AISD's (and other districts) Plans for Schools Starting August 18

[MNLonghornFUKM 8985]

Well Johnny said they should social distance until there is herd immunity or a vaccine. So your suggestion isn’t really responsive to that.
But, aside from that, your argument hinges on 1) quarantine vs. opening up fully being irrelevant to the number of cases, 2) death being the only negative outcome, 3) and being at risk yet healthy enough to work somehow being unlikely. Those are all debatable to put it mildly.

I was responding to “what about teachers, paras, admin”. I agree with him, olds should self isolate but olds also aren’t in classrooms, bus driving, etc. my definition of old isn’t 65, My definition of old is 80+.


Shit I’d say the more teachers I notice, at least in my district, the majority are under 40. But maybe they have to do more grunt work(bus line duty) than the older ones that have veteran status.

[formermav43 4631]

1 minute ago, MNLonghornFUKM said:

I was responding to “what about teachers, paras, admin”. I agree with him, olds should self isolate but olds also aren’t in classrooms, bus driving, etc. my definition of old isn’t 65, My definition of old is 80+.


Shit I’d say the more teachers I notice, at least in my district, the majority are under 40. But maybe they have to do more grunt work(bus line duty) than the older ones that have veteran status.

Yeah, but the point is that the at risk group is larger than the old, however you define it.

As an example, my wife has Crohn’s disease. That itself plus the treatment she takes for it suppresses her immune system-she just gets sick more than most people, and it hits her harder when she does. On top of that, she has one lobe of her lung that never developed right, so respiratory illnesses are tough for her.

If she gets COVID, she’ll probably die. She’s 35. You’d never know any of that just looking at her. And while that’s anecdotal, there are lots of people in your under 40 group in the same boat.

Now, she’s not afraid to go back to school this fall. We are cautious, but not paranoid. But I read, “go to school and get on with life” as let’s stick 20 kids in a classroom and act as if there’s no risk whatsoever here, and that’s not an option for her and others like her. SOME preventative measures are necessary.

[swraith 349]

I am in AISD. I think my kids need to get back to school from a social perspective. If they only go 2 days a week, so be it. However I want to try and form a small cohort with their friends. Get a tutor for the days they are not at the physical school. Basically have several sets of parents fund the tutor. The kids are not going to get enough educational content being at home 3 days a week.

[atomheartbevo 90682]

10 hours ago, mchookem said:

i'm sorry for all you guys that do have school age kids that will have to figure this out...but in all honesty, you all will mostly be able to figure it out. poor, disadvantaged, ESL students...this is going to continue to be so difficult. it's just terrible  

ESL and special education.  This is going to set them back.

[atomheartbevo 90682]

2 hours ago, Larry T. Spider said:

For example, kids that need reading intervention would usually go to the specialist at a specific time with kids from other classes that are on the same level. We can’t mix them up now. Kids have to be grouped so that reading intervention can be provided by a teacher who travels from class to class. Now do that x5 other things and it quickly becomes a Rubik’s cube.

So the older elementary grades where some schools have the teachers teaching specific subjects and the kids rotate between classrooms, I'm guessing that will end.

Edited June 19, 2020 by atomheartbevo

[MNLonghornFUKM 8985]

Yeah, but the point is that the at risk group is larger than the old, however you define it.
As an example, my wife has Crohn’s disease. That itself plus the treatment she takes for it suppresses her immune system-she just gets sick more than most people, and it hits her harder when she does. On top of that, she has one lobe of her lung that never developed right, so respiratory illnesses are tough for her.
If she gets COVID, she’ll probably die. She’s 35. You’d never know any of that just looking at her. And while that’s anecdotal, there are lots of people in your under 40 group in the same boat.
Now, she’s not afraid to go back to school this fall. We are cautious, but not paranoid. But I read, “go to school and get on with life” as let’s stick 20 kids in a classroom and act as if there’s no risk whatsoever here, and that’s not an option for her and others like her. SOME preventative measures are necessary.

Dang yeah those will have to be worked around. Is your wife a teacher?

It’s going to come down to letting the suits that work above everyone that are going to make the decisions....but not have to deal with it if/when it doesn’t work out even when those who work the foreground know it isn’t going to work.

[Larry T. Spider 1748]

5 minutes ago, atomheartbevo said:

So the older elementary grades were some schools have the teachers teaching specific subjects and the kids rotate between classrooms, I'm guessing that will end.

Correct. We are planning on having the teachers rotate instead of the kids in some cases though. 

[formermav43 4631]

2 minutes ago, MNLonghornFUKM said:

Dang yeah those will have to be worked around. Is your wife a teacher?

It’s going to come down to letting the suits that work above everyone that are going to make the decisions....but not have to deal with it if/when it doesn’t work out even when those who work the foreground know it isn’t going to work.

Yes. Kindergarten.

And like I say, she’s on board with going back in general. But even though it’s less than ideal, some of those measures Larry has mentioned are essential.

[atomheartbevo 90682]

2 hours ago, Johnny Sack said:

Then they can decide whether to stay home.  Most Americans don't live with olds.  And shit, I don't know about Asians, but I have lived with and around Hispanics my entire life.  Including several years in the valley.  There are a whole lot of young Hispanic grandparents since so many have kids young.  

Kids need to be in school.  This is not healthy for them and will have severe ramifications down the road.  The data I have seen shows that for school aged kids, COVID is less deadly than the flu.

I don't want my pre-ker to start school like this, but I also know a shitload of kids who do live with the olds - Indians, Asians, Hispanics mostly, but also a few white families.  And we are in a well-off neighborhood, where some of the olds even have garage-apartments, or could easily pop over to one of the nice apartment complexes and rent an apartment for 6 months or a year.  I can only imagine what it's like on the east side of town.  And that's not getting into situations like the one we faced this spring where we were doing the shopping for some at-risk relatives and a neighbor.

We are in 2020, where there are a shitload of Karens.   Hell, based on Nextdoor, there are almost enough Karens on my street to form a covid of Karens.

Many of those Karens will be too paranoid to let their kids be in school, but plenty of other Karens, rather than being scared of everybody else, will simply be looking to blame everybody else.   If their kid gets it, or they get it, they will be on social media, the news, etc. losing their shit and asking for millions.

And guess what?  It's spreading among the daycares, which is going to ratchet the tension up.

https://www.texastribune.org/2020/06/19/coronavirus-cases-increase-texas-day-cares-state-safety-rules-expire/

Quote

In mid-May, 36 employees and 23 children in 53 centers had reportedly been infected, according to a state tally. As of this Tuesday, 167 employees and 75 children at 203 centers had been infected. And Thursday the numbers rose further to 226 employees and 113 children in 270 centers.

Granted, there's only like 12,000 kids in daycare, but add a number to the kids in daycare, and to the cases, and you'll see people freak.

 

[atomheartbevo 90682]

2 hours ago, BrazilHorn said:

I hope they have the material ready. They were absolutely caught flat footed in the spring and it was a total joke in terms of the work they had to do. Was absolute makework, literally zero meaningful instruction.

That's an issue with the teacher.   I think those teachers won't be caught as flat-footed this time around, particularly if they are able to get a lot of kids into the classroom, so there's less stuff happening online, plus there will be more guidance district/school wide.    

My first grader had enough material that in theory, it was more than he normally would do if he were in school physically.  It helped that the first grade teachers were  pooling their resources/dividing things up, so that he had a full slate of math/reading/social studies/science/art/music/etc. every day.

It seemed like most of the teachers we know were spending a helluva lot of time trying to make contact with a small subset of their classes - something like 75% of the class had no problems checking in and doing the homework that was assigned, but 25% weren't (or couldn't) and were sucking up a disproportionate amount of teachers' time.  

Some of that is a technology/poverty issue, and AISD is throwing everything they can at it to get those kids the resources they need to get online, but some of that is either parents leaving their kids home alone, or the parents not giving a shit.   They are going to have to solve that problem (that's mostly unsolvable for some).

 

[High Plains Drifter 11194]

7 hours ago, Chet Steadman said:

Temperature checks at the door for 1300 middle schoolers sure sounds fun.

That should extend opening bell until about 11am or so.  

 

staggered start times?

And dismissal times?

[Horn_Spanker 524]

Of all the schools I've heard "sealed off" this sprig due to someone with COVID, all the COVID carriers were custodians.  

[atomheartbevo 90682]

36 minutes ago, Horn_Spanker said:

Of all the schools I've heard "sealed off" this sprig due to someone with COVID, all the COVID carriers were custodians.  

Were they testing the kids?  Because it's going through the daycares at a decent clip over the past month.  I would imagine that custodians were more exposed than anybody else in a school.

[Deej 77893]

9 hours ago, Johnny Sack said:

The data I have seen shows that for school aged kids, COVID is less deadly than the flu.

 

The hell with school then. Put them to work in the meat packing plants. Learn a skill.

[Wulaw Horn 19599]

8 hours ago, atomheartbevo said:

That's an issue with the teacher.   I think those teachers won't be caught as flat-footed this time around, particularly if they are able to get a lot of kids into the classroom, so there's less stuff happening online, plus there will be more guidance district/school wide.    

My first grader had enough material that in theory, it was more than he normally would do if he were in school physically.  It helped that the first grade teachers were  pooling their resources/dividing things up, so that he had a full slate of math/reading/social studies/science/art/music/etc. every day.

It seemed like most of the teachers we know were spending a helluva lot of time trying to make contact with a small subset of their classes - something like 75% of the class had no problems checking in and doing the homework that was assigned, but 25% weren't (or couldn't) and were sucking up a disproportionate amount of teachers' time.  

Some of that is a technology/poverty issue, and AISD is throwing everything they can at it to get those kids the resources they need to get online, but some of that is either parents leaving their kids home alone, or the parents not giving a shit.   They are going to have to solve that problem (that's mostly unsolvable for some).

 

Man that problem ain’t solvable. I had 20 kids failing my class (all 4 classes total/ so like 103 kids) 

I made an individual package of work for each of the kids (the shit they didn’t do the first time) put on a movie and took them out one by one into the hallway. Give me your phone and call your mother 

me- hey mom- I’m sending home a package of work with your kid- it’s due a week from now. If they do it I will pass them if they don’t they will fail. Coming home today. Your call. 

19 people chose not to turn in their package. 1 person did it and went from failing to passing. 

Yeah- those parents ain’t teaching their kids school man. No way. 

[austingirl 2197]

We'll make a game time decision but right now I can't see how this is going to work. There are so many logistical questions. Such as, giving people the option to stay or go means that teachers will be creating curriculum on two platforms, which is nuts. Will they livestream classes for the ones at home, or have to add extra Zoom sessions? And, in the classroom, there can't be group work because the kids can't sit by each other. And, how in the world are they going to work in all the 504 accommodations? Etc.

[atomheartbevo 90682]

31 minutes ago, austingirl said:

We'll make a game time decision but right now I can't see how this is going to work. There are so many logistical questions. Such as, giving people the option to stay or go means that teachers will be creating curriculum on two platforms, which is nuts. Will they livestream classes for the ones at home, or have to add extra Zoom sessions? And, in the classroom, there can't be group work because the kids can't sit by each other. And, how in the world are they going to work in all the 504 accommodations? Etc.

Livestreaming the classes would be good for the stay-at-home kids, but then you've got Karens recording it so they can judge the shit out of the teachers (all the while bitching that their kid should be in school 5 days a week because Margaritas ain't going to drink themselves nor are the lawn guys going to fuck themselves).

If they can pin down the kids who are able to do this at home (or who are going to stay home no matter what, because that's what their parents want), in theory most of the classroom teachers shouldn't have to deal with online stuff at the start -  Like my example earlier, if you have 4 teachers for a grade, have 3 dedicated to in-school students, and the 4th dealing full-time with the at-home kids, and have a long-term sub in the mix (either using that 4th classroom to teach 8 kids, or help dealing with the kids at home).

Actually, if you're going to have a group of kids at home, you don't even need one of classroom teachers - in theory, you could bring in other teachers who are teaching at a district level.

They've got to have some classroom teaching for all of the kids though, at some point at the start, simply to get a baseline for where they are at, because Lord knows there's a bunch of kids who needed a lot more schooling the past two months than they got.  Lot of parents do not like playing teacher.

[atomheartbevo 90682]

TEA figuring out how they are going to calculate attendance. 

Quote

The two new methods to fund remote instruction are:

Synchronous instruction — All participants are present at the same time, live interactive classes 

Asynchronous instruction — All particpants don’t have to be present, instruction is self-paced, may include prerecorded videos with guided support

Synchronous instruction is similar to “on-campus” instruction, the TEA says, as students are logged in at a teacher’s official attendance time. Any students not logged in by attendance time would be counted as absent.

Synchronous instructional minute requirements for attendance will differ for different grade brackets, and will be:

Pre-K-second grade: Not available for funding from remote instruction

Third-Fifth grades: 180 minutes (do not have to be consecutive)

Sixth-12th grades: 240 minutes (do not have to be consecutive)

Asynchronous instruction, the TEA says, is a “curricular experience where students engage in the learning materials on their own time” with the teacher via computer, electronic devices or over the phone. Under the asynchronous model school grading must be consistent with those used before COVID-19 for on-campus assignments.

Attendance will be calculated this way: a full day’s worth of funding for each day a student is “engaged” assuming that a student isn’t scheduled to participate in less than a half day’s worth of courses. Staff will check daily for student engagement — those who aren’t engaged that day will be marked absent.

 

[atomheartbevo 90682]

https://www.kxan.com/news/education/austin-isd-superintendent-says-families-may-go-100-online-under-certain-conditions/

AISD Superintendent 

Quote

At the AISD Board of Trustees meeting Monday night, Superintendent Dr. Paul Cruz said the district will give some families the option to attend classes completely online if they fit certain criteria.

“We are great in-person. And I think we do our best work when in the classroom,” Dr. Cruz said. “But we will provide some choice to our parents, given health conditions.”

Quote

The superintendent confirmed the start of school will begin August 18 and that the district is still pushing for a hybrid model, where students will learn partially from home and partially in-person. He said that the district is preparing to be “agile,” with the opportunity to safely and quickly alternate to 100% distance learning for all students and a face-to-face model with teachers.

Other developments in the board meeting including further clarifications on transportation.

Dr. Cruz said the district will limit capacity in buses at around 12 to 14 students and each will be sanitized between rides and at the end of the day. There will be one student allowed per row, unless they are family members. Hand sanitizer will be offered on all the buses.

A survey will also be sent out to teachers and staff to get a better idea of their preferences and schedules. Some AISD teachers have told KXAN they will not return to campus in the fall if it is solely offered online.

 

[CleverNickname 1346]

Spouse teaches Rundberg area AISD.

Virtually no one has internet at home. Eventually they got 2 or 3 buses revamped as wif hubs but that didn't cover all the kids. The busses were there for part of the day... the part of the day when their parents were not at home and often not keen on letting their elementary kids run free without supervision. Many if the families have already moved. Lost jobs and doubling up. And it's the margin of the district so often they bounce over to PfISD and that creates tracking problems.  

Those first graders just learning to read... they pretty much are screwed. 

[Guest Lobo]

Yeah, we're listening to our local ISD reports to the above topics and neither they nor we have any idea about what the fuck is going on.  I envy you private school folks, 'cause this all seems like shitty news.  

[CooterBrown 18289]

So, school is fucked for at least the 20-21 year. Once we are past C-19, I wonder if we will see year-round school or a repeat of the current grade as a catch up mechanism.  

 

[Larry T. Spider 1748]

12 hours ago, atomheartbevo said:

Pre-K-second grade: Not available for funding from remote instruction

 

We are so fucked. 

[XYZ 2154]

What happens with the parents that need their kid to be at school because they have to go to a job and they don’t have anybody to watch the kid?

[drt 647]

In talking with family, all the older folks thought one of the long term effects we might see is more single income families moving forward.  I kinda brushed it off during the conversation just based on economics, but now I'm not so sure.

[Post Oak 20589]

1 hour ago, XYZ said:

What happens with the parents that need their kid to be at school because they have to go to a job and they don’t have anybody to watch the kid?

Without a robust response from government there are no good answers I'm afraid.

[Guest Lobo]

1 hour ago, XYZ said:

What happens with the parents that need their kid to be at school because they have to go to a job and they don’t have anybody to watch the kid?

Couldn't the senior citizens in assisted living facilities watch them during the day?  It would inject a welcomed level of youthful energy into their lives, the schoolchildren would benefit from the wisdom of those elderly folks, and everybody would just have to sign a waiver because while it would allow parents to get back to work during school closures, it would incinerate the youngest and oldest quintiles of our population.  Laugh all you want but my plan makes about as much sense as the ones I'm hearing from our political leaders right now.

[CooterBrown 18289]

I wonder if they are going to make 3rd-5th completely remote and give each teacher 50 kids.   THey can take the remaining 3rd-5th teachers and move them down to PreK-2nd and cut in-person classes sizes in half.  If it gets worse, they can eliminate PreK & K since neither is required in Texas and move those teachers to 1st & 2nd.  Get rid of the elective courses and those teachers can teach regular classes also.

[BabaYaga 15632]

On 6/19/2020 at 7:41 AM, Js1 said:

you forget the absolute contempt and “DGAF” the esteemed Sack has towards minorities and the “working” class. Fuck ‘em for his 401k

”move on with life” is such a privileged thing to say 

"Working Class"?  You mean many people with limited access to services provided by the schools?  Like meals?  Or households where both parents (assuming there are two parents) have to work?  Who don't have the means to pay for tutoring or people to watch their kids while they have to work?  Assuming they even have jobs to go to anymore due to the shut downs.  Those people?  Households who desperately need the access to teachers and schools to help their children make a better life for themselves?  Those households?  Yeah, fuck those guys.  Let the kids languish at home doing laughable "online" bullshit while learning and retaining absolutely nothing.  

Js1, here, drowning in fucking virtue....

[BabaYaga 15632]

1 hour ago, Lobo said:

it would incinerate the youngest and oldest quintiles of our population.

Why do you hate the oldz and the childrenz....

[Larry T. Spider 1748]

After my calls today, I will just say to not expect an answer as soon as we hoped. The cases spiking right now are complicating things. 

Im at my school figuring out temp check locations and potential quarantine rooms. Also, which staff members will be sent to the front to actually do the screenings. Fun.

[Guest Lobo]

Yeah, we have a "town hall" with our board and superintendent leadership tonight.  I do not expect good things.  I helped craft a plan about a month ago that we were going to proceed with that I think was probably the happiest medium.  They politely told me last night to get bent, shit's all of a sudden very different again thanks to the last two weeks of selfish cunts.  

Hope your "but muh freedom" toddler tantrums were worth it, because my daughter is gonna be starting kindergarten in the dining room.  

[Larry T. Spider 1748]

10 minutes ago, Lobo said:

Yeah, we have a "town hall" with our board and superintendent leadership tonight.  I do not expect good things.  I helped craft a plan about a month ago that we were going to proceed with that I think was probably the happiest medium.  They politely told me last night to get bent, shit's all of a sudden very different again thanks to the last two weeks of selfish cunts.  

Hope your "but muh freedom" toddler tantrums were worth it, because my daughter is gonna be starting kindergarten in the dining room.  

Exactly. The talk has very quickly gone from 2 days in person with the ability to scale that up to full time to all virtual being back in the mix. 

Almost all of my staff was willing to return as of two weeks ago. Going to have to send out another survey because I have a feeling I would get different answers now. 

[jimmyjazz 47340]

I'm not sending my son to McCallum this fall unless something changes.  I'm happy to acknowledge that could happen, but I'm not optimistic.  I am hoping my daughter can start her college career online as well.

[Larry T. Spider 1748]

3 minutes ago, jimmyjazz said:

I'm not sending my son to McCallum this fall unless something changes.  I'm happy to acknowledge that could happen, but I'm not optimistic.  I am hoping my daughter can start her college career online as well.

You are certainly not alone in that. We are planning a lot of surveys where parents indicate their plans so that we know how to allocate staff. The "get everybody back to normal" crowd vastly underestimates the number of people who don't want to send their kids back. It creates a ton of impossibilities as far as what to do with staff. 

[atomheartbevo 90682]

4 hours ago, Larry T. Spider said:

We are so fucked. 

KXAN fucked up the wording.

There's no funding for remote synchronous learnin - they aren't going to make the younger kids sit through long Zoom sessions.  There is for remote asynchronous, what we had in AISD this past spring, but they want them to check in, and they want them doing work like they were doing through Canvas/Blend and sending it in as they can.

[Larry T. Spider 1748]

1 minute ago, atomheartbevo said:

KXAN fucked up the wording.

There's no funding for remote synchronous learnin - they aren't going to make the younger kids sit through long Zoom sessions.  There is for remote asynchronous, what we had in AISD this past spring, but they want them to check in, and they want them doing work like they were doing through Canvas/Blend and sending it in as they can.

Yes, read the document later and it seems better than I initially thought. 

[ChuckNorrisActionJeans 2692]

I have a rising 5th grader. The amount of "work" they had these kids doing for the end of their 4th grade year was laughable. Almost none. Interestingly, the teachers kept telling them "this "you were already taught this, there aren't any new concepts to teach for the rest of the year." So apparently, all that happens from March onward is teaching to the STAAR test (in regular years). Fuck that. I feel like I got a pretty great education as a kid, and mine shocks me with the low level of spelling/writing etc. he can do, even though he gets great grades.

More remote learning is going to suck ass, but I'm not sending him into a full week of closed classroom stuff.  

Also, I have nothing against Dr. Cruz (AISD superintendent) but he resigned months ago and is having to ride out his contract with no one chosen to replace him yet. Seems like a really bad time to have a leader with one foot out the door and probably wholly fucking sick of all the shit AISD specifically has had to deal with this past school year. 

[CooterBrown 18289]

8 minutes ago, ChuckNorrisActionJeans said:

I have a rising 5th grader. The amount of "work" they had these kids doing for the end of their 4th grade year was laughable.

I thought my 1st grader had an "ok" online experience with it being thrown together at the last minute. The teachers did as good as they could with the Zoom meetings.  

My 7th grader's experience though...every single teacher on Monday just threw up a document with instructions and work that was due Sunday night.  There was zero instruction.  For advanced math, I had to find homeschooling videos on Youtube covering the concepts.  She got all As but the experience was underwhelming.  Luckily, she's a self-starter and handled her own shit.  I imagine 90% of the kids didn't do anything.

[atomheartbevo 90682]

15 minutes ago, ChuckNorrisActionJeans said:

So apparently, all that happens from March onward is teaching to the STAAR test (in regular years).

You didn't know that was the case before now?   There's a shitload that rides on the STAAR test.

[ChuckNorrisActionJeans 2692]

I knew about the extreme focus on the STAAR test and what rides on it....but I guess not that, quite literally, the ENTIRE last 3 months of the school year is dumbed-down review with no actual learning at all. That's just criminal. 

Edited June 24, 2020 by ChuckNorrisActionJeans

[Larry T. Spider 1748]

If schools literally have only one measure that determines their performance, you can’t blame them for emphasizing it. Their jobs rides on those scores. If my school doesn’t perform, I will be replaced with a quickness (by someone who will get scores).

I highly recommend getting involved and advocating for change. I’m not anti standardized testing - just that it’s the only measure that is used to judge us.

Passing the test is no longer enough. Students must make progress from one year to the next, meaning that you often have the most pressure for your highest kids to do well. AND the school is placed in a group of schools with similar demographics to compete for “distinctions”. That means my aisd school has to beat out the westlake, south lake, and any other fancy lake schools. More pressure for high scores.

Another sad reality is that we have learned that staar prep helps scores. Teaching the content and having it understood by students is not enough at the elementary level. They need to see it in the same format that they will see it on a standardized test. It sucks because we are talking about 8 year olds.

Poor schools bitched forever about staar but we only saw TEA change anything when rich white parents got involved. They walked back a lot of the end of course testing requirement. If that’s your demographic and you aren’t happy you have an obligation to say something. TEA will listen.

[Samson's Wig 3230]

Don't bother reading this.  Seriously. It's not worth it.

I'm kind of amazed at the blind spots some have on what a nightmare this is for most families.  Comments about Karens bitching about the teachers because they don't have time to drink margaritas are very shortsighted.  There are certainly a few AISD families with a stay at home mom or dad that can handle the homeschooling with relative ease, but they're in the minority.  We have lived in a dual income world for a long time, and most parents of kids in AISD, regardless of socioeconomic level, are both working full time.  

In the spring, the assumption by the district and teachers that parents can just drop their jobs, especially during an economic meltdown, so they can babysit kids doing bullshit busy work is insanity.  Most junior high and high school kids can work largely unsupervised, but elementary kids (especially K-3 or so) absolutely need someone over their shoulder.  We have twins going into 3rd grade this fall.  One is GT and the other is on a 504 plan.   The both need constant supervision - one because he needs someone cracking a whip to get him to do the boring ass work, and the other because she sincerely needs assistance in order to get through it.  Bailing on work to get this done isn't an option for most families.  I was able to delegate enough of my tasks to get through the spring and teach the kids, but it wasn't pretty and I've been playing catchup for weeks. My wife was unable to take off work at all.

Expecting younger kids to engage via Zoom is also the height of ignorance.  It just doesn't fucking work for 90% of them, even if they have access to Internet and a device.  This shit is broken.  Kids need to be classrooms with other kids.  Studies from other nations who opened schools showed very little impact on case numbers.  Precautions should be observed, including masks, distancing, limited numbers in classrooms, etc.  If a teacher is unwilling to work due to higher health risks,  find a different role for them such as coordinating curriculum or something, and keep the train moving.But get those kids in there or we're going to have a combined mental health and education crisis for a generation like nothing we've ever seen. Following up the economic collapse(s) and failure to teach basic history to millennials with a generation stunted by even worse education and mental health issues due to major interruptions to social development is going to make for one hell of a ride over the next half century.  

The vast majority of homes in Austin do not have kids in them (as of the 2010 census it was around 25% and the number has been falling rapidly).   So education is just not a priority for most of the voting public here as now somewhere between 80-90% of voters in Austin don't have school age kids.  This also leaves a public gap in basic understanding of what is best for the kids, but no lack of strong opinions from this group.  Politicians have to pander to this type of voter, understandably, but the end result is failing schools and kids getting hosed.  Same story in every major city in this country.  It sucks.  And these same failing schools, and these same pandering morons calling the shots, are now tasked with making intelligent choices during a pandemic.  There's just no way this goes well.  The end result will just be an increase in the flight of families out of the city, which has already been kicked into high gear due to other insane behavior by the school board and administration over the years.  Those who can't afford to get out will be left with an even crappier school environment.

 

[Larry T. Spider 1748]

Why would there be a flight out of the city due to distance learning when the suburban school districts are doing the same thing? Cool rant though.

Edit: teachers hate online teaching more than parents will ever hate having to make their kids do it. Many with enough years to retire are thinking about calling it quits because they hate it so much. I got an email this week from a teacher that said if we go back 100% online she is done. Don’t think they want this.

Edited June 24, 2020 by Larry T. Spider

[Samson's Wig 3230]

Oh I know teachers don't like this any more than the parents.  I was speaking more to people who think there are parents complaining about this because it's spoiling their good time.  That's the shortsighted bullshit.

As for people leaving the city, I was speaking more in general that AISD has been a major factor in driving families out of Austin for quite a while, although cost of living is clearly the more prominent factor.

Not all surrounding school districts will be closing up shop 100% this fall.  My only point (and I told you not to read it as it was nothing more than a senseless rant) was that if AISD does close 100% it will be one more piece of kindling on the bonfire that is consuming AISD, not that it will singlehandedly drive people away.  Like most inner cities, eventually the only kids who will be left will be those who most desperately need access to a good education, and they won't get it.  

[Grade of D as in David 13256]

8 hours ago, CooterBrown said:

So, school is fucked for at least the 20-21 year. Once we are past C-19, I wonder if we will see year-round school or a repeat of the current grade as a catch up mechanism.  

 

We should be going to year round school anyway

[Larry T. Spider 1748]

16 minutes ago, Grade of D as in David said:

We should be going to year round school anyway

School districts have had dates they can’t start before or end after in order to protect the travel and tourism group’s summer. They do a lot of successful lobbying.

In recent years, districts have been able to apply to be a district of innovation which can give them more flexibility with their calendar, amongst many other things.

Then covid happened. This is the most flexibility I have ever seen. I really hope we are able to work it into somewhat of a year round schedule. The “summer slide” hurts low income kids the hardest and there are very few summer school opportunities these days.

[Samson's Wig 3230]

Agreed, Larry T.   I've been hoping this is the straw that breaks the camel's back on the issue.  Or at the least, we have to go to some form of year round schedule and after the first year everyone realizes how great it is.  As it stands, the same parents who balk at the notion of their kids "losing their summer" are the same ones complaining about how hard it is to find and pay for activities for your kids all summer.  Travel and tourism can suck it.  They shouldn't be dictating what is best for kids' education.

[atomheartbevo 90682]

3 hours ago, Samson's Wig said:

Oh I know teachers don't like this any more than the parents. 

Many/most of the younger teachers who are parents have fucking loathed the last 3-4 months, because they are expected to provide guidance and materials for 18 or more kids, while having to also take care of their own kids and make sure their own kids aren't setting around spending 8 hours a day on iPad games.

3 hours ago, Samson's Wig said:

As for people leaving the city, I was speaking more in general that AISD has been a major factor in driving families out of Austin for quite a while, although cost of living is clearly the more prominent factor.

AISD has some really fantastic schools.  They happen to mostly be in the upper-middle/upper-class parts of town, which happen to be the more expensive parts of town.    

Those schools also happen to have parents who are able to engage much more with their kids, versus say a school in East Austin where you have parents working multiple jobs, or single parents who are absolutely worn out at the end of the day, or parents whose own education was lacking, or language barriers.  This is the way of school districts pretty much anywhere you go.  My wife and I both experienced it in Fort Bend County, my wife is in education (and has taught in East Austin), her friends are in education and at all manners of schools.

Housing and traffic drive people out of Austin long before the district does - if you are not hurting for money and aren't happy with AISD, there are a shit-ton of private-school alternatives.

[atomheartbevo 90682]

3 hours ago, Samson's Wig said:

Not all surrounding school districts will be closing up shop 100% this fall.  My only point (and I told you not to read it as it was nothing more than a senseless rant) was that if AISD does close 100% it will be one more piece of kindling on the bonfire that is consuming AISD

You are forgetting one crucial detail:  AISD does not get to make that call.  Nor do the surrounding school districts.

They may make the announcement, but the ultimate authority rests with the city/county/state and no school district can remain open if the city/county/state tells them to fuck off and close.

And if places like Hays County are still going like gangbusters with covid, you can bet they will 100% be closed.  Hays has a lot of olds, so they are probably freaking out anyways.