What are your reasons for choosing DL this fall?

[SnuggleBuggles]

[QUOTE=twowhat?;4373428]Risk factors. Our family has multiple risk factors (asthma, heart issues) and we have grandparents who live nearby that we would like to see at some point, which won't happen if the kids go back to school in person right now. We are naturally risk-averse people. Plus we live in an area that is not doing well. Case numbers are starting to come down, but still - once school starts I am afraid numbers will climb again. We were given the option to choose virtual vs in-person and must commit for the first 9 weeks. Turns out that so far, 75% of people in our district (public) have chosen virtual!!! (this is CLEARLY a reflection of privilege, but even then I was still surprised by this statistic). My thought also is that since we are doing virtual, that should theoretically help the students (and teachers) who aren't able to do virtual. If only 25% of students are actually going back to school in person, that should theoretically be REALLY helpful for the in-person kids and teachers ASSUMING they are adhering to safe practices. After the first 9 weeks we can change our choice...so we will see...

/QUOTE]

Are they further upping the privilege by podding and hiring staff to help execute online learning? That seems to be how ds2’s school is going but our home district families (definitely not of the same means) are not.


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[belovedgandp]

We had to commit to in-person or distance for the first semester. But committing to in-person does not mean they absolutely will stay in-person. They have a hybrid schedule and then distance learning to fall back to if in-person gets shut down.

I split my kids. High school junior is doing in person. He has specialized classes the district was not guaranteeing would be available distance and can handle keeping track of his different teachers and classes both in and out of the building.

I'm keeping my 8th and 5th graders home and doing the district provided distance learning program. Primarily for consistency we both need it. The teachers who will be teaching the distance learning volunteered for that gig. I watched several of their teachers struggle with the technology in the spring.

The middle school went about 25% DL and our elementary went 35% (district wide was closer to 25% for elementary).

[twowhat?]

[QUOTE=SnuggleBuggles;4373436]

Risk factors. Our family has multiple risk factors (asthma, heart issues) and we have grandparents who live nearby that we would like to see at some point, which won't happen if the kids go back to school in person right now. We are naturally risk-averse people. Plus we live in an area that is not doing well. Case numbers are starting to come down, but still - once school starts I am afraid numbers will climb again. We were given the option to choose virtual vs in-person and must commit for the first 9 weeks. Turns out that so far, 75% of people in our district (public) have chosen virtual!!! (this is CLEARLY a reflection of privilege, but even then I was still surprised by this statistic). My thought also is that since we are doing virtual, that should theoretically help the students (and teachers) who aren't able to do virtual. If only 25% of students are actually going back to school in person, that should theoretically be REALLY helpful for the in-person kids and teachers ASSUMING they are adhering to safe practices. After the first 9 weeks we can change our choice...so we will see...

/QUOTE]

Are they further upping the privilege by podding and hiring staff to help execute online learning? That seems to be how ds2’s school is going but our home district families (definitely not of the same means) are not.


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I'm not sure...all we know at this point is that remote learning will be asynchronous (not ideal but whatever). We don't know if a separate set of teachers will be managing the distance learners or what. I don't think they are podding...the MS schedules I've seen look like regular MS schedules where kids travel between several periods. I really doubt they are able to hire extra staff to execute online learning...our district may be in a privileged area but they aren't getting extra funding to do this. Where the privilege is being seen is parents who are able to hire private tutors or teachers to help their distance learners. I *think* masks will be a requirement for in person. In a way I'm glad such a large proportion of families (so far, anyway...that percentage could change in the next week as people make final decisions) chose distance learning because I think it helps those who have no choice and have to go to school in person, and it also makes me feel better to know that a significant proportion of kids will be dealing with distance learning (the whole strength in numbers argument). Our family is NOT hiring private tutors and this may end up hurting us...don't know yet. I know that my mom would be willing to help but the problem in school is the damn way they learn math that none of us adults understand...any other subject at this point, we could easily help.

[maydaymommy]

Short version is that I chose DL because it doesn't put people in our community at increased risk, and the other options would be worse for my kids educationally.

Our deadline for making a "binding" choice for 1st semester was last week, and we made the difficult choice for DL for both kids, each for different reasons.

Elementary school - I chose the 100% Virtual option because in-person classes wouldn't be reduced in size. Tell me the class would have only 15 kids, and we'd be in. That could have gotten us closer to what we've come to expect effective classrooms to look like, too. They expected attrition with students who chose fully virtual, but the reduced number of students wasn't going to "thin the herd," to make smaller classes. Instead, they would eliminate the number of classes for a given grade, and assign the teacher to a virtual class, or elsewhere in the school district. There would be strict, practically draconian rules required to maintain some degree of social distancing. Understandably, it would be a restrictive environment, that I didn't think would be conducive or healthy for DS1 to learn. He doesn't do well with rigid.

The online live, and option is live, and taught by teachers from the district. I didn't expect it to be done as well as online learning could be, but at least there would be some consistency and continuity. He wouldn't have a teacher who had to be prepared to switch to online learning at any time, which will surely happen here. There was also built in accountability, in that I'd have access to a principal and gifted support person if it wasn't working for us.

middle school - I had to do something I've opposed, enrollment in an online cyber charter school. The 7th - 12th grade DL option was entirely asynchronous and outsourced, so there weren't even teachers from our district. There would be no differentiation, and no way DS2 would stay motivated, even though he's a stellar student.
In-person is hybrid, with A-L & M-Z last names alternating days in school, every other. Teachers would teach the same lesson for both groups, and assign some homework on the off day. There would be no live interaction on the off day. I didn't think much learning would occur, and there's no way a year's worth of curriculum would be covered. As much as DS1 wanted to be in school, and I know he'd have good teachers, it would be a lot of busy work at home and review at school that it would drive him nuts. The social parts of school would be very limited, and it wasn't worth it.

Turns out, it doesn't matter. The choice is being taken away because there is a special board meeting tonight to approve a plan for 100% Virtual for everyone, until 2nd semester, mid-January. I believe that will be better for my kids, and I was hoping for it. It gives them access to live classes taught by their regular teachers they would have had in school. I'm sad that so many people are opposed to this, and it will be a burden to many families. Most of the districts in our county have changed course and are going all virtual, so a lot of people had no option to choose what they wanted to do.

It sucks that it's such a divisive issue, and that it will be hard for so many families to be 100% online. I hope they find some way to get kids into the buildings who need it most, to get support and services.

[lizzywednesday]

...
I'm second-guessing our decision to do in-person...

Could you describe your own reasoning for choosing DL?

...

Please, whatever you've chosen, don't second-guess yourself. You have to take your own capacity, your kids' learning styles, your risk assessment, and what will work best for your family into account before making this choice. There are many, many, many factors that go into making a decision that feels like the "least bad" one right now!

I have opted to keep DD home.

She (starting 5th grade) will not be going to in-person school for the following reasons:

(1) She has a structural defect of the heart and a disease which causes clotting, as covid does, could kill her.
(2) She does best if we are able to minimize transitions and I suspect, on the optimistic side of pessimistic, schools will be fully-remote by November.
(3) I am not at all confident that the dog-and-pony-show that our school district's plan does enough to keep teachers, staff, or students safe.
(4) The current plan has too many pieces that will crash-and-burn if the supply chain is disrupted or the cleaning supply/PPE need is diverted from schools to hospitals again.

We struggled greatly when school went remote this spring, so I've written to the office of student services (and the school counselor) for enhancements/amendments and parental support for DD's 504 Plan. I've got a meeting with the folks in charge of managing DD's support on 8/17.

[petesgirl]

That is awful, but if the location listed on your post is accurate, your state’s in person plan isn’t that great either. Students and staff exposed to covid can still attend class. No quarantines, etc. A teacher from Utah posted the state plan, and she is basically being forced to take the year off as she is high risk, and the state’s plan is just awful. Obviously this is not your fault, just pointing out that your state is putting students and staff in a tough spot.

I have a teacher friend in Texas. her district sent them a letter today telling them to make sure their will is in order, and that they have a medical power of attorney who knows what their wishes are. They need to make sure their beneficiaries are up to date on all life insurance policies, etc. It was truly heartbreaking to read. They know staff will get sick and some will die, and they just don’t care.

Utah just rescinded their ‘modified quarantine’ plan. Now anyone who has been exposed is required to stay out of school for 14 days. I don’t even know why we are trying to return in person at all.

[PZMommy]

Utah just rescinded their ‘modified quarantine’ plan. Now anyone who has been exposed is required to stay out of school for 14 days. I don’t even know why we are trying to return in person at all.

I’m glad! That is a step in the right direction at least! I still don’t trust parents to keep their kids home though if they have been exposed.

[bisous]

I’m glad! That is a step in the right direction at least! I still don’t trust parents to keep their kids home though if they have been exposed.

Totally agree! Much better policy!

[petesgirl]

I’m glad! That is a step in the right direction at least! I still don’t trust parents to keep their kids home though if they have been exposed.

Yes, this is a huge issue. They have said kids need symptom and temp checks each day but it’s all up to the parents and therefore it won’t happen.

[ourbabygirl]

Thanks, Everyone!
We're in MN; currently our district is still advertising the 3 different scenarios, and my kids really want to be back in person. We'll find out more from the district tomorrow, and if there are enough cases, then we'll have to start school remotely or in a hybrid model, but as of now, we have the choice of in person or DL. The governor said that what model we follow will depend on a ratio of cases per 10,000 in the county that the school district is in.