Anonymous wrote:I feel bad for Ms. Neal. I hope she gets a break. So many crazy parents who seem untethered to reality. We are in a pandemic. Covid is going crazy. We don’t care if staff is sick or out. We want kids in school learning. And if kids are left unsupervised, we will go nuts. Parents are expecting the impossible of her. And I’m sure central office is also causing all sorts of issues for her. I hope she doesn’t quit.

+1

Anonymous wrote:I feel bad for Ms. Neal. I hope she gets a break. So many crazy parents who seem untethered to reality. We are in a pandemic. Covid is going crazy. We don’t care if staff is sick or out. We want kids in school learning. And if kids are left unsupervised, we will go nuts. Parents are expecting the impossible of her. And I’m sure central office is also causing all sorts of issues for her. I hope she doesn’t quit.

I agree. I am not a huge Neal fan but this situation is impossible. I suppose if all the people on the fringes are pissed at you, you are probably doing the best thing. But it has to be difficult.

I feel bad for Ms. Neal. I hope she gets a break. So many crazy parents who seem untethered to reality. We are in a pandemic. Covid is going crazy. We don’t care if staff is sick or out. We want kids in school learning. And if kids are left unsupervised, we will go nuts. Parents are expecting the impossible of her. And I’m sure central office is also causing all sorts of issues for her. I hope she doesn’t quit.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is what comes of being determined to stay open.

This is what comes of everything else being a higher priority to stay open: Gyms, restaurants, sporting events, concerts, malls, bars, airports and movie theaters are all wide open. Teachers aren't getting covid at school - they are getting it at non-essential services. Close everything else and keep schools - a vital service - open.

Wow. People really still believe this.

-a teacher with covid who goes nowhere else

I hope they're trolls, Teacher. The problem is that influential people with letters after their name have gone on social media to say that schools don't spread Covid, and their posts are repeated ad nauseam by desperate parents who will grab on to any straw, however illogical, to keep their jobs and keep their children in school (I feel for them). It's unconscionable, since obviously the maskless lunches are Covid spreaders. It works when cases are low, and doesn't when cases are high. That's a mathematical fact. Disinformation is rife and as usual, teachers bear the brunt of it.

Disinformation is rife, and you're spreading it. Schools have not been shown to be major vectors for COVID, and given the mildness of the Omicron variant (and the fact that we are likely to see it drop precipitously as it has in other countries already) the panic displayed on this thread and is completely irrational. The only people who should be fearful are the unvaccinated. If you're immunocompromised, you've already had to be extra cautious throughout the pandemic, and shouldn't stop now, but the vast majority of kids, including the unvaccinated kids, are not going to experience this variant as anything more than a cold. What we do know to be harmful are school closures and the attendant mental health issues and learning loss. That actively harms children. The only thing teachers should "bear the brunt" of is their own (and their union's) unscientific efforts to keep DC schools closed for as long as they did. They bear responsibility for the harm they caused children in this city. Parent's haven't forgotten that.

Anonymous wrote:My son's 6th grade team at Deal sent a text an hour ago saying "glad most of you are staying safe and healthy today!" and then provided an assignment.

If they didn't want kids to go to school to learn, why not just say that? But to imply those of us who sent are kids have done the wrong this is insane. Talk about literally sending the wrong message to families.

My Deal 6th grader is at school today and we haven't received a text. If you're comfortable saying, which team is it?

My son's 6th grade team at Deal sent a text an hour ago saying "glad most of you are staying safe and healthy today!" and then provided an assignment.

If they didn't want kids to go to school to learn, why not just say that? But to imply those of us who sent are kids have done the wrong this is insane. Talk about literally sending the wrong message to families.

Anonymous wrote:^ sorry, forgot to explain the graph - it's the 7 day running average of new Covid cases per 100K.

You must understand that teachers are frontline workers. They are exposed to hundreds of students every day. It stands to reason they would be POSITIVE (NOT NECESSARILY SICK!) with Covid.

And please pay attention to this: staff in hospitals will have exactly the same problem. They will be POSITIVE (not necessarily sick!) and as a result, there will be a shortage of beds. Any public institution and business (bars and restaurants, a lot of which are already closing) whose workers face the public will have major staffing problems now and until some time in January.

Yes, this. I own a public-facing business. We have 2 staff members out right now. If I lose 1 or 2 full-time staff for 10 days (even if they aren't sick) during January we have to close. No, $$ coming in and it is a big problem as this is already our slow season.

Aargh, it got posted on the last page, everyone's posting at once. Sorry for the double post.

Why were y’all even sending your kids to school today? There is no learning happening today and Covid is spreading. Why put your kids at risk for nothing?

Graph didn't post?

^ sorry, forgot to explain the graph - it's the 7 day running average of new Covid cases per 100K.

You must understand that teachers are frontline workers. They are exposed to hundreds of students every day. It stands to reason they would be POSITIVE (NOT NECESSARILY SICK!) with Covid.

And please pay attention to this: staff in hospitals will have exactly the same problem. They will be POSITIVE (not necessarily sick!) and as a result, there will be a shortage of beds. Any public institution and business (bars and restaurants, a lot of which are already closing) whose workers face the public will have major staffing problems now and until some time in January.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I just got notification after 8am - they couldn’t have sent this notification sooner, before the vast majority of students left to get to school? That’s pathetic.

Give them some grace!!! They're trying to staff school with hundreds of students and staff out with Covid.

Nope. I don’t have a problem with them going virtual but don’t tell me they couldn’t send a notification before 8:01 (email) and 8:12 (text.)

Good Lord. How rigid are you? Are you 100 years old?

Text your 7th grader and tell him/her to turn around and come home. Not that hard.

That's not so easy for kids on the D30s buses

Absolutely. This is a real concern for those of us who live in Shepherd Park or other EOTP neighborhoods. The D31 picks up the kids between 7:20 and 7:30, so most were already at school when the message went out. There is no return bus from Deal to our neighborhood until 3:30, so now we have to leave work to go pick them up from school.

Exactly. Kids were stranded outside school and not allowed in with no available return buses. By waiting until after 8 AM to communicate this, parents could be far away at work, not even see the notifications that school is closed, etc.

Anonymous wrote:It was wrong to close school at 8:00 a.m., stranding middle school age kids. Make the call last night or at 5:00 a.m. This is extremely poor judgment.

I’m guessing DCPS Central would not allow Deal to go virtual for the last day when they were right on the edge with Covid and staffing. So here we are -

Anonymous wrote:I live in Fairfax. Are you saying 11-13 yo kids showed up for middle school and were turned away, with no buses to take them home or any responsible adults keeping them at school and making sure an adult picked them up? You know, that's insane, right?

Yes! We all know it’s insane.

Anonymous wrote:I live in Fairfax. Are you saying 11-13 yo kids showed up for middle school and were turned away, with no buses to take them home or any responsible adults keeping them at school and making sure an adult picked them up? You know, that's insane, right?

Yes, that's exactly what happened and yes, it's crazy. It's a serious health and safety issue. This is yet another data point that the Deal Principal doesn't care about the welfare of the students.