School in the Fall?

[kate1482]

We just received our district’s plan for opening in the Fall. I was surprised K-2 will be in person learning and 3-12 will be a hybrid. (Plus option to be fully remote for k-12). What are your districts planning on?

ETA- we have to let the district know by July 15th what our choice will be. School doesn’t start until Labor Day. They also want us to say we will have our on transportation. Masks are required on students and staff and 6ft social distancing will be enforced somehow.

[VillainV]

We have these options:

“Traditional” — full time in a school with modified behaviors. They will do social distancing “when possible” and “highly encourage, but not require” mask wear. More hand washing, more cleaning, different schedules for specials, etc. I’m not thrilled about the social distancing or mask wear, but I appreciate that they’re being realistic about this option.

“Remote” — full time at-home school, logged into the computer from 0745-1420 for elementary (with short breaks for lunch and recess) or whatever their normal school hours are. Follows same curriculum as Traditional, but adapted for at-home learning. The idea is that if kids are send home to quarantine, they can hop into a “remote” classroom and continue to learn the same things at the same pace.

“Virtual” — people who aren’t ready to send their kids back or who need more flexibility can use the third-party virtual learning partners that our district already uses (k12.com, etc). Follows state curriculum standards, but less contact with teachers and more reliance on parents teaching or kids self-teaching depending on age.

I’m not thrilled about any of these options.

[abs]

Our district is giving you the choice of full time in person or full time virtual. Our decision has to be made by July 24th. School doesn't start until August 19th. I get that the schools need to plan but I feel like we need longer to decide. Right now our cases are too high to plan on in person but by next month it may better.

Sigh. The full plan comes out tomorrow. Maybe it will be clearer then.

[sporklemotion]

It’s tentative, but they are asking parents to choose either remote or in-person for the fall. Depending on #s, it will either be full in-person or hybrid, with full remote for those who choose it. Of course, all of this is dependent upon current conditions in our state. Our numbers are improving (MA), but that could change.
Full remote is mostly asynchronous, with a daily check in with the teacher and written feedback as appropriate to the level. It has been sort of framed as something that may require parental oversight— I think they want to manage expectations and emphasize that kids will need to either be independent or have a parent available to oversee what happens in between check ins. In person would be desks 3 feet apart with specialists coming to the classroom and kids mostly not leaving their classrooms.
The high school seemed less clearly figured out— they are looking at staggering passing times and stuff but also seemed to suggest that a hybrid or remote model may be necessary there.
All kids will be using the same template for weekly plans so if things shut down, they’ll be used to the model. The district is attempting to do 1-to-1 with Chromebooks for 2-12. They are working on hot spots, too.
It seems as if they are planning for the best but expecting interruptions and trying to problem solve them.

[rooster222]

Jul 9, 2020 17:08:29 GMT -5 abs said:

Our district is giving you the choice of full time in person or full time virtual. Our decision has to be made by July 24th. School doesn't start until August 19th. I get that the schools need to plan but I feel like we need longer to decide. Right now our cases are too high to plan on in person but by next month it may better.

Sigh. The full plan comes out tomorrow. Maybe it will be clearer then.

Our district is offering the same thing but wants a decision by July 15. I really need more time.

[hocus2]

You can do hybrid with 1 day in school guaranteed. In larger schools it will be a 1/2/2 model and in schools with lower enrollments it will be a 2/3 model. You can also do a fully virtual program.

There are a lot of details to be worked out (prep periods, lunches, are teachers or students moving between classrooms, which content areas will be the focus of in class and what will be virtual). I am also not clear on how teachers will do virtual days in the hybrid model. Are there teachers who only teach in person and they teach each cohort the same thing over the 2 or 3 week cycle? Or are they going to shorten the in person day so teachers who teach live also have time to do something online as well. It is very unclear.

Overall the first month with be bad but by October I hope we find some sense of how it can come together. It will hard to be sure but still superior than what we had the last year with a huge range in quality from I just post random assignments to actual virtual education with a mix of assignments, videos, live lessons and other actives. My kids are also older and I WAH. If I had a 5-8 year old I would be panicking about the childcare issues such a messy schedule creates. I expect enrollment to drop because families will just find other more workable options like small privates that plan to open or homeschooling co-ops.

[goldengirlz]

No clue.

I’ve resigned myself to the fact that whatever the plan is, it’s going to be imperfect in some way — meaning it’s going to require a fair bit of juggling. But I’d like to get the bad news so we can start planning already.

[AdaraMarie]

Jul 9, 2020 17:47:02 GMT -5 rooster222 said:

Jul 9, 2020 17:08:29 GMT -5 abs said:

Our district is giving you the choice of full time in person or full time virtual. Our decision has to be made by July 24th. School doesn't start until August 19th. I get that the schools need to plan but I feel like we need longer to decide. Right now our cases are too high to plan on in person but by next month it may better.

Sigh. The full plan comes out tomorrow. Maybe it will be clearer then.

Our district is offering the same thing but wants a decision by July 15. I really need more time.

This is the same for my district but we have to decide by July 13th for an August 17th start and when you decide it is a commitment for the whole year. If you refuse to make a selection you are assigned in person with no bussing or computer support if they end up going remote.
Cases here are rising but not currently catastrophic. I contacted the school and the district for more information but they don't have answers to any of my questions; everything is TBD.

[sillygoosegirl]

Sign up for virtual school goes only until July 24th (school doesn't start until after Labor Day). They aren't releasing details on the hybrid model, except that they are committed to the 36 sq ft per student, which means they can't accommodate all students in the building full time. They seem to be specifically holding the details of the hybrid model until after they know how many students sign up for virtual. I'm assuming it will be anywhere between 2 days per week at school to 5 days per week at school, depending on the virtual program's popularity. I'm sure this unknown is causing a lot of parents heartburn, especially those for whom hybrid is their least-preferred option, but I can also see the need to do it this way (they did survey parents, but I imagine opinions are fluxuating). The district will be providing iPads (K-2) and Chromebooks (3-12) to all virtual students, and providing internet access assistance to students who need it.

[bdubs419]

Students will be split into 3 groups. 1 week in class, 2 weeks virtual. I am overwhelmed just thinking about it. Cases are still rising here and many schools are at capacity so I am not surprised at all that we aren’t doing 100% in person.

[lessel]

I keep telling myself there are no good choices.

DS1 is heading into K. Our district did the digital vs. in-person choice. Then they had an emergency meeting because cases are rising, and at least one school board rep was calling for 100% digital fall. They instead decided to delay the school year start for a week and require masks. Which has thus caused a shitstorm. I’m not expecting there will be much adherence to this, honestly. DS will wear a mask and he’s good about it, but he’s 5...I doubt it will last all day.

I’m so worried for all the teachers though. And the kids. And my family’s health (DH and I are higher risk and my mom is *really* high risk).

Even though I don’t love the risk, we’re sending him in person. As a long shot contingency, we’re also seeking admission to a local private school—would be in-person but it’s a much smaller school. But I don’t love that choice for a lot of reasons. I just feel like I need to pursue all the possibilities.

No good choices! Grumble.

[timorousbeastie]

Nothing has been announced for my district yet. If they give the option for 100% virtual, I’ll sign up DD for that. If not, I am likely going to switch to homeschooling her for the year. It is absolutely not ideal, but I SAH so at least I don’t have to worry about a job to juggle at the same time (seriously, my heart goes out to all you working parents - I can’t imagine how much harder this is on you!). I just don’t have any confidence that sending her to school wouldn’t cause more issues, and given that I’m high risk, I just can’t take the chance when I have the option to keep her home.

[abs]

I’m surprised so many schools are planning hybrid still. That was the plan for our district in Texas but then the state education agency said they won’t get fully funded if they don’t open full time to students that want it. So plan A was thrown out and on to B.

[Susie]

Still completely TBD.

[magpie]

We are virtual until at least labor day (and also until we can get our transmission rate down). After that, parents choose of they want virtual or face to face, with the expectation that all face to face will possibly (probably?) need to go virtual whenever it is necessary, based on the data.

[dcn]

School starts in 3 weeks and no decision. They did say it would either be all in person or all virtual, no hybrid. I’m guessing we will be virtual at first since cases are increasing here, and the main condition for in person school is 2 weeks of lowering cases.

I have been researching homeschool curriculum because the thought of doing distance learning for 6 hours a day makes me want to cry for Ds1. But they haven’t communicated at all what the virtual learning will be like so I’m waiting for more info.

Ds2 is supposed to go to pre k but other than an email that he got in we haven’t had any communication so who knows.

Luckily (?) I sah so while not ideal we will manage easier than if I had to also juggle a job.

I want kids back in school but I want teachers and staff to feel and to be safe, so if we have to do virtual or homeschool we will do that, and I’m willing to suck it up to leave space for kids who NEED to be there in person.

[lynn07]

Jul 9, 2020 18:00:03 GMT -5 AdaraMarie said:

Jul 9, 2020 17:47:02 GMT -5 rooster222 said:

Our district is offering the same thing but wants a decision by July 15. I really need more time.

This is the same for my district but we have to decide by July 13th for an August 17th start and when you decide it is a commitment for the whole year. If you refuse to make a selection you are assigned in person with no bussing or computer support if they end up going remote.
Cases here are rising but not currently catastrophic. I contacted the school and the district for more information but they don't have answers to any of my questions; everything is TBD.

Are you in CO? This sounds like our districts plan. I don’t feel confident in it, but don’t really feel like we have a choice, either, since there is no way DH and I can commit to teaching 3 kids for the entire school year while also working.

[lolalolalola]

Our province isn't telling the schools what requirements they will have until August 1. So, we will find out after that. School starts here Sept 1.

[penguingrrl]

No clue yet. They will be releasing the plan to parents by 8/8. We’re only a few weeks into summer break and don’t go back until September, so there’s a lot of time. There’s extra confusion because our superintendent retired effective 6/30, our new superintendent couldn’t get out of his current contract so can’t start until 8/3, so we have an interim superintendent who has never been involved with our district and just moved to our part of the state a year ago. So basically our district is in chaos in the midst of this.

[imojoebunny]

We don't know, yet, but given our current numbers, and our household situations, I am leaning toward on-line for fall. Our family has the capacity to manage it, my kids have done fairly well with being home and distance learning, so I feel like we should opt for that, and free up space for kids who really need to an in person option. My DH has some cardiac problems, though he is in really good physical shape, and always has been. As it currently stands, given what we know, that is a concern for covid. My least favorite option that they have in the hopper is an A/B schedule, where all kids will go 2 days a week on alternating days. Seems like a terrible scheme for teachers.

[zarapipe]

No idea. I live in NC. Our district has been less than forthcoming with their plan. The gov also hasn’t released info yet.

[Velar Fricative]

DD1 is going into 2nd in an NYC public school and DD2 is going into a publicly-funded 3K program at her private daycare.

It is possible DD2 will be able to go 5 days a week starting in September but we don’t know for sure. NYC just announced K-12 plans but we are still two months out from the first day of school and a lot can and will change. But all the options do not allow for her to attend all 5 days a week. That’s pretty much all we know for sure so far.

Ditto that there are no good choices. I think NYC has the least shitty options on the table right now but I’m also married to a teacher and while it will impact our household, I’m also annoyed as hell by what will be expected of teachers without additional funding.

[bookqueen15]

Florida here. Currently full time in person, e-learning through your school, or virtual school through the district. We have one more week to make a decision and I go back and forth about what to do. School is supposed to start August 10th here.

[redpenmama]

We had to rank three options in a district survey but no decision has been made. The options are:

1. M-Th full-time, in person with masks; full-time distance virtual available. Friday is a cleaning day (unclear if they will distance learn on that day).
2. M/W or Tu/Th full days with smaller cohorts; virtual learning the other three days
3. M-Th full-time one week, full-time virtual the next. So, on 4, off 10.

The only thing we know for sure is that the start date has been pushed back to August 24th to give teachers more time to plan.

[jewel]

Our district is offering:

In person - full time in the classroom, following CDC guidelines “when practicable.” Class sizes to be determined by the number of kids opting into other choices, but currently expected to be 1-4 kids lower than usual.

Hybrid - 2 days in class. 3 days remote. Hybrid classes offered on only 2 campuses, with a max of 17 kids per class. Again, following CDC guidelines when practicable.

Virtual - classes are assigned and taught by grade level teachers, dedicated to online learning only. Instruction to be a combo of prepped calendar work, prerecorded videos, live group instruction, small group instruction, 1:1, and parent check ins.

We have until tomorrow to choose, with class starting on Aug 6th. Families can make changes at each trimester, based on availability in the program they’d like to switch to. As of right now, 10% of the district’s students are signed up for hybrid or virtual, 90% staying in regular in-person school.

We are in northern Ca and our county has an unbelievably high percentage increase in cases (like 500+% higher than March). We got a letter today basically saying that at this point, in person school may or may not start on time. If/when it does start, expect regular pauses as cases pop up in schools.

We chose virtual, which I’m not excited about, but we are very lucky to be able to manage just fine.

[sdlaura]

I’m jealous of everyone that has the options for full time in person school. I’ll be surprised if we get any in person school with the California teachers association lobbying for 100% virtual. We’ve never considered private school before, but this week I’ve toured a different private school everyday because I hope for my kids to be in school in person five days a week and feel like that’s the best shot at it.

[AdaraMarie]

Jul 9, 2020 19:41:58 GMT -5 lynn07 said:

Jul 9, 2020 18:00:03 GMT -5 AdaraMarie said:

This is the same for my district but we have to decide by July 13th for an August 17th start and when you decide it is a commitment for the whole year. If you refuse to make a selection you are assigned in person with no bussing or computer support if they end up going remote.
Cases here are rising but not currently catastrophic. I contacted the school and the district for more information but they don't have answers to any of my questions; everything is TBD.

Are you in CO? This sounds like our districts plan. I don’t feel confident in it, but don’t really feel like we have a choice, either, since there is no way DH and I can commit to teaching 3 kids for the entire school year while also working.

Yes, we're probably in the same district. I also can't commit to a year of online school for 2 kids as a single mom. I don't believe their in person plan is safe but I have to sign up for it anyway. Masks encouraged but not required, cohorts (by grade, classroom where they can) and distancing (not really possible) sounds like it won't be much different than last year for elementary other than bussing. No masks at all for lunch and recess with the whole grade and no masks for pe.
It is killing me to know I will be sending my kids to a place I don't think is safe. I feel that the schools will do the best they can with what they get from the district and state but it doesn't seem like enough. I hope they refine it to something better or the teachers strike or...something in the next 5 weeks.

[lolo]

We have three options:
A) in person plus distance learning, starting with two days a week in person when they resume in person
B) full time virtual
C) independent study, with the school district providing the curriculum and parents providing the instruction

I'm likely to choose C because I know in person spots are really important for essential workers and with me SAH, I can do it. Distance learning didn't go well for DD either.

[ssmjlm]

No plans have been announced.

The only thing we know is that they are charging the $50/year technology fee and have adjusted the devices slightly. They actually haven't announced the technology fee, if you clicked a link in an email and then scrolled down to the bottom of a page, it was in there buried. They also said the only way you can get out of the fee is by petitioning to the principal who will decide. Not even taking into account those on reduced/free lunch programs, but obviously this is a separate issue.

[imimahoney]

Massachusetts is a big 🤷‍♀️

I'm on my Union's e board and we will need to negotiate any reopening plans as they will most certainly raise issues for both students and staff.

Those mtgs are just not getting started.