Jan. 3rd: Whitman HS Teachers Has Option to Livestream their Classes on Zoom or use "Quarantine Instruction" model.

“All hands on deck”: Administrators introduce livestream instruction option, address temporary staff shortage

By Ethan Schenker
JANUARY 3, 2022

Whitman teachers will have the option to livestream their classes on Zoom when students return from winter break, according to an email Principal Robert Dodd sent to staff on Sunday. Dodd’s message also addressed expected gaps in staff coverage in the coming days.

Beginning Wednesday, teachers will be able to choose between two options for instructing students who are in quarantine. They may either livestream their classes on Zoom or deliver instruction through the existing “Quarantine Instruction” model, in which educators provide students at home with access to virtual school materials and establish direct contact through virtual check-ins or email.  

Teachers must communicate their chosen instructional method to quarantined students and can switch between the options from lesson to lesson. Educators who livestream their classes must position their microphone and laptop to ensure remote learners can hear and see the instruction over Zoom, but they won’t need to incorporate “interactive strategies” to include the students at home in-class activities, according to Dodd’s email...

https://theblackandwhite.net/71319/news/all-hands-on-deck-administrators-introduce-livestream-instruction-option-address-temporary-staff-shortage/

Montgomery Co. schools revise COVID-19 guidelines for schools, day cares

Montgomery County, Maryland, officials now say public school staff and students age 5 and older who test positive for COVID-19 should isolate for five days.

After day five, if the person has no symptoms — or has shown symptom improvement — and hasn’t had a fever for 24 hours, they may return to school as long as they wear a mask.

In a change of course from guidelines released in November, Maryland’s largest school system said fully vaccinated adults and children — and those who’ve had COVID-19 in the last 90 days — who have been exposed to someone with COVID-19 don’t need to quarantine, but instead wear a mask around others for 10 days and get tested at least five days after the exposure. They will not be required to quarantine unless they also test positive...

https://wtop.com/montgomery-county/2022/01/montgomery-co-schools-revise-covid-19-guidelines-for-schools-day-cares/

Montgomery Co. Executive says he isn't opposed to a temporary pause on in-person learning

ROCKVILLE, Md. (7News) — Montgomery County Executive Marc Elrich (D) declared Wednesday that he isn't opposed to the county's public school system temporarily pausing in-person learning amid Omicron.

"I'm very concerned about where we are with schools. This is clearly a no-win situation," Elrich stated during a Zoom call with reporters. "I have thought for a while that the pause idea made some sense, with some modifications. I've had conversations both with folks on the labor side and the administration on how to accommodate that."..

https://wjla.com/news/local/montgomery-county-public-schools-covid-in-person-learning-virtual-omicron-low-staffing-levels-pause-temporary-return?fbclid=IwAR2kUxpkmNCYtENyR1izy9ym76Tv2aIcpcFabNesOHpEj3_pzNfF7RQHMHo

Opinion: It’s time to acknowledge reality. Many schools will likely have to close because of omicron.

...But our desire to keep kids in classrooms should always be tempered by a keen situational awareness of the ever-changing coronavirus pandemic. As the omicron variant rages across the country, we must prepare for the possibility that some schools may have to close. This isn’t a political statement; it’s a simple reality.

Omicron has rewritten the pandemic rule book regarding transmission and immunity. Unlike the series of rolling geographic surges that accompanied previous variants, omicron represents a viral blizzard of widespread infections spanning the entire country. For the next three to five weeks, the sheer number of cases will pose significant challenges to U.S. health-care systems, public safety operations, critical infrastructure capacities, food distribution and services, and educational programs. Each could temporarily lose 25 to 40 percent of their workforce because of isolation and quarantine...

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/01/12/its-time-acknowledge-reality-many-schools-will-likely-have-close-because-omicron/

Jauquet: No more room for students, quarantined virtual classes maxed out

MCPS staff shortages by the numbers for Tuesday, January 12th

...MCPS is staying with the in-person model to continue pursuing a rich and quality education. However, with coverage provided by a rotating carousel of adults, are students receiving any curriculum instruction?

A staff member shared that students are scared as a whole. Some students are choosing not to participate in their sport right now because of the fear of spreading it to their families or getting themselves sick. School teams are missing several players. Parents are asking for winter sports to be paused indefinitely as fear, anxiety, and stress is too much for students right now. 

Blair High School: Absences—22 staff members. 1 substitute

Gaithersburg Elementary School—Absences: 5 classroom teachers, 4 support teachers, 3 paraeducators, 2 building service workers, 1 office staff. Rapid test kits were distributed to students on Tuesday. There were 27 positive cases over night. 

Lakeland Parks Middle School—Absences: 32 Teachers/staff

Montgomery Village Middle School—Absences: 9 teachers and 3 paraeducators. 1 substitute teacher. 1 Central Office Personnel. 

Paint Branch High School—Absences: 23 staff leading to 16 uncovered jobs, which means that 80 classes are without coverage. 6 bus routes are not running. On Tuesday, 50 students were quarantined, in addition to the 90 students and 16 staff who were quarantined on Monday. It is important to note that middle school and high school teachers teach 5 classes and about 150 students a day. When an upper-grade level teacher is absent, they need a substitute for every class...

https://original.newsbreak.com/@heather-jauquet-561408/2484305172924-no-more-room-for-students-quarantined-virtual-classes-maxed-out?s=influencer&fbclid=IwAR2IgBnwojycgg0hEPyz4He1fZB0_Gks0A92Ny7LOU8ii1r2PQ78hxu99bM

Montgomery Co.’s [Schools] ‘test-to-stay’ program now on hold

Officials in Montgomery County, Maryland, say the launch of a “test-to-stay” program to keep large numbers of students out of COVID-19 quarantines has hit a snag after new guidance from state health authorities.

The test-to-stay program, operating in a pilot phase, was supposed to launch last week. It would have allowed Montgomery County Public Schools students who are unvaccinated and exposed to the coronavirus at school — particularly in unmasked situations, such as in the lunchroom — to stay out of quarantine as long as they were tested daily...

https://wtop.com/montgomery-county/2021/11/montgomery-co-s-test-to-stay-program-now-on-hold/

AUDIO: Superintendent Jack Smith spent $18,039,483 on unknown "Technology Solutions Contract" & $14,466,050 on More Technology Two Weeks into the Start of the Pandemic. Board of Education Approved $32 MILLION Without Contracts or Details. BOE Had No Clue What They Bought.

What was Superintendent Jack Smith buying with $18,039,483 on March 23, 2020 for "Technology Solutions?"

School had been shut down due to the Global COVID-19 Pandemic.  

This purchase was IN ADDITION TO  $14,466,050 in technology purchases ON THE SAME DAY.  

The Board of Education meeting on March 23, 2020, was held as an audio only conference call.  

On the Consent Agenda were unspecified "technology" purchases for $18,039,483 and $14,466,050.

Listen as Board of Education members Rebecca Smondrowski and Judith Docca attempt to find out what the $18,039,483 "Technology Solutions" purchase is for, how it is different from the $14,466,050 purchase, are given the runaround by then MCPS COO Andrew Zuckerman, and finally give up and approve both purchases.  

The Montgomery County Board of Education easily spends $32 MILLION without having a clue what the money will be used to purchase. 

LISTEN:  

More than 16,500 Maryland students have quarantined since start of school year

More than 16,500 Maryland students and just under 800 staff have had to quarantine from a close contact with a COVID-19 case since the new academic year began, according to data from state education officials released Tuesday.

The Maryland State Board of Education’s first report on reopening logistics and transmission rate also tabulated that over 4,000 students and nearly 700 staff have tested positive for the coronavirus in the month since the start of the school year.

While the number of students with either known infections or in quarantine represents less than 3% of the system’s 882,000 enrollees, the new data offers a closer look at differences in how local schools have addressed vaccinations, testing, distancing requirements, contact tracing and contingency planning for outbreaks among students and educators...

https://wtop.com/maryland/2021/09/more-than-16500-maryland-students-have-quarantined-since-start-of-school-year/?fbclid=IwAR1A7sGAj3Q4VxJtu1nS5sQ4m_97AvSnUgUXxkKkBhnQtTkZ99S3R4pR7HM

@fox5melanie ·The actual # of @mcps students sent home since August 30 is more than 3,400.

The actual # of @mcps students sent home since August 30 is more than 3,400.
121 #covid positive students & 1661 “close contacts” for 10 day quarantine;
109 students w symptoms & 1744 of their “close contacts” for precaution pending negative test results. (1/2)

— Melanie Alnwick (@fox5melanie) September 15, 2021

"My daughter has absolutely no symptoms. So if I went by her quarantine letter, she would have returned back the school on Tuesday had I not tested her, because it's not a requirement for you to test your child when they're in quarantine," Carr-Brown told the I-Team.

Board of Education VP Karla Silvestre Tries to Silence BOE Member Judy Docca During Sept. 9th Meeting as Docca calls out NBC4 and newspapers reporting on MCPS' COVID Response

At the September 9, 2021, Montgomery County Board of Education meeting Agenda Item 7.1 called for a discussion of MCPS' Health Contingency Plan.

At the beginning of the discussion Board of Education members were commenting on where MCPS was on their COVID-19 response.  

Watch the video clip below to hear what BOE member Docca had to say:   

Later in the discussion, Board of Education President Brenda Wolff leans over to Board Vice President Karla Silvestre and speaks to her. 

VP Silvestre then gets up out of her chair and walks over to BOE member Judy Docca who can be heard speaking on her open microphone.  

BOE member Judy Docca says: "Oh, I know you're not going to tell me not to do this."

VP Karla Silvestre replies: "She says you can ask it after the..."

Docca: "What?"

VP Silvestre: "She said if you can ask your question after they do the..."

Docca: "No, nobody else has had to do that. 

OK.  I have to do this. I feel a need to do this. I was not trivializing the effect or the traumatic effect on parents when a child has COVID.  I was trying to emphasize that the number is small here. 

But the newspapers and NBC, in particular, I don't watch ABC and CBS, have said oh, it's over 1,000 in Montgomery County and how terrible it is.  And it's a very negative kind of response and it would be worse if our staff was not doing all the things they're doing. Which are being criticized, even today about how strict we are and we're not doing what CDC says, and how do we have the right to do that. 

So, I feel really strongly that I had to say that and that's what I was trying to get at.  Maybe I should have said all those things before I said anything about the 1%."

#NEW latest @MCPS quarantine info released in Thursday @mocoboe meeting

#NEW latest @MCPS quarantine info released in Thursday @mocoboe meeting @fox5dc pic.twitter.com/2VkHwZMdWd

— Stephanie Ramirez (@RamirezReports) September 9, 2021

Some 1,000 students, staff in Montgomery County schools are in quarantine

Just five days after students returned to school in Montgomery County, Maryland, approximately 1,000 students and staff are in quarantine.

As dozens of reports of individuals who’ve tested positive for COVID-19 at Montgomery County schools are recorded, the school system updated the quarantine guidance for unvaccinated students...

https://wtop.com/montgomery-county/2021/09/we-have-faced-challenges-this-week-updated-quarantine-guidance-at-montgomery-county-public-schools/?fbclid=IwAR1LjbXUK_YVbFkdgKa4TqAiSitzXcZC9nq5cPHY6VU45MfrjLNup2O1IAw

@KateRyanWTOP · Confirmed from @mcps spokesperson Gboyinde Onijala: "We have approximately 1,000 students and staff who are in quarantine"

https://wtop.com/

In the first week of classes in @mcps dozens of schools have sent letters home to parents notifying them of cases where positive covid-19 tests were reported. We've reached out to @mcps for more information on # of kids sent home to quarantine, no information on that so far. https://t.co/hXI6ULhqLq

— Kate Ryan (@KateRyanWTOP) September 3, 2021

Confirmed from @mcps spokesperson Gboyinde Onijala: "We have approximately 1,000 students and staff who are in quarantine"

— Kate Ryan (@KateRyanWTOP) September 4, 2021

COVID-19: WHEN CAN I BE AROUND OTHERS AGAIN?

 

https://kingcounty.gov/~/media/depts/health/communicable-diseases/documents/C19/how-long-to-stay-home-when-sick.ashx?la=en&fbclid=IwAR1d6q27R2grjPuXERsABzg8H2dKcKbgCwoDbab4GfS8kXGpcjOfHY8589M