Help us provide you with free, quality local news. A/C heating. Europe has already adopted school as a priority/essential despite spiking numbers and are opting to keep schools open. Not to mention that high schoolers are taking final exams right after the Holiday Break. Virtual simply isn’t working for many. this seems like an goal we won’t be able to achieve. Sign up for our free newsletter by clicking here. • Neighboring districts have successfully returned with few incidents. It’s sick time/FMLA/or be fired. The District will follow the guidance from the Georgia Department of Public Health, DeKalb Public Health and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Stan what do you think, is 4 days a week (aka no classes on Wednesdays) going to last all school year? 10, 11, and 12-month Staff Return to Work, January 14, 2021 Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window), Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window). There are a small amount of doors that lead to outside, there are little to no windows allowed for ventilation; and some of the custodial staff CANNOT be trusted to maintain cleanliness. Our high school has horrible wifi reception as it is. I’ve already been contemplating resigning because I’m tired of the way the education system is and continues to be. It usually takes a couple of days to set up a classroom, not 15 minutes! I promise the Dekalb County School System that I will sue if my wife catches Covid just because you want to send the students back to school without even considering how the teaches feel about it. No. So, I’m asking them to simply acknowledge the fact that we can’t go back right now and do what’s best for everyone, because we are all human beings and we all matter.”. Tuesday’s protest drew a slightly larger number of people than last week’s protest, which saw approximately 250 people in attendance. I’m doing it and so can you! He said, “I’m not personally affected but I totally support them.” Fosssati also said his students have actually done better on quizzes and exams with virtual learning than with face to face. You’ll be teaching some kids virtually, and some in-person, so make sure you understand how to use MS Teams*. Nobody likes online learning, but it’s better than dying and it’s better than this . Website Design by. DeKalb County schools reveal part of reopening plan Any plans for webcams or audio? @PatW, are you serious right now? I know of a colleague that passed of COVID last year and not a word was mentioned. Author: Jonathan Raymond (11Alive) When and how will the decision to transition to 4 days per week be made? Is there a link where I can access the presentation from the meeting? Teachers hold signs along Mountain Industrial Boulevard in front of the DeKalb County School District offices Dec. 29 to protest the return to in person schooling in January. Could you please post a link for teachers to find the necessary forms for taking a leave of absence, using FMLA, or resignation? (AJC FILE PHOTO) By Marlon A. Walker The DeKalb County School District will continue preparing its road mapfor bringing students and teachers back to classrooms for the upcoming school … Parents get to decide if f2f is safe for their children and have a choice for virtual, but as adults, we are not allowed the same respect. They could have announced this weeks ago, giving everyone more time to make informed decisions. @ConcernedToo, If you decide to move on, what are you looking for? Was this timeline created with vaccine distribution in mind? DeKalb County Schools reveal part of reopening plan The first week of school is August 10, but not all students will be at school on the same day. I work in an essential business (transportation) and have been traveling globally since the initial outbreak. How can these other counties continue to remain face to face successfully, yet Dekalb won’t even consider F2F until cases are below 5% (which ZERO counties in GA are actually at?!) Overworked, underpaid teachers are not going to risk their lives for hybrid learning. Both their children’s schools have closed because of COVID numbers. Any idea what other school districts are doing to cover classes when a teacher is out for any reason. How much sympathy do you think they have for teachers who have to go to work with children who aren’t sick? . These kinds of things diminish credibility for the school district. Don’t ask the nurses or doctors for sympathy either because they are FULLY aware of the risk you are taking and you know, you are not ignorant, of the high risk involved with f2f learning. If the settlement checks are “wages,” and if DCSD doesn’t pay into Social Security, then why is Social Security being deducted from the settlement amount? ADA documentation can also be accessed through the following link: https://dcsd.sharepoint.com/hr/Pages/Forms.aspx Employees may use the email to make requests: ADArequests@dekalbschoolsga.org. Either accept that or leave the teaching profession for a career that treats pregnant women like they’re humans. I care about my kid’s teachers. Stay the course now that a vaccine is on the horizon. 4. Naturally, yesterday was the faculty town hall (held when some schools were still holding classes!) I’d love to have their safety precautions, like students having to have a negative test to attend class each day (Germany). @pregnant teacher-they don’t care. What will the contact hours be when the schools are re-opened? Phase three will begin Jan. 25, 2021. To become a supporter, click here. Most parents that agreed to hybrid did it under the original guidance. This is exactly what will happen! Makes no sense! Local schools will collaborate with families to align the schedules of siblings. Hi Stan, Regarding whether there will be a smaller number in the class doesn’t matter. People did, specifically, ask about dates and she wouldn’t commit. From what I’ve seen, DCSD is not providing accommodations for pregnant teachers, who are considered high risk. Is the two days per week transitional only, and if so, how long before they can go four days per week? https://www.facebook.com/DCSDfamilyengagement/videos/232245901668399. You are just a spot to fill in a classroom. We like in a predominantly black area and most students are virtual. #walkaway. Teachers need to have access to these forms before we go on break and should not have to search and search for them. abcdefg, If it makes you feel any better, parents don’t have a choice whether or not to pay taxes which pay your salary. Are the classrooms going to have webcams with mics by January 4th? That is all. The metrics have changed, at first the county said it’s safe to go back to work when we have cases per 100,000 under 100. @ I’ve ordered my hazmat suit | Harris also lied about our furlough days!!! All our rooms are nasty. DeKalb Schools has announced they will begin its re-opening process on a staggered schedule Jan. 4, 2021 with staff returning to school buildings. So……I guess I am not understanding. Are there any three reasonably objective (IE: not a DCSD employee) observers who would dare suggest that what DeKalb residents are getting from their public schools is even close to an “adequate education?” Maybe it is time to recognized, and act upon, the plain fact that DeKalb County Schools are in breach of the social contract and have failed in meeting the responsibilities required of them by the State’s Constitution. They don’t even have the option to quit in this state. You mean absolutely nothing to parents or administrtation. Will all special needs students return f2f with the first group of grade based typical students? The logistical challenges of the hybrid model are impossible to surmount. I would expect the same- only worse- after Christmas. So, is the district being threatened with losing funds? By Marlon A. Walker The DeKalb County School District will continue preparing its road map for bringing students and teachers back to classrooms for the upcoming school year, district officials said after state officials announced guidance for K-12 school systems. https://dph.georgia.gov/covid-19-daily-status-report. (PHOTOS) Parents, teachers protest DeKalb County Schools reopening plan decaturish.com. And no, pregnant women are not asked to quarantine in any profession, but nice try. You know good and well this is a dangerous virus and you are willing to risk all of our lives. It's been increasing, and is currently above 10% as of December 8th. Employee Options – Telework may possibly be provided as an option for employees who qualify for an accommodation under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). If you like what we do, consider becoming a paid supporter. DeKalb wants to begin its reopening process Jan. 4, with staff returning to school buildings first. But now they just throw the metrics out the window. Are these dates going to be pushed back if the under 10% positivity rate in the chart presented last night isn’t met by those dates? Right now positivity rates only reflect PCR testing, thus it is likely a lower estimate of actually positivity rates. Cobb just announced they are moving to all-virtual. There are places for desk shields to go on receptionists desks and there are other departments within the building that do not have a receptionist desk or some type of barrier of protection. The concurrent learning environment will support students based on their families’ choice to either attend school in-person or continue with distance/remote learning. In the presentation, it mentions using “non-homeroom teachers” as subs which means using special area teachers to cover classes. THIS IS NOTHING NEW. If so, they might want to re-survey parents to gain their interest for two reasons. The nurse at my school quit awhile ago. We’d rather be safe than sorry. And for the record, my wife is a pre-K teacher who has been in the classroom all fall, and my mother was a teacher for 35 years who just was forced to fully retire this fall when her half-time position was cut out of her school’s budget. It is all packed up! Teachers, the police have left Atlanta due to lack of respect. Additionally, pregnant people with COVID-19 might be at increased risk for other adverse outcomes, such as preterm birth.” I guess depending on the other factors, that could move somebody into a high risk category. Will DeKalb do the same? Don’t forget to do your hall duty, lunch duty, bus duty, and morning duty. @Tyson, there’s no point in trying to reason with this group. Besides moving the goalposts on which metric(s) we’re using, they want us to eat lunch in our classrooms with our students without masks on . Keep In Mind – DeKalb Schools administration would like you to keep the following in mind: • In surveying our DCSD families on intent to return to school, over 40% of families indicated their desire to send their children back to school. The plan, which will be presented during the DeKalb County Board of Education’s monthly meeting […] Schools will organize all classes into two cohorts based on alpha order to adhere to social/physical distancing requirements and safety guidance. Nothing is about the well-being of children or the many people who work in the trenches. So many unanswered questions……. So now you have it! Here come lots of resignations! Schools have been virtual in DeKalb County since March due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Can you ask about this? Photo by Dean Hesse. https://dph.georgia.gov/covid-19-daily-status-report. This is ridiculous! How are we going to get students back on track? The matrix says 3 days in person 2 days remote for staff, 5 days remote for students. #walkaway. Or does it mean hibernating in our room at school? Principals? … DeKalb Schools still has no reopening date, reviews decision … DCSD Superintendent Cheryl Watson-Harris and her team presented the district's updated reopening plan during a virtual town hall meeting Dec. 14. DeKalb County parents with opposing views press school board to … In January 2021, the District will continue to offer high quality instruction in a concurrent learning environment. You should also be prepared to cover another class during your planning period, and have extra kids added to your room, because none of the other teachers out with covid were able to get subs to pick up their jobs either. What evidence do they have that test positivity rate is going to drop by January? So frustrated to hear they are sticking to reduced instruction time. What does it mean? Stop asking for help and wrap your head around the fact they only need teachers to watch their children for 8 hours daily so they don’t have to. Find out just what any people will quietly submit to and you have found out the exact measure of injustice and wrong which will be imposed upon them.” — Frederick Douglass, “Extremism in defense of liberty is no vice. No school has the proper equipment for teachers to work virtually from school. @anonymous-doctors/nurses will have sympathy for teachers because it’s work f2f or be fired for us. And no hands-on activities or anything that requires materials of any kind, obviously. The timing of this is odd with cases spiking and schools being shut down all over metro Atlanta. What if the technology doesn’t work (it won’t)? William Hodge, 12, a seventh grader at Druid Hills Middle School and his mother Emily Klimkiewicz came out to support DeKalb County School District teachers Dec. 29, during a protest against the return to in person schooling in January. We often do not get straight forward answers from the district, and you’ve definitely proven to be the much needed intermediary between the staff and the ones in charge. How will the days be structured to allow for teachers to handle F2F instruction AND virtual? I don’t understand why teachers should be exempt from paying for daycare just like the rest of us working parents have been doing since March. The school system does not treat teachers like humans. It’s crazy to me that so many teachers & school staff are firmly convinced that if they go back in the classroom, they WILL 100% get Covid, and they are also convinced that they will likely be hospitalized and/or die from it. #moveon. Industrial Blvd. This is the last year I’m treated like a doormat. There may also be parents like myself that were not comfortable with the disruption of going back and forth between virtual and in person that would be comfortable with full time face to face. It’s an elementary school, so that may be the reason. Also many teachers are far from prepared to return and yet we are only given a week (not enough time ) to go back to school and prepare to receive students. Your email address will not be published. I believe Gwinnett allows schools to decide what works for their school. Many times county admin and board members have stated they are learning from other counties who have returned to school and yet and still no PD has been provided to teachers on how to teach both f2f and virtually at the same with a few hiccups as possible. DeKalb Schools Reopening Plan. Visit Facebook We will get good medical care if admitted to the ICU and sympathy. American Legal Claim Services says they just send the checks; the deductions are a question for “legal counsel,” and they will pass along my question. I brought many supplies from school to my house in order to teach from home. They see you as defiant if you stick up for yourself and your wellbeing. Right now we’re seeing a spike in cases to match the highest levels of the entire pandemic, perhaps in part due to family gatherings at Thanksgiving. You seem to come on this blog for the sole purpose of bashing the teachers that you (clearly) desperately need to teach your kids. Thank you. Our principal disputes these dates being posted here. Hey Ben, My original understanding of hybrid is that there would be cohorts of students and students would go to school once a week with their cohort if they chose face to face learning. • Most importantly, our youngest learners and our most vulnerable students must have the structure of learning within the school building to receive targeted support from educators needed to achieve academic success. @ SHERRI E PAGE , are you a teacher? Employees may request ADA documentation from Employee Relations or bookkeepers. Back to the resignation question: How likely do you think the county will be to approve our resignations? Clean it yourself Dekalb! They also sent me this explanation for going back even though the number of infections is going up. Thanks for all you’ve done as our rep, Stan. Small group is also done via Zoom. Also, has DCSD considered NOT having teachers teach both to the kids in classrooms AND at home simultaneously? David Fossati, a computer science professor at Emory University came out to support DeKalb County School District teachers during a Dec. 29 protest against the January return to in person schooling.  2018-2019 Calendar. Selected grade levels will begin in-person learning on Jan. 19, 2021. Hello @Pregnant Teacher. It’s absolutely horrifying to me that they are being forced to go back with absolutely no options. What is the plan for lunch? I’m changing my profession. 3) What is the metric for going back to school now? The AIC building is NOT equipped to help prevent the spread of COVID. Does that mean staying at home rather than going into the building? Photo by Dean Hesse. STONE MOUNTAIN, Ga. – DeKalb County School District Superintendent Cheryl Watson-Harris and her team presented the District’s updated re-opening plan during the Sept. 14 Board of Education meeting. DeKalb County School Board members push back as superintendent presents reopening plan Decaturish.com Sep 14, 2020 DeKalb County School District Administration and Instructional Complex on Mtn. Students in grades Pre-K, 1st, 2nd, 6th, and 9th grade will have the option to begin in-person learning [...] As parents, only we can decide what is best for our children. Even better would be a return to full-time f2f, versus two days per week. Make sure to bring your school-issued Chromebook, since my desktop does not have a webcam or microphone and your personal laptop won’t work on the school’s network. 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