That didn't last long - SOMSD teachers not returning for in-person instruction
Teachers start being vaccinated in NJ on Monday (and at RiteAid, this weekend if they sign up tonight).
I think the point about vaccination of teachers and SOMA would have been a non-issue if our district had been hybrid all along. But when it was so close to the time that the vaccines would be available to teachers (and why weren't more people, especially superintendents, lobbying to accelerate that?), it seems that many felt that if they had gone this long with fully remote AND (at least during the previous "round" of start/not start) there was a major surge in cases, it made more sense to go ahead and wait that extra bit longer to get the vaccines. I also understand that our district administration was much less flexible about accommodations for teachers who had health-compromised family members (or themselves with health issues) requesting exemptions than many other districts. That might have helped bolster the argument for the administration.
FWIW: My BIL is a teacher in a school district one county over, and fairly early on they decided to remain virtual for the full 2020-2021 school year.
This has helped eliminate the uncertainty for the district's teachers, students, and parents, and allowed the district to focus their energy on developing various systems to support families while fully virtual. Which seems better than ending up where we are with multiple factions battling each other on multiple fronts, with new uncertainties developing every week, and even changing of schedules being announced the day before.
Sprout-Murphy moved the teacher vax date up to last Saturday after the initial announcement about 3/15.
Anyone with a high risk medical condition (or above age 65) has been able to sign up for a shot since early/mid January. And especially recently, there is availability if you are willing/able to make an effort.
At this point, I don't think it's the vaccines that are the issue.
Obviously a lot of bad will between the teachers/union and administration/Board has been created. It is still hard to understand what happened with the ventilation issue last fall, ie fixed/not fixed. That seems key to the whole thing and no one was held accountable? Apparently people "like" the superintendent, but on this issue he hasn't provided strong leadership.
I wonder about some of the other dynamics of your BILs district and if/how they were able to get parent buy-in for their decision to be all virtual. I have not looked at every district that is still all virtual, but for the most part they are in communities with low family income levels such as Paterson, Newark, Orange, Irvington, etc. For many reasons, families in those districts may be more willing to "accept" an administration's decision in this regard. (Don't get me started on the increase in the educational divide between haves and have nots due to this circumstance--at least many/most parents in SOMA district have the skills/resources to fill in some of the gaps!)
I hope the district can work out a schedule that is acceptable for this school year. But I'm worried that if they don't start planning now for fall, that there may be the same sh## show for another school year!
SOMEA has not said that teachers who are vaccinated will return to school.
berkeley said:
At this point, I don't think it's the vaccines that are the issue.
...
I wonder about some of the other dynamics of your BILs district and if/how they were able to get parent buy-in for their decision to be all virtual. I have not looked at every district that is still all virtual, but for the most part they are in communities with low family income levels such as Paterson, Newark, Orange, Irvington, etc. For many reasons, families in those districts may be more willing to "accept" an administration's decision in this regard. (Don't get me started on the increase in the educational divide between haves and have nots due to this circumstance--at least many/most parents in SOMA district have the skills/resources to fill in some of the gaps!)
Not sure how my BILs district got buy-in, but they made the decision when the NJ Covid rates were high this winter, and may have done a good job in defending the choice, and indicating the services and assistance they would provide during the virtual school year for those that needed it.
Note: Newark's website indicates that they are virtual until April 12 (which was announced in January or earlier)... so for them, it seems likely the decision was made based on the expected availability of immunizations for teachers.
As you indicate, in the lower-income districts, there may be less sense of parental power to exert pressure. But had Newark attempted in-person instruction, it may have been more challenging for lower-income families to adjust to last-minute changes of schedules (or even to receive district communications around changes) due to a Covid-case school closure, or a dispute with the teachers' union, as SOMSD has experienced.
It may also be more challenging to find in-person substitute teachers at the scale such a large district would require. With all-virtual, teacher absences/teacher replacements are likely minimal, which increases consistency for the students.
chalmers said:
SOMEA has not said that teachers who are vaccinated will return to school.
Right...so what IS the issue? I thought they had finally agreed upon the classroom acceptability.
As a parent of 2 high school children, I can only say that I have been a strong defender of our teachers and our school district - until now. Remote learning was disturbingly bad last year. And this year it is only as good as the teacher - which is uneven at best. I am surprised and disappointed at the low effort from many teachers. It’s really, really just sad.
I really don’t know how else to say it, but my children are working very hard to try to learn (remotely) from teachers who seem miserably disengaged.
And to echo an earlier point, having that miserably disengaged teacher in a classroom with 7 students learning in front of a device AND 20 students at home half paying attention isn’t a solution.
sprout said:
Teachers start being vaccinated in NJ on Monday (and at RiteAid, this weekend if they sign up tonight).
I know of several teachers that got vaccinated already.
chalmers said:
SOMEA has not said that teachers who are vaccinated will return to school.
SOMEA keeps changing the line in the sand.
Woot said:
As a parent of 2 high school children, I can only say that I have been a strong defender of our teachers and our school district - until now. Remote learning was disturbingly bad last year. And this year it is only as good as the teacher - which is uneven at best. I am surprised and disappointed at the low effort from many teachers. It’s really, really just sad.
I really don’t know how else to say it, but my children are working very hard to try to learn (remotely) from teachers who seem miserably disengaged.
And to echo an earlier point, having that miserably disengaged teacher in a classroom with 7 students learning in front of a device AND 20 students at home half paying attention isn’t a solution.
I'm sorry your kids have HS teachers who are putting in low effort. While I agree last spring the virtual instruction and management of assignments was a hot mess --and teacher and student frustration was high -- I've been impressed at how this year my high schooler's teachers all seem to be organized and working to be engaging (well, except for the physical education teacher...).
His physics teacher seems to be going above-and-beyond. He has even dropped things off for students in their home mailbox.
Well west orange just closed the high school after multiple positive cases detected. I honestly think all schools should be closed until September. There’s no easy way to fix this, we don’t live in a perfect world or school district.
Darwin was surely onto something alright...
Jaytee said:
Well west orange just closed the high school after multiple positive cases detected. I honestly think all schools should be closed until September. There’s no easy way to fix this, we don’t live in a perfect world or school district.
Darwin was surely onto something alright...
I truly agree that if more people were acting responsibly outside of school it would be easier to get back in to school. Just wait until spring break. Our towns are full of people who will not be denied their vacations.
FilmCarp said:
I truly agree that if more people were acting responsibly outside of school it would be easier to get back in to school. Just wait until spring break. Our towns are full of people who will not be denied their vacations.
Current plan is to be virtual for 2 weeks following Spring Break, regardless of other factors.
In my town, an early March spike in cases is blamed on all those whom went away for the long President’s weekend. If that is true, we are definitely doomed at Easter time. I’ve lost count of how many people I know who are headed to ski slopes and beaches.
Jaytee said:
Well west orange just closed the high school after multiple positive cases detected. I honestly think all schools should be closed until September. There’s no easy way to fix this, we don’t live in a perfect world or school district.
Darwin was surely onto something alright...
Based on some firsthand experience, high school students have been the least responsible age group in regards to following COVID guidelines.
yahooyahoo said:
Jaytee said:
Well west orange just closed the high school after multiple positive cases detected. I honestly think all schools should be closed until September. There’s no easy way to fix this, we don’t live in a perfect world or school district.
Darwin was surely onto something alright...Based on some firsthand experience, high school students have been the least responsible age group in regards to following COVID guidelines.
That's probably right, though it isn't the high schoolers themselves who organize the team banquets or own the houses where parties are held.
jimmurphy said:
Current plan is to be virtual for 2 weeks following Spring Break, regardless of other factors.
--- and a 4th wave of Roma is underway in Italy.
I'm probably so numb with all this Distance Learning, but didn't realized that a few hours back to school this week and the kids are away on quarantine until April 19th?
sprout said:
I'm sorry your kids have HS teachers who are putting in low effort. While I agree last spring the virtual instruction and management of assignments was a hot mess --and teacher and student frustration was high -- I've been impressed at how this year my high schooler's teachers all seem to be organized and working to be engaging (well, except for the physical education teacher...).
His physics teacher seems to be going above-and-beyond. He has even dropped things off for students in their home mailbox.
My daughter's virtual HS teachers have been great except PE/Health. They literally are on for five minutes and then have the kids cut and paste answers from a PPT to get an easy A. Soooooooo disappointing.
Found out my cousin, an art teacher in a public school in south Jersey where they were hybrid, caught Covid from a student in his class (he has all the school's students). It occurred shortly before my cousin was due to get his shot, and he's in a high-risk category. He seems to be recovering OK so far, but... ugh.
tuxedo said:
I'm probably so numb with all this Distance Learning, but didn't realized that a few hours back to school this week and the kids are away on quarantine until April 19th?
Yes, all virtual until the 19th. Because if you ask Soma residents not to travel over spring break they will absolutely agree that it's a terrible idea, and then fly off to some island because they "deserve it", so we have to quarantine for two weeks after break.
tuxedo said:
I'm probably so numb with all this Distance Learning, but didn't realized that a few hours back to school this week and the kids are away on quarantine until April 19th?
Yep. My son’s not in at all this week. Won’t be in until 4/19. “Hybrid” is more of a concept than a reality. So little time actually in the school.
birdwatcher said:
Yep. My son’s not in at all this week. Won’t be in until 4/19. “Hybrid” is more of a concept than a reality. So little time actually in the school.
Smoke and mirrors. I truly cannot stand our District.
tuxedo said:
Smoke and mirrors. I truly cannot stand our District.
We just moved here in July and this is our first experience with the district. We were really excited to send our son to CHS. What has happened over this school year was bizarre and disappointing.
FilmCarp said:
tuxedo said:
I'm probably so numb with all this Distance Learning, but didn't realized that a few hours back to school this week and the kids are away on quarantine until April 19th?
Yes, all virtual until the 19th. Because if you ask Soma residents not to travel over spring break they will absolutely agree that it's a terrible idea, and then fly off to some island because they "deserve it", so we have to quarantine for two weeks after break.
And teachers would also not be allowed to travel.
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For the record, sure. Any other intent, Iike a contrast with teachers wearing non-hospital PPE in non-hospital buildings with non-hospital protocols, would be perplexing.