raise their ACE (adverse childhood experiences).
THAT is trauma, this is sad and yes, may lead to depressions and some anxiety but it is not trauma.

I feel parents are throwing out this word carelessly. I'm not saying DL is a goldmine, I also really hate it. But I also feel DCPS missed the in person boat. Why now when the rates are climbing? Please stop with the WTU, at the end of the day I agree my union was obstructionist but whose the real boss? We could have went back for term 1 and part of 2.

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Anonymous wrote:I wish that before re-opening the Mayor would order another 2-week lockdown, she did in the spring. Is anyone else worried that with all schools re-opening Feb 1st this virus will shoot up in DC? Even teachers who have been vaccinated will not have had their round 2 yet, and there will be lots more kids to manage in a distance way all at once, many of whom it will be the first time practicing mask wearing etc. I am just worried we will go from bad to worse in DC, with just 5% of the population vaccinated--we are a LONG way from 'herd immunity'.

No, I am not, because I have looked at the data and studies they have done of spread in schools, and I am confident that schools are not significant drivers of community spread.

I have not seen any done on this scale, by a system as generally messed up as DCPS. So sue me that I have way more confidence in, IDK, Germany. I am a former teacher for DCPS (not recent), but what I saw in terms of management, hygiene, yikes. It doesn't appear that DCPS did much maintenance during this hiatus... why would you trust them? NY has been opening and closing schools like whack-a-mole. Not sure there is a case that our large, horribly managed public school systems CAN handle a wide spread reopening well. On top of the surge and the new COVID variants that are hyper-contagious, are we not just asking for trouble here?

We live in a city. There are rats everywhere. Especially where there is food. Is it sanitary? No. Is it a fact of city life? Yes. At least here I’ve never seen one in Metro. I used to see them on the subways and running on the platforms when I worked in NYC.
Germany hasn't done any of the "maintenance" in schools that is being demanded here, at least not at a large scale. Their schools were open at full capacity with just hand washing and opening windows. They didn't even require in-class masking in the fall. They are still open at least hybrid in many places now during the lockdown (now with masks at all times). They did have cases in schools, of course (especially high schools, which are now remote in January), but nobody thinks in-school transmission was a major driver of the spread overall, which is believed to happen mostly at private gatherings. They didn't shut down entire schools, but quarantined exposed cohorts.

So yeah, I'm confident that DCPS could do what they did in Germany, and probably also other European countries. We just don't because we don't want to accept any amount of risk for the sake of kids being in school.

This. It's just one thing after another with WTU. Many parents aren't ok with waiting until every societal ill is resolved before our kids go back to school. There's some risk to reopening, and going to school was never risk-free anyway.

I'm just going to hedge a bet that German schools were already far better maintained. Have you ever been in a DCPS? Some of them have rats. Skeevy.

Not sure why my text appeared in the middle of this quote thread:

We live in a city. There are rats everywhere. Especially where there is food. Is it sanitary? No. Is it a fact of city life? Yes. At least here I’ve never seen one in Metro. I used to see them on the subways and running on the platforms when I worked in NYC.

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Anonymous wrote:Quick internet search says Germany is in lockdown until Feb 14. This comparison with Germany is impossible. We just aren't there.So if they are in a full lockdown, why do we think it is OK to open schools now in the middle of a surging pandemic? It isn't. By fall, or even in spring, schools will be back in session.

Yes, we know Germany is in a lockdown. The point is that they are keeping schools open, at least elementary schools, at least hybrid, despite the lockdown. If their Covid numbers in areas with open or partially open schools are comparable, then it is absolutely valid to compare their situation with what we are doing. It's not like the lockdown will instantly control transmission to make schools safe. They are keeping schools partially open despite the risk, and they can afford the partial, temporary shutdown because they let kids go to school all fall, when in some areas their numbers were even higher than what we ever saw in DC.

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Anonymous wrote:I wish that before re-opening the Mayor would order another 2-week lockdown, she did in the spring. Is anyone else worried that with all schools re-opening Feb 1st this virus will shoot up in DC? Even teachers who have been vaccinated will not have had their round 2 yet, and there will be lots more kids to manage in a distance way all at once, many of whom it will be the first time practicing mask wearing etc. I am just worried we will go from bad to worse in DC, with just 5% of the population vaccinated--we are a LONG way from 'herd immunity'.

No, I am not, because I have looked at the data and studies they have done of spread in schools, and I am confident that schools are not significant drivers of community spread.

I have not seen any done on this scale, by a system as generally messed up as DCPS. So sue me that I have way more confidence in, IDK, Germany. I am a former teacher for DCPS (not recent), but what I saw in terms of management, hygiene, yikes. It doesn't appear that DCPS did much maintenance during this hiatus... why would you trust them? NY has been opening and closing schools like whack-a-mole. Not sure there is a case that our large, horribly managed public school systems CAN handle a wide spread reopening well. On top of the surge and the new COVID variants that are hyper-contagious, are we not just asking for trouble here?

We live in a city. There are rats everywhere. Especially where there is food. Is it sanitary? No. Is it a fact of city life? Yes. At least here I’ve never seen one in Metro. I used to see them on the subways and running on the platforms when I worked in NYC.
Germany hasn't done any of the "maintenance" in schools that is being demanded here, at least not at a large scale. Their schools were open at full capacity with just hand washing and opening windows. They didn't even require in-class masking in the fall. They are still open at least hybrid in many places now during the lockdown (now with masks at all times). They did have cases in schools, of course (especially high schools, which are now remote in January), but nobody thinks in-school transmission was a major driver of the spread overall, which is believed to happen mostly at private gatherings. They didn't shut down entire schools, but quarantined exposed cohorts.

So yeah, I'm confident that DCPS could do what they did in Germany, and probably also other European countries. We just don't because we don't want to accept any amount of risk for the sake of kids being in school.

This. It's just one thing after another with WTU. Many parents aren't ok with waiting until every societal ill is resolved before our kids go back to school. There's some risk to reopening, and going to school was never risk-free anyway.

I'm just going to hedge a bet that German schools were already far better maintained. Have you ever been in a DCPS? Some of them have rats. Skeevy.

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Anonymous wrote:I wish that before re-opening the Mayor would order another 2-week lockdown, she did in the spring. Is anyone else worried that with all schools re-opening Feb 1st this virus will shoot up in DC? Even teachers who have been vaccinated will not have had their round 2 yet, and there will be lots more kids to manage in a distance way all at once, many of whom it will be the first time practicing mask wearing etc. I am just worried we will go from bad to worse in DC, with just 5% of the population vaccinated--we are a LONG way from 'herd immunity'.

No, I am not, because I have looked at the data and studies they have done of spread in schools, and I am confident that schools are not significant drivers of community spread.

I have not seen any done on this scale, by a system as generally messed up as DCPS. So sue me that I have way more confidence in, IDK, Germany. I am a former teacher for DCPS (not recent), but what I saw in terms of management, hygiene, yikes. It doesn't appear that DCPS did much maintenance during this hiatus... why would you trust them? NY has been opening and closing schools like whack-a-mole. Not sure there is a case that our large, horribly managed public school systems CAN handle a wide spread reopening well. On top of the surge and the new COVID variants that are hyper-contagious, are we not just asking for trouble here?

We live in a city. There are rats everywhere. Especially where there is food. Is it sanitary? No. Is it a fact of city life? Yes. At least here I’ve never seen one in Metro. I used to see them on the subways and running on the platforms when I worked in NYC.
Germany hasn't done any of the "maintenance" in schools that is being demanded here, at least not at a large scale. Their schools were open at full capacity with just hand washing and opening windows. They didn't even require in-class masking in the fall. They are still open at least hybrid in many places now during the lockdown (now with masks at all times). They did have cases in schools, of course (especially high schools, which are now remote in January), but nobody thinks in-school transmission was a major driver of the spread overall, which is believed to happen mostly at private gatherings. They didn't shut down entire schools, but quarantined exposed cohorts.

So yeah, I'm confident that DCPS could do what they did in Germany, and probably also other European countries. We just don't because we don't want to accept any amount of risk for the sake of kids being in school.

This. It's just one thing after another with WTU. Many parents aren't ok with waiting until every societal ill is resolved before our kids go back to school. There's some risk to reopening, and going to school was never risk-free anyway.

I'm just going to hedge a bet that German schools were already far better maintained. Have you ever been in a DCPS? Some of them have rats. Skeevy.

Anonymous wrote:Quick internet search says Germany is in lockdown until Feb 14. This comparison with Germany is impossible. We just aren't there.So if they are in a full lockdown, why do we think it is OK to open schools now in the middle of a surging pandemic? It isn't. By fall, or even in spring, schools will be back in session.

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:I wish that before re-opening the Mayor would order another 2-week lockdown, she did in the spring. Is anyone else worried that with all schools re-opening Feb 1st this virus will shoot up in DC? Even teachers who have been vaccinated will not have had their round 2 yet, and there will be lots more kids to manage in a distance way all at once, many of whom it will be the first time practicing mask wearing etc. I am just worried we will go from bad to worse in DC, with just 5% of the population vaccinated--we are a LONG way from 'herd immunity'.

No, I am not, because I have looked at the data and studies they have done of spread in schools, and I am confident that schools are not significant drivers of community spread.

I have not seen any done on this scale, by a system as generally messed up as DCPS. So sue me that I have way more confidence in, IDK, Germany. I am a former teacher for DCPS (not recent), but what I saw in terms of management, hygiene, yikes. It doesn't appear that DCPS did much maintenance during this hiatus... why would you trust them? NY has been opening and closing schools like whack-a-mole. Not sure there is a case that our large, horribly managed public school systems CAN handle a wide spread reopening well. On top of the surge and the new COVID variants that are hyper-contagious, are we not just asking for trouble here?

Germany hasn't done any of the "maintenance" in schools that is being demanded here, at least not at a large scale. Their schools were open at full capacity with just hand washing and opening windows. They didn't even require in-class masking in the fall. They are still open at least hybrid in many places now during the lockdown (now with masks at all times). They did have cases in schools, of course (especially high schools, which are now remote in January), but nobody thinks in-school transmission was a major driver of the spread overall, which is believed to happen mostly at private gatherings. They didn't shut down entire schools, but quarantined exposed cohorts.

So yeah, I'm confident that DCPS could do what they did in Germany, and probably also other European countries. We just don't because we don't want to accept any amount of risk for the sake of kids being in school.

This. It's just one thing after another with WTU. Many parents aren't ok with waiting until every societal ill is resolved before our kids go back to school. There's some risk to reopening, and going to school was never risk-free anyway.

I'm just going to hedge a bet that German schools were already far better maintained. Have you ever been in a DCPS? Some of them have rats. Skeevy.

It's just one thing after another why German schools are supposedly in a fundamentally different situation than DCPS. Yes, I have been both inside German schools and inside DCPS schools (both EOTP and WOTP). While rats are terrible, they do not make a difference with regard to Covid. What makes a difference is ventilation and hand washing facilities, as well as crowding. Many if not most German schools do not have HVAC systems, but they do have windows (I hear there are DCPS classrooms without windows, in which case air filtration systems should be provided). Dirty bathrooms and lack of soap are also a long-standing problem in many German schools, but I am sure that situation has vastly improved with Covid, and I would assume DCPS can solve that one as well. Crowding is also a problem in some German schools.

So no, Germany is not working with fundamentally different infrastructure. What is fundamentally different is that education leadership in Germany has been fighting tooth and nail to keep schools open (sometimes against parents and students, and against the federal government), because they believe it is essential for educational justice and children's well-being, and teachers have not mounted major opposition. If they are closing schools now in particular hard-hit locations or going hybrid, I guarantee you it will be temporary and not for the rest of the year or until everyone is vaccinated.

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Anonymous wrote:The US ha ever valued public education or public school teachers. Not surprising that a once-in-a-100-year pandemic that's killed 400,000 people in this country makes no difference. You know in a month, more people will have died from COVID-19 than in WWII. Just putting it in perspective how devastating this has been.

Of course nobody expects the pandemic to "make a difference" in the US' attitude towards public education - what a nonsensical way to put it. What is shocking is the depth of the disregard for this communal good, not only by leaders but by the teachers themselves and by a good part of the parents and the general population, to the point where kids are being deprived of access to proper schooling for over a year.

And while the death toll of the pandemic is indeed tragic, it is not comparable to WWII, which killed mostly young, healthy people in the prime of their lives, while nearly half of US Covid deaths happened in nursing homes. Those deaths absolutely matter as well, but the life years lost are not nearly the same. The fact that this comparison keeps getting brought up unqualified, and questioning it is pretty much taboo (just watch me getting flamed for saying it), is just more evidence that we are a gerontocratic society that has no concept of valuing kids and their quality of life.

You go, PP. Couldn't agree more.

This!!

I’ve been thinking about who has sacrificed the most during this pandemic, outside of those who have contracted covid and their families. It’s kids. Kids have given a year of normal childhood and education, given up their mental health and generally sacrificed for adults. It’s time we stop overlooking kids for our own sake. I’m not saying throw caution to the wind, but let’s see some balance.

+10000

+1

I have mixed feelings about the point being made here. I have kept my young kids in virtual school for the year for THEIR long term health, not mine. I actually have to work in person, I cannot telework. The issue I have is there is this weird denial about long term physical health issues from covid and what that means for kids. Latest studies are showing lung damage even for ASYMPTOMATIC persons is worse then the damage seen in lifelong smokers. Young college athletes are having significant heart issues that may/may not ever improve - we just don't know yet. Given the severity of the virus that we knew of from Italy/China experience last year, I felt it was pretty logical there would be long term damage and didnt want my kids to carry that cross if I could help it. I think this last year of closure has given us a safe path forward (masks, distancing) so kids can get back to school. It will never be zero risk, but I feel like one year out was the smart move and we learned a LOT about this disease in that time so if our family gets it we will be better served by our healthcare providers in combating it.

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:I wish that before re-opening the Mayor would order another 2-week lockdown, she did in the spring. Is anyone else worried that with all schools re-opening Feb 1st this virus will shoot up in DC? Even teachers who have been vaccinated will not have had their round 2 yet, and there will be lots more kids to manage in a distance way all at once, many of whom it will be the first time practicing mask wearing etc. I am just worried we will go from bad to worse in DC, with just 5% of the population vaccinated--we are a LONG way from 'herd immunity'.

No, I am not, because I have looked at the data and studies they have done of spread in schools, and I am confident that schools are not significant drivers of community spread.

I have not seen any done on this scale, by a system as generally messed up as DCPS. So sue me that I have way more confidence in, IDK, Germany. I am a former teacher for DCPS (not recent), but what I saw in terms of management, hygiene, yikes. It doesn't appear that DCPS did much maintenance during this hiatus... why would you trust them? NY has been opening and closing schools like whack-a-mole. Not sure there is a case that our large, horribly managed public school systems CAN handle a wide spread reopening well. On top of the surge and the new COVID variants that are hyper-contagious, are we not just asking for trouble here?

Germany hasn't done any of the "maintenance" in schools that is being demanded here, at least not at a large scale. Their schools were open at full capacity with just hand washing and opening windows. They didn't even require in-class masking in the fall. They are still open at least hybrid in many places now during the lockdown (now with masks at all times). They did have cases in schools, of course (especially high schools, which are now remote in January), but nobody thinks in-school transmission was a major driver of the spread overall, which is believed to happen mostly at private gatherings. They didn't shut down entire schools, but quarantined exposed cohorts.

So yeah, I'm confident that DCPS could do what they did in Germany, and probably also other European countries. We just don't because we don't want to accept any amount of risk for the sake of kids being in school.

This. It's just one thing after another with WTU. Many parents aren't ok with waiting until every societal ill is resolved before our kids go back to school. There's some risk to reopening, and going to school was never risk-free anyway.

I'm just going to hedge a bet that German schools were already far better maintained. Have you ever been in a DCPS? Some of them have rats. Skeevy.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I wish that before re-opening the Mayor would order another 2-week lockdown, she did in the spring. Is anyone else worried that with all schools re-opening Feb 1st this virus will shoot up in DC? Even teachers who have been vaccinated will not have had their round 2 yet, and there will be lots more kids to manage in a distance way all at once, many of whom it will be the first time practicing mask wearing etc. I am just worried we will go from bad to worse in DC, with just 5% of the population vaccinated--we are a LONG way from 'herd immunity'.

No, I am not, because I have looked at the data and studies they have done of spread in schools, and I am confident that schools are not significant drivers of community spread.

I have not seen any done on this scale, by a system as generally messed up as DCPS. So sue me that I have way more confidence in, IDK, Germany. I am a former teacher for DCPS (not recent), but what I saw in terms of management, hygiene, yikes. It doesn't appear that DCPS did much maintenance during this hiatus... why would you trust them? NY has been opening and closing schools like whack-a-mole. Not sure there is a case that our large, horribly managed public school systems CAN handle a wide spread reopening well. On top of the surge and the new COVID variants that are hyper-contagious, are we not just asking for trouble here?

Germany hasn't done any of the "maintenance" in schools that is being demanded here, at least not at a large scale. Their schools were open at full capacity with just hand washing and opening windows. They didn't even require in-class masking in the fall. They are still open at least hybrid in many places now during the lockdown (now with masks at all times). They did have cases in schools, of course (especially high schools, which are now remote in January), but nobody thinks in-school transmission was a major driver of the spread overall, which is believed to happen mostly at private gatherings. They didn't shut down entire schools, but quarantined exposed cohorts.

So yeah, I'm confident that DCPS could do what they did in Germany, and probably also other European countries. We just don't because we don't want to accept any amount of risk for the sake of kids being in school.

This. It's just one thing after another with WTU. Many parents aren't ok with waiting until every societal ill is resolved before our kids go back to school. There's some risk to reopening, and going to school was never risk-free anyway.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I wish that before re-opening the Mayor would order another 2-week lockdown, she did in the spring. Is anyone else worried that with all schools re-opening Feb 1st this virus will shoot up in DC? Even teachers who have been vaccinated will not have had their round 2 yet, and there will be lots more kids to manage in a distance way all at once, many of whom it will be the first time practicing mask wearing etc. I am just worried we will go from bad to worse in DC, with just 5% of the population vaccinated--we are a LONG way from 'herd immunity'.

No, I am not, because I have looked at the data and studies they have done of spread in schools, and I am confident that schools are not significant drivers of community spread.

I have not seen any done on this scale, by a system as generally messed up as DCPS. So sue me that I have way more confidence in, IDK, Germany. I am a former teacher for DCPS (not recent), but what I saw in terms of management, hygiene, yikes. It doesn't appear that DCPS did much maintenance during this hiatus... why would you trust them? NY has been opening and closing schools like whack-a-mole. Not sure there is a case that our large, horribly managed public school systems CAN handle a wide spread reopening well. On top of the surge and the new COVID variants that are hyper-contagious, are we not just asking for trouble here?

Germany hasn't done any of the "maintenance" in schools that is being demanded here, at least not at a large scale. Their schools were open at full capacity with just hand washing and opening windows. They didn't even require in-class masking in the fall. They are still open at least hybrid in many places now during the lockdown (now with masks at all times). They did have cases in schools, of course (especially high schools, which are now remote in January), but nobody thinks in-school transmission was a major driver of the spread overall, which is believed to happen mostly at private gatherings. They didn't shut down entire schools, but quarantined exposed cohorts.

So yeah, I'm confident that DCPS could do what they did in Germany, and probably also other European countries. We just don't because we don't want to accept any amount of risk for the sake of kids being in school.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I wish that before re-opening the Mayor would order another 2-week lockdown, she did in the spring. Is anyone else worried that with all schools re-opening Feb 1st this virus will shoot up in DC? Even teachers who have been vaccinated will not have had their round 2 yet, and there will be lots more kids to manage in a distance way all at once, many of whom it will be the first time practicing mask wearing etc. I am just worried we will go from bad to worse in DC, with just 5% of the population vaccinated--we are a LONG way from 'herd immunity'.

No, I am not, because I have looked at the data and studies they have done of spread in schools, and I am confident that schools are not significant drivers of community spread.

I have not seen any done on this scale, by a system as generally messed up as DCPS. So sue me that I have way more confidence in, IDK, Germany. I am a former teacher for DCPS (not recent), but what I saw in terms of management, hygiene, yikes. It doesn't appear that DCPS did much maintenance during this hiatus... why would you trust them? NY has been opening and closing schools like whack-a-mole. Not sure there is a case that our large, horribly managed public school systems CAN handle a wide spread reopening well. On top of the surge and the new COVID variants that are hyper-contagious, are we not just asking for trouble here?

Germany hasn't done any of the "maintenance" in schools that is being demanded here, at least not at a large scale. Their schools were open at full capacity with just hand washing and opening windows. They didn't even require in-class masking in the fall. They are still open at least hybrid in many places now during the lockdown (now with masks at all times). They did have cases in schools, of course (especially high schools, which are now remote in January), but nobody thinks in-school transmission was a major driver of the spread overall, which is believed to happen mostly at private gatherings. They didn't shut down entire schools, but quarantined exposed cohorts.

So yeah, I'm confident that DCPS could do what they did in Germany, and probably also other European countries. We just don't because we don't want to accept any amount of risk for the sake of kids being in school.

They weren't testing in Germany or other European countries. And now they are thinking it is the cause of the rise of numbers.