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it’s friday afternoon, i’ve gotten fewer than ten hours of sleep across the past two nights and i want nothing more than to flee to new mexico but MCPS is revealing the first look at our model for hybrid reopening so join me in this thread as we unpack the shitshow together!
i think i should apply for a job at WaPo and my resumé is just every thread from the board meetings i’ve live-tweeted that’ll DEFINITELY get me hired
we said we’d start at 2, it is past 2, and we have not started. typical of the board? yes. what are they discussing in their closed session? who knows 
why are they even HAVING a closed meeting for a work session? this isn’t a business meeting what private information is being discussed right now
please tell me they aren’t planning PR spin for their atrocious plan that they’ve had three straight months to develop
do have to appreciate, however, whichever employee of central staff is in charge of choosing the music cuz this is some SMOOTH jazz
i want to buy them a coffee plz expose who this employee is
ope here we are starting that wasn’t too bad in terms of starting late
board confirms they are planning to go to a hybrid model in january, providing that health conditions allow
superintendent smith recaps what happened over the summer - we shut down schools for this semester back in the summer because it wasn’t safe and the plan was unpolished, board insisted the staff develop a plan by the end of the first marking period
smith says that we know how important it is to ensure students get back into school to the fullest degree possible
dr smith wants to give a shoutout to every single MCPS employee, fortunately this time said shoutout is not an actual fucking proposal that the board members have to vote on 
says “nobody chose this, nobody wants this”, says that as soon as we can make it safe we are trying to move forward
ngl i am already expecting them to inform us indirectly that health conditions are gonna be held to such a high degree we can’t possibly meet them anytime soon
folks be prepared to not go back to school this year as painful as that sounds... the board is trying to bring us back but given how poorly this has been going so far i just don’t trust them anymore
we have spoken with districts from all over the country in the development of our plan, notes that we are aware how dangerous this virtual model is for the well-being of children and we are concerned about that
today we will be receiving a framework, timelines, and metrics
montgomery county health officer gayles is present at the meeting
mcps alleges they have worked with staff in pretty much every role around the county but you bet your ass that is some straight CAP
there will be some way for the public to submit feedback after today’s meeting
if derek turner is presenting this whole model i am dropping out of MCPS this man just ticks me off
anyway turner wants to remind you he is “not a medical doctor” and yet isn’t turning over the reigns to Dr Gayles, who like... is?
they’re showing the metrics for COVID in moco, which are scattered all over the board (some very good, some very bad) but the bad ones are trending way, way worse
115 employees have missed work due to a positive COVID test since march, following a mostly linear trend
dropped this in a separate tweet but i’ll drop it here as well
core protocols for safety:
-limited capacity
-health screening protocol
-face coverings
-hand sanitizer
-six feet physical distancing
-limited capacity
-health screening protocol
-face coverings
-hand sanitizer
-six feet physical distancing
mcps developed a COVID 5 pillars of public health training, they anticipate releasing it to the public next week
mcps will also launch a COVID 19 focused employee portal, hosting training and safety resources as well as information on and the ability to apply for accommodations and leave aligned with state law, federal law, and CDC guidelines
PPE has been provided to all staff who go into buildings right now and plan to continue to ramp this up
if an employee has a positive test, we notify MCDHHS, conduct contact tracing, tell others employees while protecting employee privacy, think about closing a school and disinfect if we have to
this is actually a fuckton of information in a short period of time that’s wild usually the board doesn’t have this many things worth saying but they sure do talk anyways
as we set up buildings, we are setting up signs, arranging classrooms, and convening planning teams at a school level
additionally, ten schools will be set up as physically distanced models for other schools to visit and learn from starting monday, november 9
there are gonna be floor decals for physical distancing dear god this is dystopian 
if you feel that you need signs to remind students not to stand on top of each other do you really feel students are ready to go back to school
we’re still working on the air filter thing, i haven’t heard whether county council ever gave us that supplemental fund we asked for
im not gonna get into the boring details about air filters cuz who wants that but they’re publishing it all on their website if you’re a boring person with no social life and nothing better to do on a friday evening
oh nice so school buildings are gonna be colder next year because of this that’s fantastic 
NICK JUST SAID SOMETHING WITHOUT FIRST THANKING THE STAFF FOR MAKING THE PRESENTATION THIS IS ABSOLUTELY A MASSIVE WIN
the kid is so tired of his job and tbh i can’t blame him but also i am right here if he wants to pass it up
parents are going to fill out health symptom screenings for their children, what are the odds some of them start lying in order to ensure their students can go to school
wolff shares this concern, notes many parents have sent kids to school sick
wolff has either a kid or more likely a grandkid chilling in the background of the zoom call and it’s so cute 
kid is probably like 6-8 years old
we don’t know what resources will be provided to schools but they are required to have them so you know we’re nailing this plan
seth adams says every school district in the country is struggling with air filtration right now, asks the board to look out for awards of contract to produce more filters in a supply-deficient market
special populations phase in is on january 12th, more on what that means later
meanwhile i couldn’t get a picture but my dog is being very cute and much more entertaining than the board meeting
essie mcguire interrupted board member dixon and i think she watched her life flash before her eyes
(no, dixon isn’t mean she’s actually the best but she also is essie’s boss so )
)
o’neill asks whether we might end up in a rationing situation bc anecdotes have been scary, mcguire confirms that is not a concern and that we are heavily stocked up (e.g. we have like 500k facemasks on hand)
silvestre asks to make the metrics even simpler and the methodology being drawn more clear, turner confirms they will update them
fuck i hate agreeing with the folks on the dc urban moms website but there’s only so many valid criticisms of the plan and we’re sharing all of them
they say the priority “must be on each students social/emotional well-being” cool cool i been saying the same shit about online learning y’all are NOT changing it tho
we’re getting more specific updates on socioemotional well-being on tuesday so tune in to my thread then too
plan is to do team teaching: some teachers do in person and others do virtual for the same group of students
we’ve decided that we can not force models on schools and families, since everybody has different needs and there is no one-size-fits-all for a school district as large and diverse as MCPS
key responsibility of teachers when they return to in person is to assess how student learning is going
we have studied different models about virtual instruction including possibly students changing schools but you bet your ass we won’t tell you what we decided
hey hey central staff you can’t just “research” things information doesn’t do anything by itself you have to apply it
see if y’all can figure out what this says because FUCK i sure can’t
special education assessment centers will launch in december at hallie wells, sligo, and julius west middle schools
first look at phase-in
PPE will look different for students with disabilities and the staff who work with them, probably just means beefed up versions of everything esp for staff
they’re planning on extra trainings for staff in these roles, i feel like this is almost wishful thinking but these kids DO need to go back like YESTERDAY so
more key info on phase in
ayo why the FUCK are they prioritizing sophomores over the seniors in WHAT WORLD does that make sense sophomore year is a joke
i got my account in trouble for tweeting too much too fast again 
MCPS is trying to bring in more staff, including recent grads, retirees, substitutes with a BA, virtual teachers who live outside of maryland, and possibly even paraeducators to teach
parents get to choose in person vs virtual, can always go virtual but need availability to go in person
families can even split their kids - they don’t all have to use the same model
students should be able to access all extracurriculars and athletics regardless of model
parents will be responding online to a survey from nov 11 to dec 3
not on the meeting but on the dc urban moms website somebody is now claiming GAYLES needs to fall in line with the BOARD? sweetie health metrics do not work like that he is a doctor you are winedrunk
mcps has changed plans for transportation from a student every other seat to a student in every seat, doubling transit capacity while maintaining physical distancing
buses sprayed down every single day, high touch areas disinfected between loads of students
i feel like i occasionally go too hard in this thread but also tbf if i’m taking the time to tweet about you here you kinda deserve it
catchphrase of the day is “exploring multiple models” and ngl we have changed VERY few things from our august plan even tho we shut that thing down when covid looked better than it does now
it’s possible not every school will be open if there isn’t enough demand??? i???
nick says it’s important to bring seniors back first, largely due to needs for college credit through ap/ib work i am suddenly in love with this man again 
nick asks how long we’re hiring new staff for, is told that apparently we’re just gonna keep them around as long as we need them
the kid is still chilling on wolff’s stream and i don’t think she knows but she’s unmuted and kids are noisy
smondrowski also curious about bringing back grades 11/12 before 9/10
the board members are irritated about the fact that there are no dates or timelines for phasing
bringing full groups of students in, phase one (kindergarten, first grade, sixth grade, ninth grade, CTE programs, etc but possibly after students with disabilities) starts day one of semester 2 if health permits
by the way why is it so hard for mcps to get ahold of dr gayles we are the biggest employer in the county
love how evans had to remind smondrowski “only questions at this point and keep it short” cuz man can becca talk
this plan is literally still so uncertain you’ve had three straight months how have you not developed ideas that are better than this yet
you’ve had three straight months how have you not developed ideas that are better than this yet
so highkey for the students who remain entirely virtual nothing is going to change
i mean it’s gonna suck worse and they’re gonna prioritize said students even less but yeah
so fucking everything is relying on the parent survey right now that is fan fucking tastic
different models for virtual learning, part one: support model, small groups of students who need help will be able to come in and generally stay together
different models for virtual learning, part 2: simultaneous model, teacher is trying to do in person teaching and virtual teaching at the same fucking time yeah bro that will not be working
this mans just said “maricopa county arizona” and the part of me that’s been staring at election returns for days seized right the fuck up
model 3: resources, has onsite and virtual teachers for same class, support based on students receiving special services
btw this one is highkey confusing and i do not understand what the fuck is going on with it
gayles is hysterical lmao this mans is so passive aggressively condescending
gayles says he’s worried about the 13-15/100k case rate we’re at, which is very different than if it were like 5-7
so it’s fine for the county and school district to look at other counties to see what they’re doing but when i do it they call it “plagiarism”?? 
idk personally i feel like dixon should stop plugging bethesda beat twitter for all this information and start plugging my threads instead rip to caitlyn but i’m just built different 
caitlyn if you see this it is a joke i actually hella respect your work and i don’t think the board should know about my threads
gayles is begging you to get your kids vaccinated INCLUDING THE FLU SHOT PLEASE GO DO IT
so i have not really been listening to gayles but basically it’s a fat lot of “there are protocols, we need to take a smart and holistic approach to this, the situation in moco is not good rn”
gayles notes in some places reopening schools with high rates of covid has been absolutely disastrous, in other places it’s been fine
oop folks that’s a timeline
http://www.mcpssubmitfeedback.org is your best friend right now folks
why did evans just pull a fucken “gimme a thumbs up if you’ve got a question” sksjsjssjssshsgsc
so basically we don’t plan on having the same model in use at every school, this all pends the parent survey. said survey will hope to be 100% completion from parents, seems likely they’ll work to get there
hybrid models have been most successful with teams of teachers, meaning you need some dealing with virtual and some dealing with in person
also to the fine folks on the dc urban moms forum who are having massive controversial debates over this thread hiiiiiiii i may be a high school student but unless you’ve got a doctorate i don’t think you really know more than me here 
jack smith is WHOLLY disinterested in your anecdotes about successful reopenings he is insistent on a need for hard data while also noting that (ironically, anecdotally) many schools systems in the newspaper are having to delay or terminate their reopening plans
and with that, we are wrapping up the board meeting. part 2 will come tuesday, at the board meeting starting at noon. see you then!
