Are you sending your kids to school next month?

My county in MD is having a dispute with the Governor. The county has mandated virtual schooling for public schools for the first semester (until January 21). The county public health official also restricted private schools from starting in person before October 1. The governor overruled that by amending his previous executive order saying school systems and private schools should have sole authority to determine when and how to safely reopen.

So what say you DIS? Should counties be able to keep private schools closed as well as public schools?
Does the state normally have a large amount of control over private schools? Or are private schools normally allowed to do things on their own?
 
My county in MD is having a dispute with the Governor. The county has mandated virtual schooling for public schools for the first semester (until January 21). The county public health official also restricted private schools from starting in person before October 1. The governor overruled that by amending his previous executive order saying school systems and private schools should have sole authority to determine when and how to safely reopen.

So what say you DIS? Should counties be able to keep private schools closed as well as public schools?

That's a tough question. The private schools are operating within the same communities as the public schools. Kids at the private schools may have siblings in public, or friends/family that they interact with that don't attend private school. Teachers at the private school may have children in public, or vice versa. Just because it isn't public doesn't mean it's in a closed bubble of influence to the local community.
 
Can i give my superintendent your superintendent's number? LOL! I would much rather that be the plan than what we have been offered. Full remote taught by district teachers was not on the table when our school committee voted.


Our district isn’t offering the full course catalog virtually so I’m envious the pp has that option.
 
Our District is only offering in-person or virtual academy.

The virtual option offers the full course catalog and is taught live by District teachers (not 3rd party), which allows for seamless exit/re-entry during quarters or semesters.

We are going virtual for the 1st Semester for our kids. If in-person works out fine, then that's great, and we'll re-enter in the Spring. If in-person goes all sorts of sideways and the schools get closed, then we know our kids are safe and are already ahead of the game for the virtual learning.
My logic as well. We decided to start online for our kid, we can change with a week notice. I want to see how the next 6 weeks plays out...
 


My county in MD is having a dispute with the Governor. The county has mandated virtual schooling for public schools for the first semester (until January 21). The county public health official also restricted private schools from starting in person before October 1. The governor overruled that by amending his previous executive order saying school systems and private schools should have sole authority to determine when and how to safely reopen.

So what say you DIS? Should counties be able to keep private schools closed as well as public schools?

My take on this is that if counties have the capacity to enact stricter rules than the state in terms of other elements of pandemic response (restaurants reopening, retail reopening, mask orders, etc.), then they should have a similar capacity in terms of dictating whether private schools should be able to reopen.

Should counties have that ability? Part of me thinks they should, but I could see the debate. My take is that if states have the ability to invoke emergency powers separate from those of the nation as a whole, counties to some degree should as well.
 
Should counties have that ability? Part of me thinks they should, but I could see the debate. My take is that if states have the ability to invoke emergency powers separate from those of the nation as a whole, counties to some degree should as well.
It usually works both ways--counties want the ability to do stricter (which normally they generally have been able to with a few exceptions) or looser (which normally they generally haven't been able to with a few exceptions). State control vs county control has been the heart of many battles in my state (which is not MD) since the beginning and I know other states have been this way as well.

It's stating the obvious that they are all part of the community but that's the way with metros anyways. Different counties that make up a metro all over have had differing rules even though they are all part of the same community which both is a pro and a con when it comes to community spread. The reason I asked to the poster about the control aspect is I could see why a private school would want to retain the control if they've generally had that in the past especially in relation to just how much funding/interaction the state or county is having with them (meaning are they generally more autonomous) even if there's the understanding that the virus doesn't differentiate between private or public schooling.
 
It sounds crazy, but then you consider there are probably going to be situations that kids have to get tested even when there’s no reason to suspect they have Covid (camp requirements and the like) and it wouldn’t make sense to keep them out of school over it. And if getting tested means kids can’t go to school while they await results, some parents may avoid getting their kids tested even if they think there might have been an exposure. So really, it probably doesn’t make sense to enact a policy where kids are barred from school once they get tested and instead leave it to parents to use good sense in determining whether it’s safe for their child to be in school. Unfortunately, we already know good sense is lacking in a lot of people and this whole thing is going to be a giant mess.
I totally get what you’re saying but I still think if someone is tested they should have to wait for the results before going to school. Companies won’t let people work while awaiting results, so why should schools?
 


I finally have some details of our back-to-school plan. It seems like the whole hybrid idea has been scrapped. Parents have a choice between in-person on a normal schedule or fully remote, and will be committed to the choice they've made for the duration of the quarter. Preliminary surveys suggest about 15% of our students will take the virtual option. The in person learning is going to be mostly normal - totes will replace lockers, for more ability to spread the students out at start/end times, and we're still working out lunch because the state plan mandates mid-day classroom cleaning so the original plan to just have the kids eat in their rooms won't work. But to a larger extent than I expected, school's going to look more normal than I expected in the fall.
Unless they have an outbreak which will change things real quick...which I so hope doesn’t happen! I hope the school year goes great for you guys!
 
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For our 7 year old daughter we are doing virtual. For my husband’s two kids from previous marriage one is going class at hs while the other is starting nursing program at college. So we won’t be able to see them except FaceTime. Wondering if anyone else is in the same situation as us?
 
I don't think my test was submitted until Friday if I took it Thursday night, and I had the results Monday morning, which is the next business day, and the next day my doctor's office was open. That's pretty fast.
And our testing 10 miles west of you was that fast a month ago, but now more are getting tested, so it’s taking much longer.
 
Our school system just announced their plan. It's a hybrid of in class and remote. Mon & Tue Group A is in class and Group B is remote, Wed everyone is remote, Thu & Fri Group B is in class and Group A is remote. Everyone must wear masks. Temperature checks will also be done.
 
I wonder how many schools who say they are going hybrid will switch to full remote even before the school year starts. I have been hearing lots of districts releasing hybrid plans but not committing to them just yet. Part of me thinks they are doing that to appease parents but will pull the plug at the last minute and do full remote.
 
I wonder how many schools who say they are going hybrid will switch to full remote even before the school year starts. I have been hearing lots of districts releasing hybrid plans but not committing to them just yet. Part of me thinks they are doing that to appease parents but will pull the plug at the last minute and do full remote.

I think some are simply hoping to get kids in long enough to develop a group feeling with their (half) class and some sort of relationship with their teacher, fulling expecting that we will have to shut down again at some point. I'm guessing that the thinking is kids will be more likely to participate online if they're excited to "see" classmates they've gotten to know, and will work harder remotely for a teacher they already like and are hoping to be at school with again in the spring.
 
I think some are simply hoping to get kids in long enough to develop a group feeling with their (half) class and some sort of relationship with their teacher, fulling expecting that we will have to shut down again at some point. I'm guessing that the thinking is kids will be more likely to participate online if they're excited to "see" classmates they've gotten to know, and will work harder remotely for a teacher they already like and are hoping to be at school with again in the spring.
Great point! That kind of slipped my mind.😊. I just feel bad for parents because they really cannot plan u til things are finalized. Then, unfortunately, they will have to plan again. What a year it has been!
 
My county in MD is having a dispute with the Governor. The county has mandated virtual schooling for public schools for the first semester (until January 21). The county public health official also restricted private schools from starting in person before October 1. The governor overruled that by amending his previous executive order saying school systems and private schools should have sole authority to determine when and how to safely reopen.

So what say you DIS? Should counties be able to keep private schools closed as well as public schools?
Yes, counties should be able to keep private schools closed if they feel it is warranted. They closed private nonessential businesses, restaurants and bars. How are private schools any different?

I work for a private school, and I am highly annoyed that my school is trying to get variances to opt out of the current rules and recommendations. It just seems wrong and unsafe to me.
 
For our 7 year old daughter we are doing virtual. For my husband’s two kids from previous marriage one is going class at hs while the other is starting nursing program at college. So we won’t be able to see them except FaceTime. Wondering if anyone else is in the same situation as us?

I don't have kids but I am in nursing school (I have my LPN, but am going for my RN). My program has gone completely virtual as we are connected with the local hospital and the hospital is not allowing students at all. Are you sure they are even going to have in person classes? Even our labs are virtual.
 
My dgd’s granddaughter’s school system (SE VA.) voted today for virtual learning for at least the first 9 weeks. Then will be revisited to see how things are.
 
Today is day 1 of everybody at our charter school doing online learning for the 1st month of school. Starting day after Labor Day, it switches to either online or in person based on the parents' choice (and you can switch at the end of the grading period).

Learned that for my kid's physics class, there are 3 teachers...1 primarily online, another primarily will do in person, and a 3rd who will assist with either one depending on where assistance is needed.

This morning, we had lots of login problems for ODD (9th grade). At one point, the school reset her password, and thus booted her out of her French class lecture. But it appears that is all sorted out now. There's a LOT more video & interactive stuff this year compared to last year (which relied a lot on 15-min prerecorded lectures & Powerpoints & not much actual interaction or discussion w/the teachers).

Apparently, their school-issued tablets are supposed to have Google Chrome on them. My kids' do not, so we have to go back to school today before 5 pm in order for that to be corrected. Got an email notification at 12:30 pm about it. Good thing I log off of work early today.
 

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