January 8-12, 2021 Questions (1-6)
QUESTION 1: (F) If/when schools enter hybrid phases, will families have to commit to hybrid (and/or remote) or will they be able to change their minds? Will this be different for SWDs vs gen. ed students? If they are able to change their minds (particularly with respect to shifting from remote to hybrid) how much advance notice do they have to give? (still unanswered by the District)
QUESTION 2: (F) What recourse do teachers have in the hybrid model if/when the district fails to meet CDC safety guidelines? (still unanswered by the District)
QUESTION 3: (A) If the city stays in NY’s “Orange Zone”, will RCSD be providing students and faculty with the COVID-19 tests and ensuring negative results before allowing for return to in-person school? (still unanswered by the District)
QUESTION 4: (FA) Why do kindergarten students need Chrome Books in the first place? (still unanswered by the District)
QUESTION 5: (FA)
Do families need to inform the district if any child/ family member in their household tested positive for cOvid especially if they are signed up for a hybrid return. If a teacher hasn’t been vaccinated at all. How is this safe? (still unanswered by the District)
QUESTION 5: (F)Why are we returning to school in the height of this pandemic? Seems quite detrimental to the well-being of staff and students. Suburban districts are seeing a spike in positive cases among students.
How can we be expected to deliver high quality instruction to both in-person and remote learners? It seems as though students that have chosen to remain home for health concerns are getting shafted. Quite unfair.(still unanswered by the District)
The district’s lack of planning LAST spring for this school year CANNOT be our emergency. Our students are now in a routine only to be ripped out of it and develop a whole new one that may change again.(still unanswered by the District)
QUESTION 6: (A) Why are the students not being allowed to bring their computers into the schools when they are coming in hybrid? How are they going to continue to work on assignments where they may have questions if they don’t have access to their computer?(still unanswered by the District)
January 6-7, 2021 Questions (1-3)
QUESTION 1: (F) Will related service providers be given supplies for each student (paper, crayons, pencils, scissors, etc)? These items are usually shared in small group therapy, but with covid regulations, I heard that students need to each have their own items.(still unanswered by the District)
QUESTION 2: (FA) What is the current plan for reopening in phase 3? Do secondary students now have the option to choose hybrid or fully in-person learning? If so, why the change in plans from the original reopening plan with learning pods? Also, what are learning pods? When will they be utilized? Where will they meet?(still unanswered by the District)
QUESTION 3: (FA) What are learning pods? Is there anything where we can see what they look like or see what teacher’s expectations are for them?(still unanswered by the District)
January 5, 2021 Questions (1-7)
QUESTION 1: (FA) Will we be granted additional planning time since we will be expected to have separate activities prepared for hybrid students while virtual students are completing asynchronous assignments? (still unanswered by the District)
QUESTION 2: (F) I have 3 students coming to in person learning. I need them to bring their Chromebook. The students learning remotely are participating in lessons and completing assignments. It will be very hard to manage that many students remotely and 3 in person. It is Kindergarten. They need help with using technology and even with finding page numbers on their workbooks. They turn in their assignments by taking pictures using their chrome books and uploading to Seesaw. I use the Seesaw platform to assign work and as my gradebook and for data. I can’t undo that now and start over. Children are used to that and we have a routine. They also use Successmaker and Zearn on the chrome books. I am not able to properly handle both groups without having students bring their chrome book so that we may continue our regular routines and the normal ways that we receive and submit work even when it is paper and pencil work. Hybrid implies technology is used. There is not reason why students are not able to continue to use their chrome books and the district is now asking the impossible. They are asking us to handle two workloads simultaneously. Think that students are not supposed to use centers due to Covid at least having their own chrome book will give us options to supplement center work with technology. (still unanswered by the District)
QUESTION 3: (A) Is it true the Superintendent is planning 200 midyear teacher cuts? (still unanswered by the District)
QUESTION 4: (FA) How can we justify students and teachers returning to the school building for teaching and learning when the district’s school board has yet to meet in person? (still unanswered by the District)
QUESTION 5: (F) Will technology devices be supplemented for students who are returning in a hybrid model? Why are technology devices not allowed to come to school?
I am surprised at the directive for students (at least in K-6) are not allowed to bring or have supplemental technology devices with them when they return to the school building. The district has spent millions of dollars in investing money that would bring our school building & teaching technique into the 21st century… specifically, I’m talking about the use of Pear Deck and Quaver Music. These two resources are game-changers in the digital/hybrid environment and they’re being taken away from students and teachers.
I am saddened that we have spent money and PD time learning how to utilize Pear Deck and that now many of its most exciting features will be unusable if students will not have reasonable access to technology while in school. In Quaver Music, there are tools for music creation that would supplement the use of real instruments in the classroom, since sharing instruments is not allowed, in addition to preparing students to learn how to use tools that would prepare them for becoming 21st century musicians (e.g., the use of mixers, creating accompaniment). (still unanswered by the District)
QUESTION 6: (FA) Why does the remote schedule need to move to align with that of in-person?
Are remote students going to still have screen breaks and an hour long lunch? (still unanswered by the District)
QUESTION 7: (FA)
Can my child switch from remote to hybrid if we don’t feel she is safe in the school or the numbers get too high? (still unanswered by the District)
January 4, 2021 Questions (1-21)
QUESTION 1: (F) If a student refuses to wear a mask and is not exempt, what is the procedure? (still unanswered by the District)
QUESTION 2: (A) Is it true the Superintendent is planning 200 midyear teacher cuts? I would need to plan as this would impact my family, again. I could take a job in another district right now but I want to teach in the city. Any insight you could give would be appreciated. (still unanswered by the District)
QUESTION 3: (FA) Where will music, art and pe classes take place during Phase 2? Is this a District-wide decision or is school-by-school? (still unanswered by the District)
QUESTION 4: (FA) Will there be chrome books available for hybrid instruction? Will there be one for each in-person student? (still unanswered by the District)
QUESTION 5: (FA) If we are teaching in the students’ classrooms, will we be provided with carts to move instruments, supplies, equipment, etc. Will we be supplied with appropriate cleaning materials to use between classes? Will passing time be expanded so that we can carefully clean these items? (still unanswered by the District)
QUESTION 6: (A) How can the district sign an MOU and allow teachers to make final plans for their own families, and then turn around and change what they said without negotiations or notice??? (still unanswered by the District)
QUESTION 7: (FA) If there is going to be only 25% of the students going hybrid, how are the students learning remotely being taught? Are there going to be cameras in each classroom so these remote students will be “in class?”
(still unanswered by the District)
QUESTION 8: (A) Will teachers have weekly access to rapid testing? (still unanswered by the District)
QUESTION 9: (F) Can we find a solution so the hybrid students can bring their chromebooks to school? There are many programs that students use daily (Successmaker, Zearn, Xtramath, Read Works, etc.) to enhance learning and skills. These programs are vital to instruction.(still unanswered by the District)
QUESTION 10: (A) Historically discipline protocol has been inconsistent in the District. Students have not had to keep masks on all day to date. What is the protocol for action taken when students refuse to keep his mask on his face the right way? If a student comes with a fever, how many kids will be allowed in the nurses holding tank until a parent is contacted? How do we know the school is being sanitized? We didn’t even get supplied with soap and toilet paper. Not real confident in this category. How many students chose hybrid? Are they the kids that even attend consistently? (still unanswered by the District)
QUESTION 11: (FA) Is it true that Superintendent Meyers-Small will remain remote instead of working from Central Office?(still unanswered by the District)
QUESTION 12: (FA): Is it true that Superintendent Meyers-Small will remain remote instead of working from Central Office?(still unanswered by the District)
QUESTION 13: (FA) Someone at CO said that the new plan is for K-12 to go hybrid all at once starting in February. Can anyone speak on this?(still unanswered by the District)
QUESTION 14: (FA) I heard a rumor that Elementary Instrumental music programs will remain 100% remote. Is that true? (still unanswered by the District)
QUESTION 15: (A) What is the plan for meeting testing requirements when few, if any, parents give permission to test their child for COVID-19? All attending school, Students, Teachers, Administrators, Staff deserve to have an accurate picture of the health and safety of the school environment. (still unanswered by the District)
QUESTION 16: (FA) Are we all going back face-to-face for hybrid teaching in February or just those in “pods”?
(still unanswered by the District)
QUESTION 17: (A) My co-teacher is not allowed to come back to in person teaching, due to medical concerns. Since we are co-teaching, how will this look in February? We only have 4 kids who chose the hybrid model. Will I still need to report to school independently?(still unanswered by the District)
QUESTION 18: (FA) How will the district protect everyone in the case of those teachers who push into multiple classrooms in any given day (including different grade levels)? Not only is their possible exposure higher but if they do get infected, they could spread it over 3-4 rooms of students and colleagues.(still unanswered by the District)
QUESTION 19: (FA) Will my school provide me with a big enough room to provide small group services? My office is small and I have concerns about providing services safely.(still unanswered by the District)
QUESTION 20: (F) Why are students not able to bring chrome books to school. Majority of my students were unable to engage in remote learning independently because they didn’t know how to navigate technology, this would provide an opportunity for teachers to explicitly teach students these skills which they need in general and in case of another shut down or return to remote learning due to covid. My lessons and all individual goal work had to be transferred to online and I am expected to teach online and in person at the same time. This will only work if all students have chromebooks – their assignments are in google classroom, my lessons are on google. They should all be using that platform to continue to grow as online learners which is an important skill to have in life now. Also – students have been out of school for 9 months and while they were “in school” – they were on a computer. Now – we are taking our population of students who do not handle change well and saying “just go do a worksheet” because we can’t do groups, we can’t come to the carpet, we can’t play a game. Kids have to sit at a desk ALL day, school itself will be so different, why add this to that list? Majority of my students don’t engage in asynchronous work on Wednesdays – I would much rather them have their computers at school and I will send home work on Wednesdays that they can bring back to me for credit. The workload and planning time required to manage this change is MASSIVE – as it is, we plan for hours outside of the 30 minutes we get each day. It is asking a lot to completely change everything on students right now – and having them come without computers is in my opinion, sending them to school unprepared. In this day and age – technology unfortunately is a new normal. Students need their chrome books (still unanswered by the District)
QUESTION 21: (F) What happens if I run out of PPE and my administration refuses (still unanswered by the District)
Questions and Answers will be updated daily. Submissions may be edited for brevity, off topic content, redundancy, etc. Answers from the RCSD will not be edited.