How many cases till we go back to full remote? Are we expected to teach all standards in hybrid when other states are having trouble? Will there be enough education/preparation for the parents to understand what hybrid will entail and that their students must learn on their own WITHOUT a teacher?
There are countless processes and procedures that we have no idea how to make them successfully work, and without clearly figuring them all out and determining what is or isn't effective, how or why is it a good idea to return? How can we expect teachers to do more than we are already doing without adding additional stress and anxiety to teachers' plates?
Cost and availability of PPE; HVAC systems in old buildings not good!
Too many to list. Most importantly, why was hybrid suggested when it wasn't a fully formulated plan? Why are the members of the board meeting remotely when they deemed it was safe to resume in the hybrid model? Is the district prepared to be sued due to a staff member contracting COVID by returning to work? By families when their children fall ill because they had no choice but to send their children to school?
Cost /availability of ppe to district — a lot of monet; hvac systems in older buildings on campus and issues
Why can’t we just go back to full in person school? Why can’t we do our own thing apart from Governor?
Why are we doing this now when it has been shown to be the worst possible model?
What accountability do we have that cleaning disinfecting and safety procedures will be handled daily? Does our custodial staff have a driven and proactive leader?
How does leave look if we are exposed? Get sick? Family member?
How does this impact native students?
What if we are really uncomfortable to return, but we are nervous about.making a fuss for an accommodation to teach from home?
Once we have a vaccine, do we promise not to rush back in until we have an idea of its efficacy?
Do we *have* to go back in hybrid at all? Is that a requirement?
Specifically to the School Board: what is the rush?? Why were the comments put into the original survey not read? We were told that was part of the public comment. Same goes for letters sent to the public comment email - many of us did that. I know you are worried about time, but this is not a small issue - and we sent letters in good faith that they would be read at the meeting. Why was the survey data not disaggregated more, showing what responses came from each level of schooling? Why did you not acknowledge that the questions were so poorly written that the resulting data was irreparably flawed? Why did no one ask about the two-weeks between elementary opening and middle school (and then high school) opening when Dr. Steinhaus had clearly stated at the start of the meeting that the governor was considering having *four-six* weeks between the start of each level?? How could you decide that two-weeks was enough when we don't even know what the governor will say? Why is there a Board member serving who has to recuse herself repeatedly on such an important issue? Her district is not getting *any* say in this because she decided to open her own business *now* - that's is more self-serving than a Board member should be, and she could definitely have chosen NOT to open that business at this time!
How often are you planning to provide PPE to the staff?
How are you planning to enforce the safety precautions with children with behavioral problems?
What if parents send sick children to school?
Do you have enough Clorox wipes and sanitizer for classrooms?
What if a teacher or IA get sick or suspect that It is sick, is the school district going to offer paid quarantine time?
Is the district prepared to be sued by staff who contract COVID-19 due to returning to work in the hybrid model? or by parents who didn’t have the option but to have their kids return to school because the online academy is full or due to childcare?
Do you acknowledge that there is not spots available for childcare anywhere for the not in person days?
How do you plan to support employees who do not make enough money to pay for their own children childcare when they are required to work in person?
Is everyone going to be required to have a CODID-19 test before returning to school?
How are you going to make sure that all the children have their temperature checked and that they sanitizer their hands and shoes before entering the building?
What resources are you supplying for staff who will now have to be at work 4 days a week in person while their children are only in school 2 days?
If is safe for students to be back to school in person, why you don’t make your meetings in a hybrid model or inside of a real classroom?
How the contact tracing is going to work?
What is the district’s contact tracing protocol?
Who will be responsible for contact tracing?
What is the district’s testing protocol?
Which is more important during the hybrid model: instruction or safety compliance from all students?
Suzanne and Andy have done an amazing job addressing the issues. The sub question, as well as others, is lacking options. Yes, the district should know who is willing to sub, but having a "long list" is ridiculous. LAMS never has a "long list." Some of my colleagues will be willing; some will not. I generally find my own subs, but I am also rarely absent. And finally, yes I can make remote work, but at what cost to mine and my students mental/emotional health (stress) as well as my students' academic needs?
1. The HVAC system for Band, Choir and Gymnasium is sitting on the ground on the south side of the Orchestra Room. What is the status of this system?
2. Why has communication from LAPS been so minimal in regards to curriculum and adjusting curriculum for remote or hybrid teaching?
3. Have Specials such as Band, P.E. and Choir been given guidance as to how to teach these subjects?
Remote offers more opportunities for direct instruction and support, and keeps everyone safe. Hybrid is an enormous unknown.
Remote only getting better but need tweeked a little so classes are longer; no extra teacher time with hybrid abd teacher burn out and lack of support felt from board and district admin
Hybrid does not pose any pros for me, only cons.
Remote classes do need to be longer ( see Desert Ridge MS sched in Albuq)
Please take note band/ choir can make in person rehearsals work if given the chance.
1. Although there has been some opportunity in the district for childcare, the reality is that these options are still very limited and many teachers are having to bring their children to school while they carry out their remote instruction. If we move to hybrid, this will no longer become a viable option for teachers.
2. Our current remote schedule provides a "great deal" of flexibility and safety that is critical right now.
The first involves still being able to teach even when "under the weather". If we return to hybrid, we would then add the extra burden of finding a sub (which I still see coverage being an issue), ensuring they get our plans. This concerns becomes even more challenging for teachers with children..if a child goes home with a fever, the reality is that they will now have to stay home for the remainder of that week as they wait for covid test results and symptoms to subside...again, finding subs that can do this level of coverage is NOT going to be an easy task
The second involves the "deep clean" Wednesdays. In my prior 4 years in LAPS the number one issue we have with custodial services is having enough people working to truly maintain a clean school. What happens on a Wednesday when a site is short on custodial staff (which will undoubtedly happen) and they are unable to truly deep clean the building in accordance to guidelines. Will the district have back up staff? Will we cancel "in person" instruction for the remainder of that week? or worse yet, we will just "take our chances" and go about business as usual despite the high risk now...will staff even be informed of this too?
The third involves the "burn out" factor. Under the current remote schedule, teachers have the 2nd half of the day to plan, prep and support students/families in a timely and effective way. This reality is a gamechanger for educators...since we are being asked to be a lot more thoughtful and intentional about the instruction we are doing with students, the reality is that we need the "time" to actually think through and redevelop curriculum to support this. Under the hybrid, we will find ourselves teaching the "whole" day with very limited time and resources to engage in this level of work...as such, burn out becomes a huge factor as we find ourselves juggling the anxiety of contact at school, having to develop learning for "in person" and "remote" learning, finding sub coverage for days we may not be able to come, finding childcare for families who don't have that and getting students trained on "another" set of routines.
I feel that parents and students do not fully understand what hybrid will actually look and feel like. It is the least safe option and we have no clear plans for what happens WHEN someone gets sick or exposed.
Remote and hybrid are both extremely difficult scenarios. They both have challenges, but one of them risks the health and safety of our community while the other doesn't. I don't understand why this is even a consideration.
After kids experience a few days of hybrid and the restrictions many will want totally online
I only get 14 more direct contacts per week with students
The amount of time spent now planning and designing remote learning tasks cannot be maintained while in class 4 days a week. I fear serious exhaustion and health issues
Remote- isolating, but I get more one on one time and I feel ill have more time on covering more of my curriculum. I could get to a place to design SEL.
Hybrid- with ALL the schools opening, I worry it will be a domino effect if we get positive cases. I think with rotating 8 periods, the sanitizing procedures also e will get exhausting and we will get complacent. Yes students will "see" their friends- but it will still be at a distance. I worry ill get even less covered content wise. I think it will be nice at first for students to see people- followed by frustration because we still have to keep far away. Hybrid will cause burnout.
If we are required to use hybrid, we need much more time to figure it out and to make sure we are safe once we are in that mode. If it's required that we have hybrid, it should be used when we are so close to going back to full-time five-days-a-week, no masking, etc., that it's just a couple of weeks - a month at most. It shouldn't be something we "try" and hope it works - it should be the mode we used *because* it's required before we go back to regular school.
The time that we (I) am available for students will be much, much less in hybrid - and I am part time! This is two-fold: first, the class times (if we stay with the 8-period day) will not be as long as what they are now in remote. We have to clean all surfaces between classes, and it has been strongly suggested that we use the end of class to do this with student help. So - at least five minutes there are gone from instructional time. We are planning to stagger passing periods - although we don't have a firm plan for that yet - so, several more minutes gone since you can't have the new class come in until all the old class has left. If we are sending them out by Hawk Team, Electives teachers will always have some students standing (in the hall?) waiting to come in and some in the class waiting to be dismissed. So - another 5-8 min. at least lost there. Finally, as students come in, we have to squirt hand-sanitizer in their hands (some teachers have rightly pointed out that if we are doing the squirting, the social distance between us and the students is less than six-feet....but others worry that they either won't do it or they will get too much/too little). That's another 2 min. So - overall, classes will lose up to 12-15 min. of instructional time for cleaning and safe passing periods. And I believe those estimates are made on the conservative side. Students who are horsing around in the halls, have to go to the bathroom, are horsing around in the bathroom, are pulling each other's masks off, etc. are going to increase the lost instructional time. IAs will be stationed in the halls, but middle school students, of all the ages, are the ones most prone to risky behaviors and seeing how close to "the line" they can skate without getting caught. Obviously, they are not all like this, but the few who are endanger us all in this situation, unlike risky behaviors they may take part in in regular times when they typically only endanger themselves.
Second, It's not so much my availability (because I'm part-time), but students' availability. Even when I am not in class, they will be, so they couldn't meet with me even if they wanted to. When they are done with a full (8-3) school day, they may not even remember what they wanted to ask me. Right now, I have office hours and HAT times, and students have not been shy to ask about meeting with me at other times (in the afternoon after they finish classes). I am *very, very* happy to do that - but I don't know that it will be possible once we move to hybrid.
Another concern in lunch time. Although the district has purchased the shade structures, they won't really be useful for long given how cold it gets here. So - even the option of eating outside won't really be helpful for long. Because the outside of the mask is considered dirty, we are in a quandary to figure out how to have students safely remove the mask (do they even know how?) and put it....where? That "where" hasn't been satisfactorily addressed. One person suggested having them put it in their pocket, but as the nurse pointed out, then they are putting the germs into their pocket - the same is true for the backpack. So - where does the dirty outside get laid down so that it doesn't get germs where it shouldn't? And when the student puts it back on, if it's been on the table, how safe is the inside *now* since everyone is unmasked while eating?
I am considered advanced risk - not high risk, but advanced risk. My biggest concern is students who don't have or don't wear the appropriate mask. The mask needs to be at least three layers thick, cover the nose, and go down under the chin. It should hug the face. Bandanas (which I've seen staff members wearing) or one-layer balaclava-type masks that runners use have not been shown to be effective in keeping the germs from spreading. And if we have staff members who don't know this (as I presume, since that's what I see them wearing), how many students don't know this??
That advanced risk creates another issue your survey mentions: being able to communicate effectively. I will need to wear both my mask and my shield, so my voice is likely to take a beating by the end of the day in trying to be heard and understood by students. I could record myself giving the lesson and show that on the screen, but there is no time to do that now - I am prepping for remote daily. Additionally, if a student needs to ask a question quietly, we're either going to have to come up with something that doesn't use voices since we have to stay six feet apart (chat via Remind app?? - but not all students have phones.....chat via computer?? - but the teacher needs to be moving around the classroom and so may not see the question.....). At the middle school level, the desire to understand wages war with the desire to not be seen as "stupid" (some of them cannot get past the idea that no question is a stupid question). I cannot get into their personal bubble to hear them and maintain safety protocols. So, between the safety protocols and the lessened time both in and out of class, my concern is that students will struggle even more.
Finally, I know everyone is hitting the social-emotional bandwagon. I don't want to say it's unimportant - it's very important. But when students must maintain a six-foot distance and remain masked, I am not sure how much better they are going to feel being in school. They can't hug their friends, they can't share quiet secrets - they can only attempt to be heard from six feet away while both wear masks. I wonder how much the fear of getting infected is going to impact their social-emotional well-being; how it's going to impact them when someone is absent one day - maybe just to go to the dentist - and they fear it's due to covid and begin to worry that they will get infected by the student (who really just went to the dentist). Then rumors start. We haven't talked much about how we protect students (and teachers) who may actually get covid and have to be quarantined. For students who contract covid, you can tell us that "that's confidential" but we are a small town - word *will* get out fast, and when it does, that student will suffer socially and emotionally due to some other students who decide to say ugly things about them or treat them as a pariah when/if they come back. Additionally, if the classes are only 12-13 students, when one student is absent, and then the entire class has to be quarantined (as things stand now, that's how they have said it would work), it's going to be very obvious who caused the quarantine - confidentiality will go out the window. Same is true for teachers - if we are out, and then suddenly our classes have to be quarantined, it's pretty obvious why. People have said "who has covid will be confidential information" - but that's a pipe dream. You can't keep that confidential when you have to do contact tracing (and you should do contact tracing!).
I don’t think that it is safe or good for the children to return on the hybrid model.
If it is not safe for parents to return to work, why it is safe to send students back to school?
Even when our county doesn’t show many cases, a lot of people come from other counties to school and to work here. That put all of at a greater risk, especially with the flu and cold season.
The remote model is not going to be forever, we need to be strong and endure our reality. Everything is going to get better at one point and our lives will be back to normal eventually, but for now, we need to stay remote for the safety of everyone.
The hybrid model leaves students eith too much unstructured time.
The hybrid model creates childcare disasters for our teacher-parents.
There are so many issues with remote that this survey doesn't cover. When you ask about time with students, every single day I lose instructional time due to technology issues. At LAMS, I will actually get more time with my students, and the time will be more productive.
I will have to quit my job if there is no hybrid, because there is no childcare for my kids
I have received little guidance in how I would be delivering my curriculum once we would enter hybrid and how i will be juggling additional COVID policing of the students and cleaning between classes and teaching.
What really is the difference between being hybrid or five day a week?, in reality we are being exposed to the same people in a weeks time.
Hybrid seems to be a middle ground that no one gains from.
Longer class pds /look at Desert Ridge MS in Albuq
The hybrid model is not a well thought out plan. I do not believe that it can be modified to work. Either we stay remote or we come back full force. Anything inbetween is a diservice to our students.
Keep as is — psp and ls kids coming in
Hybrid makes the most sense for students with special needs that may need be able to receive their services at home. By prioritizing these students each site can do a thorough and effective job at promoting safe protocols for health...small groups allow for better social distancing, use of different spaces and supportive attention to needs.
I would be okay with seeing which kids NEED to be in school. And they could sit in class while on the same meet with the remote students.
Hybrid is twice the amount of work, with very limited planning time. I would be more inclined if I were paid double plus hazard pay. I still don't want to risk anyone's health, but it would be more comparable to other jobs where people might be in riskier situations.
This is still fragmented learning and a tremendous work load on teachers. Please stay remote until at least 2 nd semester
not at this time. I worry some classrooms won't allow for true distancing, even with half of the kids because of its physical dimensions. I really feel the general rule is the majority of students stay home. If we wanted to small group for IEPs/ ELL or have a study room for students with bad internet- that would be ok. But every time you add more people into the bubble, the more likely we tempt statistics. A small campfire is just fine, if we all light up the forest- we risk burning everything down.
LAMS is looking at using a block schedule similar to what we've been using in remote. That would help class time a lot, but it doesn't fix the lack of ventilation, horsing around, other unsafe issues inherent in teaching middle schoolers, or social-emotional well-being.
Thank you for doing this, whoever you are! YOUR questions are clear and spot-on!
Children need consistency and to have teachers available everyday. They hybrid model will take away student-teacher time and children would not be allowed to socialize like they used to do. The remote model is better for children academic achievement and also for the safety of everyone.
I think that older children will do better on the remote model. My suggestion is to offer an optional hybrid model only to children from pre-k to 2nd grade with small groups of children spread out through the schools.
We are already bringing in high needs students. Perhaps the in-person learning could be extended to include students without reliable internet access. Those who can manage remote learning should continue with it in the interest of public health and instructional continuity.
LAMS has a solid foundation for the plan they intend to implement.