Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:MCPS seems to subtly testing who in school-based staff is willing to return before a vaccine. Last week, DH and I got emails stating that we could sign up for slots to come pack our classrooms. We were promised PPE. If we declined, MCPS would have everything packed for us. DH declined. I signed up for a slot. I have second thoughts several times a day. Then today, there was a survey asking who was willing to teach some form of summer school. I declined.

Why? What are you busy doing? Both of you busy doing?

Busy?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:MCPS seems to subtly testing who in school-based staff is willing to return before a vaccine. Last week, DH and I got emails stating that we could sign up for slots to come pack our classrooms. We were promised PPE. If we declined, MCPS would have everything packed for us. DH declined. I signed up for a slot. I have second thoughts several times a day. Then today, there was a survey asking who was willing to teach some form of summer school. I declined.

Why? What are you busy doing? Both of you busy doing?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

So, basically you are implying that we should do nothing and schools should be back to normal because children are not being affected. Are you okay with that if the same happens in your workplace? Are not schools a public space which should follow those same requirements? Which requirements do you propose to minimize risks? I understand that online school is a mediocre substitute, especially for elementary students, but there should be reasonable, science- based requirements in place for everybody´s safety.

I don't think that "minimize risk" should be the standard. Reduce risk. Manage risk. The societal costs of keeping schools closed are very high, and the societal benefits of opening school are also very high.

Then, which requirements do you propose, if any, to reduce or manage risks?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Online schooling during the fall semester is the responsible thing to do.

+1, and until there’s a vaccine with a proven track record

Anonymous wrote:Online schooling during the fall semester is the responsible thing to do.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

So, basically you are implying that we should do nothing and schools should be back to normal because children are not being affected. Are you okay with that if the same happens in your workplace? Are not schools a public space which should follow those same requirements? Which requirements do you propose to minimize risks? I understand that online school is a mediocre substitute, especially for elementary students, but there should be reasonable, science- based requirements in place for everybody´s safety.

I don't think that "minimize risk" should be the standard. Reduce risk. Manage risk. The societal costs of keeping schools closed are very high, and the societal benefits of opening school are also very high.

Then, which requirements do you propose, if any, to reduce or manage risks?

What "requirements" are you referring to? I have only seen "guidelines".

Anonymous wrote:MCPS seems to subtly testing who in school-based staff is willing to return before a vaccine. Last week, DH and I got emails stating that we could sign up for slots to come pack our classrooms. We were promised PPE. If we declined, MCPS would have everything packed for us. DH declined. I signed up for a slot. I have second thoughts several times a day. Then today, there was a survey asking who was willing to teach some form of summer school. I declined.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

So, basically you are implying that we should do nothing and schools should be back to normal because children are not being affected. Are you okay with that if the same happens in your workplace? Are not schools a public space which should follow those same requirements? Which requirements do you propose to minimize risks? I understand that online school is a mediocre substitute, especially for elementary students, but there should be reasonable, science- based requirements in place for everybody´s safety.

I don't think that "minimize risk" should be the standard. Reduce risk. Manage risk. The societal costs of keeping schools closed are very high, and the societal benefits of opening school are also very high.

Then, which requirements do you propose, if any, to reduce or manage risks?

Anonymous wrote:Washington Post in their lead editorial calls for a return to school. They quote an expert who says that children have lost 9months -12 months of learning that will never be recovered.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

So, basically you are implying that we should do nothing and schools should be back to normal because children are not being affected. Are you okay with that if the same happens in your workplace? Are not schools a public space which should follow those same requirements? Which requirements do you propose to minimize risks? I understand that online school is a mediocre substitute, especially for elementary students, but there should be reasonable, science- based requirements in place for everybody´s safety.

I don't think that "minimize risk" should be the standard. Reduce risk. Manage risk. The societal costs of keeping schools closed are very high, and the societal benefits of opening school are also very high.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

I'm talking about reasonable precautions in public so it's not spread elsewhere. We can only do so much in schools and that isn't much. Children need school and Internet school is a poor substitute for real school. Children are barely affected by the virus. This could go on for a very long time.

Teachers, administrators, building staff, and the children's family members, on the other hand...

Note that I'm not saying that schools should stay closed. I'm saying that people should stop implying that children are the only ones in schools.

How many of those people are actually in at-risk age groups? You have to be 70+ to be at any real risk.

Anonymous wrote:

So, basically you are implying that we should do nothing and schools should be back to normal because children are not being affected. Are you okay with that if the same happens in your workplace? Are not schools a public space which should follow those same requirements? Which requirements do you propose to minimize risks? I understand that online school is a mediocre substitute, especially for elementary students, but there should be reasonable, science- based requirements in place for everybody´s safety.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have really tried to listen and understand both sides. I think the place I get hung up is with the multi-generational households. We know that the majority of deaths are occurring in the elderly populations. So what do we do for families who live with elderly people and have young children in the home? It's just not as simple as saying that at-risk people should isolate.

We provide a distance-learning option for them.

That’s a good point. Allow people to opt-in to distance learning. We can’t do this forever. I know it won’t be “forever” and we all hope a vaccine comes later this year or next Spring but those are just hopes. At this point we don’t know when a vaccine arrives. As unlikely as it is, it could take five years for one. Do people want to keep this going for five years? We can’t structure school and the economy around exceptions. The exceptions need to have things done for them as much as possible (online school and grocery delivery for instance) and we need to take reasonable precautions to slow the spread (masks, stay 6 feet apart, don’t have people pack into small rooms) but we cannot function like this for an undetermined time.

I totally agree with you but following and observing those reasonable precautions is where you find the issues with schools. Many people packed in small rooms for a long period of time is the perfect definition for a school setting. How are you going to enforce those precautions? Students should wear masks for all seven hours they spend at school. Students should be in classes of no more than 10 students and spend all day in the same class 6 feet apart from each other. If there is enough room to do that, you are going to need twice or three times the number of teachers to teach those students. Those students that routinely do not follow those precautions or just tell you that they have the right to not wear a mask should stay at home and not allowed to come back. Students should be transported to and from school following social distancing, which may require double the number of buses, …

My point is that I also think that schools should reopen but we need to be aware that it will be something totally different from what school has been until March. We, as parents, need to support, ask for, and enforce those requirements and do not pretend that our children can keep on doing what they used to do at school before (go to get water and to the bathroom at their will, work in group settings, change classes and be with different students in different rooms, share any materials, or even talk to their best friends at all at school because now they are not in the same class so they cannot see one another at any time). I am okay with that for my middle school child, and I sincerely hope everybody claiming to open schools in September are also fine with that to minimize risks for everybody, specially teachers and school staff.

I'm talking about reasonable precautions in public so it's not spread elsewhere. We can only do so much in schools and that isn't much. Children need school and Internet school is a poor substitute for real school. Children are barely affected by the virus. This could go on for a very long time.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

I'm talking about reasonable precautions in public so it's not spread elsewhere. We can only do so much in schools and that isn't much. Children need school and Internet school is a poor substitute for real school. Children are barely affected by the virus. This could go on for a very long time.

Teachers, administrators, building staff, and the children's family members, on the other hand...

Note that I'm not saying that schools should stay closed. I'm saying that people should stop implying that children are the only ones in schools.