From what I am hearing through friends in admin masks are tricky. If the states require them they also have to provide funding for them. Therefore many states only recommended them. Same with districts. It makes no sense to me because we have school supplies that we have to provide every year so I don't see why masks are any different.
But are school supplies required or suggested? I feel like a kid could show up with nothing and they would have things provided for them. That is interesting about funding with requiring masks.
I am just continually frustrated that there is NO federal support on how to figure this shit out. Dept of Ed should have gotten a huge slush of funds to help schools. Provide teachers with paid working time in the summer, technology support etc etc etc. Instead we are operating on a normal budget in insane times.
This was put out by the three unions. I don't know how strong they actually are though.
Educator Unions Urge FCPS to Continue Distance Learning
Fairfax County, VA – On Tuesday, June 23, Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS) issued an updated “return to school” plan that appeared to provide employees and students with the option to work and learn in the environment that they feel is most safe for the 2020-2021 school year. FCPS has asked employees and families to select their personal preferences for returning to school for face-to-face instruction or remaining at home for virtual instruction by July 10th. Without providing much more detailed information about each of these options, neither group is able to make an informed decision at this time.
Due to lack of consistency and transparency in the FCPS plan, unions that represent Fairfax County Public Schools employees are calling on FCPS to work with union leadership to develop much more detailed clear and concise implementation plans for both scenarios, well in advance of any selection deadlines for employees and families. When finalizing its plan, FCPS should follow four basic principles, and prioritize: health expertise, educator voice, access to protection and a focus on equity. Success must be measured far beyond the first few weeks of the new school year.
Given overwhelming educator concern with the ability of FCPS to keep employees and students safe, Association of Fairfax Professional Educators, Fairfax County Federation of Teachers and Fairfax Education Association encourage our respective union members to clearly state their preference for continued virtual learning until such time as adequate information is made available for employees and families to make informed decisions about returning to face-to-face instruction.
“Our educators are overwhelmingly not comfortable returning to schools. They fear for their lives, the lives of their students and the lives of their families,” said Tina Williams, President of Fairfax County Federation of Teachers. “We call on FCPS to put workers and students first by listening to the employees on the frontlines of this crisis. Due to FCPS’ lack of consistency and transparency, we encourage our members to continue with distance learning to keep our community safe.”
“It is absolutely unacceptable that FCPS has established an arbitrary deadline for employees and students to make decisions about the next school year without adequate data or specific information regarding their options,” stated Becca Ferrick, President of Association of Fairfax Professional Educators. “Asking our employees to make such an uninformed decision is akin to asking them to sign a blank check. We will not do that.”
“We believe our community as a whole should not return to in-person learning until a vaccine or treatment is widely available for COVID-19. All staff should be provided the ability to continue virtual instruction as long as there is community spread of this virus,” stated Kimberly Adams, President of the Fairfax Education Association. “We will continue to make every possible effort to assist FCPS in developing a plan that keeps health and safety first.”
Oh wow thats very interesting. Are teachers going to strike over this? What a terrible situation for all involved. I wonder how many other teacher communities will have these demands to do virtual instruction. I’m wondering if other industries will also follow to demand non in-person work.
Are schools that are doing in-person learning requiring teachers to wear masks? I certainly wouldn’t want to go in to a work environment without the mask requirement. It’s required at my work place, but I don’t know what’s going on in other states that don’t have mask rules in general.
Virginia is a right to work state, so we don't actually strike here. We put out statements like this and then do what we are told.
From what I understand, staff and students will have to wear masks when developmentally appropriate, although there hasn't been clarification on what that means.
From what I am hearing through friends in admin masks are tricky. If the states require them they also have to provide funding for them. Therefore many states only recommended them. Same with districts. It makes no sense to me because we have school supplies that we have to provide every year so I don't see why masks are any different.
But are school supplies required or suggested? I feel like a kid could show up with nothing and they would have things provided for them. That is interesting about funding with requiring masks.
I am just continually frustrated that there is NO federal support on how to figure this shit out. Dept of Ed should have gotten a huge slush of funds to help schools. Provide teachers with paid working time in the summer, technology support etc etc etc. Instead we are operating on a normal budget in insane times.
This is very true. School supplies are generally communal and you can't really do with that masks. Once again having no national leadership comes back to haunt us. Once again having education being an afterthought comes back to haunt us. If states were allowed to put all the money they would have put into state testing into school safety instead we wouldn't have to worry.
Post by fancynewbeesly on Jun 30, 2020 8:13:06 GMT -5
Oh I completely agree that is why they aren’t mandated here. NJ doesn’t want to supply them.
But I can see a lot of teachers (especially retirement age or high risk) just walking away from it.
Right now we aren’t sure about what to do with DD. I know I don’t feel comfortable working if kids aren’t required masks. I definitely will see how the beginning of school is to see if we will enroll dd.
From what I am hearing through friends in admin masks are tricky. If the states require them they also have to provide funding for them. Therefore many states only recommended them. Same with districts. It makes no sense to me because we have school supplies that we have to provide every year so I don't see why masks are any different.
I will say, IL is providing cloth masks for every staff member, faculty, and student in public schools in IL. I know not every one may be able to do that, but I do think every state should. Or, you know, our federal government if we actually had a functioning one!
Oh wow thats very interesting. Are teachers going to strike over this? What a terrible situation for all involved. I wonder how many other teacher communities will have these demands to do virtual instruction. I’m wondering if other industries will also follow to demand non in-person work.
Are schools that are doing in-person learning requiring teachers to wear masks? I certainly wouldn’t want to go in to a work environment without the mask requirement. It’s required at my work place, but I don’t know what’s going on in other states that don’t have mask rules in general.
Virginia is a right to work state, so we don't actually strike here. We put out statements like this and then do what we are told.
From what I understand, staff and students will have to wear masks when developmentally appropriate, although there hasn't been clarification on what that means.
Right. And since the masks are required here - not encouraged - FCPS will have to be prepared to provide if necessary. Hopefully this doesn't go the way of the Q4 distance learning debacle. Also why I'm working with my 4th grader NOW to wear masks and not on 8/25.
I listed to Emily Oster’s IG Live about Covid and I really like the idea of doing weekly pooled salvia testing to identify asymptomatic spread in schools. I would feel a lot more comfortable continuing to see my parents with him in school if they were doing proactive testing.
Also doesn't it seem a little late to just be forming the task force? I don't disagree that it's a lot on individual states and districts but shouldn't they have already been working on this?
We go back after Labor Day in September. The letter went out on the last day of scheduled classes. With the vibe “Today is our last day of classes, next week we will continue with admin days, training and planning. As part of that planning is our hopeful return to school in the fall, and it is our districts plan to form a task force ...”
Ok that makes sense. I guess I forget that not everyone has been out for over a month like us. We go back the second week in August.
From what I am hearing through friends in admin masks are tricky. If the states require them they also have to provide funding for them. Therefore many states only recommended them. Same with districts. It makes no sense to me because we have school supplies that we have to provide every year so I don't see why masks are any different.
But are school supplies required or suggested? I feel like a kid could show up with nothing and they would have things provided for them. That is interesting about funding with requiring masks. I am just continually frustrated that there is NO federal support on how to figure this shit out. Dept of Ed should have gotten a huge slush of funds to help schools. Provide teachers with paid working time in the summer, technology support etc etc etc. Instead we are operating on a normal budget in insane times.
Yep. I'm going to hope that there are advocacy and lobbying groups working on it? Right when things started medicaid and medicare wasn't reimbursing physicians for phone calls to patients and the reimbursement for video visits was so tiny. It was essentially punishing those of us who take care of the poor/underserved who don't have access to phones and internet reliably. Now finally we're getting reimbursed like we should after a lot of fighting for it at both the state and federal level, however many of us are still working a lot hard than before with less income due to budget cuts to healthcare centers. The whole access to PPE thing is still another battle that's ongoing.
It definitely seems like at least at the state level there would be some accountability, but I guess when you have states that don't even think masks should be worn it's easy to understand why this is a shitshow.
Virginia is a right to work state, so we don't actually strike here. We put out statements like this and then do what we are told.
From what I understand, staff and students will have to wear masks when developmentally appropriate, although there hasn't been clarification on what that means.
Right. And since the masks are required here - not encouraged - FCPS will have to be prepared to provide if necessary. Hopefully this doesn't go the way of the Q4 distance learning debacle. Also why I'm working with my 4th grader NOW to wear masks and not on 8/25.
But aren't masks only required for ages 10 and up? I wonder how that will impact the in school requirement. I know they weren't saying anything about masks for students during the school board meetings last week, but I don't know if that's changed.
Illinois is requiring everyone - staff, faculty, and students - to wear masks. I would absolutely NOT have been OK with them not requiring that. I know some states are only requiring the teachers to wear masks and that makes no sense to me to not have students wearing masks. I get that it sucks for children to wear a mask all day. I am not super jazzed about wearing one all day either, but of course I will. I just don't understand that policy from a safety standpoint, though.
I would much rather my kid be required to wear a mask at school than sit at home watching TV while I try to work until Fall 2021.
Right. You cannot complain that school isn’t opening and also not commit to doing the things that make it safer for schools to open.
"Hello babies. Welcome to Earth. It's hot in the summer and cold in the winter. It's round and wet and crowded. On the outside, babies, you've got a hundred years here. There's only one rule that I know of, babies-"God damn it, you've got to be kind.”
From what I am hearing through friends in admin masks are tricky. If the states require them they also have to provide funding for them. Therefore many states only recommended them. Same with districts. It makes no sense to me because we have school supplies that we have to provide every year so I don't see why masks are any different.
But are school supplies required or suggested? I feel like a kid could show up with nothing and they would have things provided for them. That is interesting about funding with requiring masks.
I am just continually frustrated that there is NO federal support on how to figure this shit out. Dept of Ed should have gotten a huge slush of funds to help schools. Provide teachers with paid working time in the summer, technology support etc etc etc. Instead we are operating on a normal budget in insane times.
They may have. Though after today’s SCOTUS ruling, that money is going to religious schools 🙄
"Hello babies. Welcome to Earth. It's hot in the summer and cold in the winter. It's round and wet and crowded. On the outside, babies, you've got a hundred years here. There's only one rule that I know of, babies-"God damn it, you've got to be kind.”
From what I am hearing through friends in admin masks are tricky. If the states require them they also have to provide funding for them. Therefore many states only recommended them. Same with districts. It makes no sense to me because we have school supplies that we have to provide every year so I don't see why masks are any different.
I will say, IL is providing cloth masks for every staff member, faculty, and student in public schools in IL. I know not every one may be able to do that, but I do think every state should. Or, you know, our federal government if we actually had a functioning one!
They should for sure. But there are so many kids who won't be able to wash their mask every night.
None of the solutions are simple, but I guess we need to aim for better.
Right. And since the masks are required here - not encouraged - FCPS will have to be prepared to provide if necessary. Hopefully this doesn't go the way of the Q4 distance learning debacle. Also why I'm working with my 4th grader NOW to wear masks and not on 8/25.
But aren't masks only required for ages 10 and up? I wonder how that will impact the in school requirement. I know they weren't saying anything about masks for students during the school board meetings last week, but I don't know if that's changed.
During the school board meetings they voted unanimously to require the masks in school. I don't know how they are going to enforce for 10 and under, but my 9 year old will be wearing one. This is from the FAQ: Cloth face coverings will be worn by staff and students (where developmentally appropriate). Cloth face coverings will be provided to students as needed and FCPS will ensure all staff has the necessary equipment based on their role (ex: masks, gowns, gloves, face shields, etc).
In regions with a high case count, the schools will have to pivot to 100%distance learning. Otherwise:
- All staff wearing masks - Kids in grades 6 and up wearing masks all day - Kids K-5 wearing masks on the bus and in common areas. - Kids eating lunch in the classroom. - Desks 6 feet apart.
I'm guessing now each district will come up with their plans that follow the guidelines. Our superintendent retired, today is his last day so this should be fun.
I will say, IL is providing cloth masks for every staff member, faculty, and student in public schools in IL. I know not every one may be able to do that, but I do think every state should. Or, you know, our federal government if we actually had a functioning one!
They should for sure. But there are so many kids who won't be able to wash their mask every night.
None of the solutions are simple, but I guess we need to aim for better.
Ideally I’d love to see five masks for each student and also readily available disposable ones for people who forget their mask at home. I know I will be buying packs of disposables for my own room out of pocket for kids who show up without but it shouldn’t have to come from teachers’ pockets. I know my school has washers and dryers and offer to do laundry for students who can’t wash their clothes otherwise but not sure they could take on washing all of their masks. I guess it depends how many would need that service.
Post by NewOrleans on Jun 30, 2020 16:15:39 GMT -5
I know that this is probably small potatoes compared to other concerns, but... what about group work? I’m not talking group projects— I mean, can students partner up face-to-face to work on daily tasks together during in-person class? It just seems so standard a practice to have small group discussions or lab partners, etc.
Can a teacher wander around and help kids from right next to them? If they have devices, the teacher certainly shouldn’t touch them.
Can a teacher conference with students about reading, grades, assignments?
Those are little daily details but they because they are so ingrained, they can’t get lost even in the face of large concerns like masks. Guidance is needed on everything. ☹️
I know that this is probably small potatoes compared to other concerns, but... what about group work? I’m not talking group projects— I mean, can students partner up face-to-face to work on daily tasks together during in-person class? It just seems so standard a practice to have small group discussions or lab partners, etc.
Can a teacher wander around and help kids from right next to them? If they have devices, the teacher certainly shouldn’t touch them.
Can a teacher conference with students about reading, grades, assignments?
Those are little daily details but they because they are so ingrained, they can’t get lost even in the face of large concerns like masks. Guidance is needed on everything. ☹️
I think they are going to have to form pods. It will be much easier in elementary but it could work in junior high/high school as well. Like similar level kids can group together in say groups of 4 and do projects together, collaborate, whatever. This kind of work is SO important in school...I hope it's not just stare at a computer screen and learn through that all day.
So many questions. So few answers. Again I want to iterate I feel so awful for those making the decisions. No one will be happy no matter what happens.
In regions with a high case count, the schools will have to pivot to 100%distance learning. Otherwise:
- All staff wearing masks - Kids in grades 6 and up wearing masks all day - Kids K-5 wearing masks on the bus and in common areas. - Kids eating lunch in the classroom. - Desks 6 feet apart.
I'm guessing now each district will come up with their plans that follow the guidelines. Our superintendent retired, today is his last day so this should be fun.
From the MI plan: Strongly recommended: -Students who develop a fever or become ill with COVID-19 symptoms at school should wear a mask and be transported by their parent or guardian, emergency contact, or ambulance if clinically unstable, for off-site testing. -Symptomatic students and staff sent home from school should be kept home until they have tested negative for COVID-19, or have been released from isolation according to CDC guidelines.
That right there is the number one reason why I don’t think in person school is going to work. On the one hand, yes, it’s incredibly important to find out if a student/staff has COVID ASAP to keep it from spreading. But there is a huge range of symptoms that could be caused by many, many other illnesses. Is every student going to have to be tested, or stay out of school for two weeks, every single time they have a cough or runny nose or upset stomach? I feel like the majority of the school would be out for most of the winter.
Meanwhile in Florida, DeSatan just wiped out the entire $29.4 million budget for a suite of online education services that have become critical to students and faculty during the Covid-19 outbreak.
Meanwhile in Florida, DeSatan just wiped out the entire $29.4 million budget for a suite of online education services that have become critical to students and faculty during the Covid-19 outbreak.
In regions with a high case count, the schools will have to pivot to 100%distance learning. Otherwise:
- All staff wearing masks - Kids in grades 6 and up wearing masks all day - Kids K-5 wearing masks on the bus and in common areas. - Kids eating lunch in the classroom. - Desks 6 feet apart.
I'm guessing now each district will come up with their plans that follow the guidelines. Our superintendent retired, today is his last day so this should be fun.
From the MI plan: Strongly recommended: -Students who develop a fever or become ill with COVID-19 symptoms at school should wear a mask and be transported by their parent or guardian, emergency contact, or ambulance if clinically unstable, for off-site testing. -Symptomatic students and staff sent home from school should be kept home until they have tested negative for COVID-19, or have been released from isolation according to CDC guidelines.
That right there is the number one reason why I don’t think in person school is going to work. On the one hand, yes, it’s incredibly important to find out if a student/staff has COVID ASAP to keep it from spreading. But there is a huge range of symptoms that could be caused by many, many other illnesses. Is every student going to have to be tested, or stay out of school for two weeks, every single time they have a cough or runny nose or upset stomach? I feel like the majority of the school would be out for most of the winter.
A couple of things here, yes it could be anything which means I’m going to take them to the pediatrician so they can write a letter saying this is strep throat or influenza or whatever it is. I’m not going to quarantine 2 weeks for those, just the time my doctor says to quarantine.
But to have to do that as a parent plus drive through Covid testing is a lot. Testing needs to be available in doctor offices and clinics. You could still call ahead and wait (masked outside). But I don’t see taking Little Tommy for 10 covid tests this winter when 8 of them are colds, and 2 of them are other random stuff.
Maybe with the masks the influenza, strep, bronchitis, colds etc will be less.
Our board of education is supposed to be announcing their proposed plan tonight. The meeting was supposed to start at 5, but then they went to private, executive session, allegedly until 5:15. That was 90 minutes ago. I'm guessing they've presented the union with the plan, but it's anyone's guess right now.
Edit: our board presented their plan, with the superintendent's approval. Totally screws over prek-8 teachers; students in those grades going 2 days a week, not being required to wear masks; teachers expected to do everything and no mention of how they're going to deal with our planning, lunches or breaks. Not even specials, because those will be during the online days. I've never been so thankful for our union.
Our school announced yesterday that masks will be required for students and staff. The school is providing students with 2 cloth masks and teachers with 4. They are also instituting temp checks before students enter buildings or get on buses (although its not clear to me what happens if a student has a fever when they get to school sans parent).
They are also updated ventilation/AC systems and maintaining 6 feet on the bus (although I am not sure how that is going to work.
I am glad they required masks and I think my kids will wear them all day. I do have concerns with them taking them off at lunch and putting them back on/keeping them safe while off, but we shall work on a plan.
This is only kind of related to regular school, but my kids go to daycare inside an elementary school that is run by the same company that runs the before and after care in more than 50% of my county’s schools. We received an email from them yesterday that they are being shut out of all discussions. They asked us to email some county and school officials which we did but wtf. Parents cannot go back to work without before and after care! It’s essential!
A month ago, the plan in Denver was one of three hybrid options with classes split into two cohorts - alternating days for four days a week, with the fifth day set aside for students who need extra help, teacher planning, etc. (ABABC); alternating two-day chunks with the same reserved day each week (AABBC); or alternating four-day weeks (AAAAC/BBBBC). We preferred the last option, to give more time for information retention and building learning momentum, and placing less of a cleaning and disinfecting burden on staff since the switches between cohorts would be less frequent. In all cases, there would be a minimum of 40% in-class instruction, and the rest would be virtual. They sent out surveys and families voted on options.
Then, last week, they decided school in the fall would be 100% in-person. Similar requirements to other districts would be in place: masks, distance, eating in classroom, etc. And there's a 100% virtual option available. A significant shift in direction, to be sure. They sent out another survey about it, so we'll see what sticks.
Our school in particular has a lot of frustrated parents. We're a 100% HGT campus, and most kids are working at a minimum of 1-2 grade levels above their age-level peers at other schools and have a range of social and emotional needs related to their neurodiversity. Lots of parents don't feel comfortable sending kids back full time, but the virtual option is run by the district, not the school, so there's currently no accommodations in place for kids with special needs. We're also a school choice state, so if able parents opted to homeschool kids for the year instead of enrolling them in one of the district options to attempt to meet their educational and emotional needs, they'd lose their spot at our school (most schools have "reserved" spots for kids within the geographical boundaries, but our school is 100% choice, so kids come from all over the place).
There are no perfect answers, and being able to plan is important, but with cases rising significantly almost everywhere at this point, making this decision seems premature.
From the MI plan: Strongly recommended: -Students who develop a fever or become ill with COVID-19 symptoms at school should wear a mask and be transported by their parent or guardian, emergency contact, or ambulance if clinically unstable, for off-site testing. -Symptomatic students and staff sent home from school should be kept home until they have tested negative for COVID-19, or have been released from isolation according to CDC guidelines.
That right there is the number one reason why I don’t think in person school is going to work. On the one hand, yes, it’s incredibly important to find out if a student/staff has COVID ASAP to keep it from spreading. But there is a huge range of symptoms that could be caused by many, many other illnesses. Is every student going to have to be tested, or stay out of school for two weeks, every single time they have a cough or runny nose or upset stomach? I feel like the majority of the school would be out for most of the winter.
A couple of things here, yes it could be anything which means I’m going to take them to the pediatrician so they can write a letter saying this is strep throat or influenza or whatever it is. I’m not going to quarantine 2 weeks for those, just the time my doctor says to quarantine.
But to have to do that as a parent plus drive through Covid testing is a lot. Testing needs to be available in doctor offices and clinics. You could still call ahead and wait (masked outside). But I don’t see taking Little Tommy for 10 covid tests this winter when 8 of them are colds, and 2 of them are other random stuff.
Maybe with the masks the influenza, strep, bronchitis, colds etc will be less.
I keep thinking about this. ALLLL the other stuff kids get sick with isn't going away. So every time a kid has some kind of symptom, we have to assume its COVID and get tested? Logistically, how does this work? Same issue with working parents and hybrid schedules. Taking all that time off for testing lines or even doctors offices to rule out COVID. Not directing this at anyone or any school plans, just venting here about more aspects of this.
The logistics are so crazy. I think eventually you are going to just have to sign a waiver and say if you get COVID at school it's not their fault. This is what we've had to do to use the community pool, what many activities are requiring, and I think camps (I haven't paid too much attention...we aren't utilizing camps but are using the pool). Kids and teachers can't quarantine every time they cough.