DeKalb Schools Re-Opening School Task Force built a framework to serve as a transition document to the new Superintendent for final decisions on how to re-open on the first day of school on Aug 3, 2020.
The Georgia Department of Education, in partnership with Georgia Department of Public Health, released Georgia’s Path to Recovery for K-12 Schools. Georgia’s Path to Recovery for K-12 Schools focuses heavily on the health and physical requirements necessary for reopening school buildings. This guidance is not mandated, or state required. Local school districts have the authority and flexibility to meet their individual needs and be responsive to their communities.
The task force was charged with aligning the state’s guidance with the planning of DeKalb Schools re-opening to help the new Superintendent make decisions on how to re-open in August.
FOCUS AREAS
DeKalb Schools Operations Division is working to address the logistics of reopening including:
- Practicing Prevention
- Transporting Students
- Entering School Buildings
- Serving Meals
- Transitioning between classes
- Conducting Large Groups Gatherings
- Supporting Teaching and Learning
- Protecting the Most Vulnerable Students and Staff
- When a Student, Staff or Visitor Becomes Sick at School
SCHOOL DECISION TREE – LEVELS OF COMMUNITY SPREAD
A school decision tree maps the level of community spread to the proposed levels of learning.
LEARNING MODELS – LEVEL OF COMMUNITY SPREAD
Learning models for the various levels of community spread.
RE-OPENING SURVEY
DCSD is seeking stakeholder input on their preferences and perspectives for learning models and hybrid options that the school district is considering for the reopening of schools.
https://dekalb.co1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_6RkKXCJKRzNDwfb
ONLINE LEARNING
There are numerous options for students to learn in the ways that are best for them. If you would like to learn in your own place and at your own pace, look into the many virtual learning options provided by DeKalb Schools, the state of Georgia and many other sources.
“Extremism in defense of liberty is no vice. Moderation in pursuit of justice is no virtue.”
@parental option
Dual Enrollment is not run by the county- the deadlines are up to the college.
@ Dual Enrollment –
The deadlines for getting HS support required to sign up for and attend a Dual Enrollment program are set by the county. DeKalb’s self-imposed deadline for paperwork was April. Even though GSU moved theirs to July, DeKalb provided no flexibility.
I realize there are many variables to consider, and I’m fully aware our new Super was hired last week. But, if we are going to have a new start date, parents need to have enough time to make plans for this. I’m a teacher with two young kids. I’m spending a ton of money for them to attend camp for the “pre-planning dates”. If pre-planning isn’t happening as scheduled, I need to reschedule for another week. I’m not the only one in this situation. Many other working parents need to know, as well. Please inform us what is going on so parents can make arrangements.
Arne Duncan interviewed about reopening schools:
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/back-to-school-arne-duncan-former-secretary-education/id1504128553?i=1000477395256
Duncan was the head of Chicago schools before becoming Obama’s Secretary of Education.
I’m honestly sick & tired of the non-answers & constant (excuses) delays coming from those in charge in all regards especially when it’s not their own safety at risk. So we’ve now heard it’s ok if only even .02% of children die from this right? That’s close to 15,000 students. You line them up and tell them which one is acceptable to see die. What about an increase as we see when they go back. I know an anomaly we closed at a number of less than a few thousand but want to reopen at over 1 million. Camps that are opening “with protocols” in place starting to already see numbers of BOTH staff/counselors & CAMPERS rise, but don’t worry the schools have got this. Schools can’t even control lice outbreaks each year but we’ve got this one. Schools JUST put official bids in to start purchasing with the tiny budgets granted for PPE supplies. Oh and once actual purchases occur (which have not in several school areas yet including DeKalb county), they won’t receive these materials for another few weeks. Heads up that gives the schools less than 2 weeks (and that’s being generous with a timeline) to get ALL protocols, plans, procedures, supplies, in place in this county. Not to mention has anyone seen an increase in staff budgets or new janitorial hires yet? No. How about the fact some of these schools cleaning on normal are short-staffed already. Has anyone here watched some of the “cleaning” done. It’s not up to normal standards, but don’t worry we will get it to CDC standards before we open. Who doesn’t have faith in that? I mean an old floor mop sweeper in a trash bucket or an ancient mop bucket with mold is how they clean lunch tables or wipe occasional chairs off, no full paper towels or toilet paper or soap when no pressure is put on, but add a pandemic and suddenly we will sterilize it all no problem. Before anyone comments about me picking on the janitors I absolutely am not, I know several of them at a few different schools in this, they are for the most part overworked and underpaid dedicated individuals and most go out of their way trying to do their jobs to the best of the ability they can with the materials, budget, & staff they are given. Then we have the idiots (yes, I use this term and if you dislike it suck it up and look in the mirror, you want to risk your child’s health because you can’t manage to watch your own child that’s your issue or lack of parenting ability, teachers & schools aren’t your babysitters), who feel it’s acceptable to allow this added unnecessary risk for everyone because whelp it’s just a risk you take them daily. You’re right it’s a risk, but a preventable one for the most part. A risk that had a majority of people taken seriously in the first place we’d have been headed back to traditional school by now without question, but sheep-minded individuals were to busy needing to make corporate America money while not being inconvenienced over the hoax of a disease. I’d love it if the lot of these individuals would walk through a few medical facilities halls right now and get an up close view of patients dying & suffering. Better yet go without PPE & pug some thoughts or prayers into your outcome hopefully that will help you. The board and intendent should visit a few too and maybe a few of the children’s hospital have battled this already. Or just ask any that have family or friends who have suffered or died from it. Maybe the school board and superintendent should ask the kids directly how they feel. Tell them our protocol is to send you back under the guise of “socialization” but it’ll likely be more like a mini-prison because let’s be honest prisoners will have more yard time and space as well as chat with cell mates than you, still interested in going back? Behind plastic enclosures like a zoo? With masks? 6 ft apart? We won’t mention teachers have to monitor and attempt to enforce this like wardens all day long. Interrupting lessons each time a child potentially touches their face or throws a tantrum about being uncomfortable or unable to breathe because it’s too hot or they have an anxiety attack due to the overwhelming stress of it all. We won’t mention putting the teachers, staff, paraprofessionals, security, volunteers?(those people usually necessary to help a school run), etc. at risk because that’s already been mentioned while you continue to basically tell them “we don’t care if you get sick or die, stop complaining and just go to work”. We know the risks for them you just don’t seem to care. So back to risk – you take a risk just driving! Yes, you do. You also have doors that seal, an airbag that deploys, a seatbelt to hold you back, brakes to help you stop, and an emergency brake just in case! Wow! Preventative measures and all sorts of safety features years in the making in place. What’s the problem here, oh right COVID-19 has a handful of measures in place to help you avoid the risk of getting sick NOT a preventative safety for once you are exposed or become ill. We don’t have that yet. Oh, I know, people still drive everyday. Guess what! People get into accidents everyday & several even die taking that risk. Shocker, during COVID-19 and the initial quarantine accidents went down significantly! People weren’t driving, shocking how that impacted the overall impact of traffic accidents (billions saved in monetary means) & lots of lives saved of uninsured. Here’s a fun fact, the way we know you can absolutely PREVENT getting COVID-19, non-exposure. Look at that, no risk involved. The flu, that thing that has several strains, all kinds of vaccines each year, and STILL manages to kill people each year is a risk we already have and some take. We know there is a number of deaths that will occur, so why are we looking to add another number of deaths with an illness we know is absolutely preventable by simply not exposing others to it right now. It’s uncomplicated science and common sense. I know that seems to be lacking in many. Let’s back off of the whole risk debate for now since that falls on deaf ears far to often and return to the whole must return to school because debate. We already know it’s not socializing. Some children still socialize anyways, and many spend their lives on a phone while at school. The ones who have after school clubs or some semblance of chat time during extra classes or gym, music, specials, drama, languages, tech, etc. will most likely not be granted those classes or extra clubs before or after school this year. Some schools dictate the children’s lunch time seating arrangements as well, so they don’t necessarily “see” friends always now. Some give them silent lunches or shortened ones, again these happen under normal circumstances, so not as much socializing as thought to be happening there anyways. If we bar them in their classes to eat, they sit 6 ft apart, are behind plastic, and are given shortened times and told they can’t turn out of their partitions who are they socializing with ahead? Lockers? Are we pretending schools that already have locker schedules (which don’t already work) are going to be managed at 6 ft distances all year? Or are we even using materials we bring in and out of buildings each day? Or week? Sorry the ridiculous idea that a bunch of students sill be remembering these new stylized schedules of here vs. not is already chaotic. Add that to if there is a need to quarantine again. Holidays or breaks ahead, what happens if it falls mid-schedule does it shift now the children who had Monday and Wednesday miss their day? Or make it up later? If the quarantine begins on a Thursday do we return on one or count it as a loss? Are we guarding phones for every sniffle, sneeze, cough ahead come pick up your child, oh we quarantine this week! Or we wait and see? Flu and sinuses ahead when seasons change we have all kinds of already potential problems, but do we ignore signs and send them in anyways or have to call just in case? Get a Dr. note each time they miss? Update the teacher they are home, but it’s hopefully only a cold or sinus infection. Nope it could be COVID-19, they say go get tested. A few days later, the class is in panic, the teacher over-stressed again, not just worried for themself and their loved ones, but their students (did they change classes or the kids?!). Oh darn, we didn’t need to shut down the school, again, just strep, or the flu. Let’s go back and gamble again and pretend we won’t have everyone stressed & panicked every five minutes or time a phone rings or email arrives about a new possible spread. By the way you finally got childcare and a schedule in place, but we can & will change it on you at any point in time. There goes stability for you and your kids. We won’t mention again the adults are unable to follow rules in places, but we are expecting these same adults, who flout everything or think this is a joke, to listen and follow directives when they return to school. Who deals with them when they won’t? What about shopping for school supplies this year? Are we pretending the kids won’t notice the fights or abused employees there too (yes, before anyone else says that only happens in the news, has anyone actually seen this happen, yes, I can personally account for three incidents, & know friends and family who have witnessed several more). It’s ok though it’ll be for some school supplies they need to head into their own fray of stress ahead, it won’t be anything like this at school though, we promise. We will ignore the rules, risks, lack of budgets, lack of ability to staff enough to monitor, lack of ability to actually clean properly, need to pretend we will see them socializing, and instead return to the basic argument traditional works and virtual doesn’t. Then by your own admission, hybrid won’t work, it’s half virtual. Be it 2 days on and off, or week on & week off, it’s STILL VIRTUAL. The only people who think virtual classes don’t work either A. Don’t understand technology themselves (here’s a clue, it works, if it’s utilized properly. Shocking fact we actually have entire Universities & Jobs that are solely run ONLINE, so yes, it can be done!) B. Are still trying to blame teachers for the schools (county/country/board/superintendents) lack of preparation for technological needs in case of emergencies. There is zero reason this wasn’t pre-empted yet, if a tornado ripped through a school, there are ways they manage to still teach in that community, it’s called putting measures in place. After the “snowpocalypse” here a few years ago where many people couldn’t get through (for many reasons), the schools had to start utilizing computer technology more. After that they set some tiny verge/platforms in place to handle these matters rather than beginning to put the ability of teach classes in place fully when needed. It wasn’t a rush, you say, I know! Point in case though back in April & May while teachers scrambled the entire education system should have been looking forward. The schools and boards should have been asking for help from parents, other teachers, reaching out to colleagues in other facilities and asking how to get set up for virtual classes ahead, just in case. Even if it wasn’t necessary for Fall, it would be in place, teachers could be taught, websites or links set up, training online ready for whenever it was necessary. Instead here we are in June/July being surveyed about should virtual be fixed and improved if they are taught in this manner. We are being told virtual doesn’t work because they want an excuse and blame-all for not being prepared or still getting ready properly when schools should be “opening” in just a few short weeks. Fact, even if the schools weren’t PPE ready yet they could have opened virtually the first week of August, & then stated we are ready to start bringing students back in … here’s an update, but they are still learning in the meantime. They could easily have started setting up for returns and not had as many people in a panic or upset if this was handled up front with information each step of the way and not hidden behind closed doors with surveys and meetings not live-streamed or being discussed with all concerned parties involved each step of the way. Updates and not guesswork, yes it’s developing, things change weekly, but realistic information is a necessity as well as people who care in place, not new just installed individuals who don’t know this community, and pretending schools are even somewhat capable of opening (safely) in a few weeks is not realistic, so either the board and superintendent is unaware or they are placating people by lying about what safety measures are in store already and making decisions with limited knowledge or the idea of what “will be” ahead. We also have the blame the teachers for no attendance. These are the same people who would like them as babysitters, my apologies, but as online work requires a bit more independence for even college students, yes, you will need to actually step in and tell your children log-in and do your work, it’s called parenting, please try it. Teachers as you were informed weren’t able to actually “grade” so let’s blame them for the lousy scores. Nope, again that means you’re kid already wasn’t doing great or pretty much turned in zero during that timeline, that is on you not the teachers. Now you want this to change and want to see grades, but did anyone pay attention to the survey for Georgia that just closed on July 10th? It was asking about standardized testing being waived, sure, but ALSO about report cards potentially being waived again. This means if passed even if the students do go back traditionally this year they could potentially not be receiving grades or any knowledge whatsoever required by teachers. You will be dependent upon the teachers in class determining what the students learn and that there successfully acquired that knowledge for next year. Shocker, like always you will have some incredible teachers, some good ones, adequate, average, & some outright handful of lousy ones which you won’t be able to do anything about this year. I will acknowledge we had a terrible experience with one last year, luckily we were able to handle that issue, and that situation was rectified with a replacement. One. The rest of my child’s teachers were wonderful with one/two others being average. Several went above and beyond though including when the students went to virtual work. The teachers worked for the most parts within the means they had. Students who committed did just fine. Virtually or traditionally though they may still have no report cards ahead, so grading will be handled differently either way by schools if that’s passed. Parents will have to stay informed no matter what or check in. You say teachers teach better in class, yes, likely under normal circumstances the average student teacher relationship is built and mostly best in these situations, unfortunately this isn’t normal m, but added stress and duress for several likely being threatened if they don’t return. Apologies, but that spent bode well for students in any regard as they become the potential targets for resentment during the day and each time a possible need to quarantine and return goes forward. No, they shouldn’t be blamed, but some of us are realists, and we know that enough stress causes people to start lashing out whether subtle or over-the-too is dependent upon the individual. Don’t worry, we know the school will issue apology afterwards and board will say we may have made an oops, but who knew? So children may be scared or upset, but that’s life right! Bad things can happen anyways, it’s not like we could have prevented this from happening when we gambled and took yet another unnecessary risk. We have students in high schools, middle schools, and elementary schools starting for the first time and they will be stressed or under chaotic circumstance in a new environment as well potentially facing masked adults, all types of new rules or odd schedules won’t stay like this in place, but no big deal right. This is some semblance of pretend stability so adults can get back to working for the man and the kiddies can get out of their hair. Realistically is it great for everyone, no, some families need help. We have students that have siblings they care for while both parents work. What happens if your eldest in high school is there one week, but your middle student is on two days (M&W), but you youngest has only virtual or is there (T&Th) or worse the opposite week of their high school sibling? What happens when you tell parents kids are going to school, but then they aren’t, or but only sometimes, with the ability to change ahead. You still need help. Instead if we say it’s virtual UNLESS we have students who absolutely need to return (reach out to ALL in the county) & find out who? then find those willing to come on and assist those students or create those classes. The simplest way to handle this is asking not only your teachers, students, & parents about the returns, it’s the ability for those to choose. The school board and superintendent should already be putting into work a document for parents and children who wish to only attend virtually REGARDLESS of the decisions made by the county. There are several immunocompromised students, families, staff, and teachers who do not belong having this stress hanging over their heads until the last minute or worrying about how to find exemptions to returning. Families should not be distressed and concerned about having to homeschool and pull children from the schools because they doubt the county will offer these options. We would like to see realistic discussions of what schools ACTUALLY already have in place (not will be receiving hopefully), plans & protocols for every potential risk, hazard, or situation already mentioned by parents & teachers everywhere (yes, it’s possible, they have plans for fire, weather, bombs, shootings etc. etc., so if this is another risk we require the safety regulations and measures being put in place to handle them prior to any “final” decisions by the board or county), and liability as well as responsibility to be held. You ask parents to sign insurance forms each year for their students now, field trip book reports, etc. staying “we are not responsible”, BUT as a parent I want the schools to understand I know several people who will not agree to sign forms like this before sending children back this year for any reason, in fact, I want to know WHO is planning on accepting responsibility should my student fall ill? Are you (the board or superintendent etc.) paying their medical bills? The families if anyone else gets sick? Future expenses if someone dies and the child needs care? Funeral costs if they are able to hold one? If the answer is no to that then you look long and hard in the mirror prior to making these decisions please. If you are ready to march down the halls and tell which students, teachers, & families it’s ok if you die, I will take the risk and responsibility fully as well as without guilt then by all means you are ready to make that decision for others families. If not, then allow those individuals to make the decision for themselves. The board and superintendent should ask each student and family formally do you want to return? Will you return if we open traditionally? Hybrid preference? Your schedule if hybrid for your family? Virtual only? Teachers would you feel safe? Virtual? How can we help you get ready for a return – virtually or otherwise? This is what we will have virtually, this is what we will have if traditional, hybrid. These are the things in place. Will update more as it comes. Should your request to change your student to a virtual or traditional environment change please contact. It’s not complicated, ask each family and education worker what is right for them and then determine what is necessary going forward with the ability to accommodate for that which you will not take responsibility for if attempting to forcibly determine someone else families worth and the risks they should or should not take. *I’m positive I’ve skipped a few points like tech development, the fact that as apps and online bills develop even you learned how, so schools with both students & teachers can get there with learning curves too, etc. Sure we didn’t mention the laughable attempt at students collecting their items from school recently (barely then able to handle safety measures). We won’t go into those making decisions who haven’tBeen impacted by this personally, I don’t mean boo-hoo you worked from home, or needed a mask to go in a store, I mean watched or dealt with this firsthand be it with your own family or friends, or in person as an essential employee. Points of numbers rising yet again (yes, other countries started schools, but the overall numbers were low there when they started and now they are already seeing rises, oops), here we barely saw a drop and are seeing upward everything but let’s start anyways, etc. (that can’t go wrong of course). We are seeing new developments in younger individuals as stats rise and change as more chances are taken. This little gem mutates and can be gotten more than once and has a history of leaving devastation in organs in its wake, and as we start to reopen schools do we really need to start seeing the uptick in children stats when it could have been prevented (bugs in schools spread like wildfire, so once it’s out the likely we can stop it won’t be as easy), etc. Yes, life goes on and there are risks, but we can evolve and adapt to the technological age of a temporary new normal with minimal risk to exposure, further spread, & raised stats until we can return safely to “normal” with as many people healthy or still with us as possible (& just regular risks about).
PPE bids go in for the county. Once the county selects which bid they want officially (which tells you how much they for the whole county of DeKalb schools, only public of course) the company has a shipping time leeway at minimum is 5 days out to 13 days. Anything below that is a miracle to achieve. If that happens and they luck out it’s there before the following week with no delays or problems (we can be nice) we follow the next steps. Add this to it ships to a location designated by the county. It’s one large shipment overall which then needs to be broken down upon arrival and unless county workers are there 24/7 I imagine it will take a day or so. These shipments after division (hopefully properly managed for each school by necessity) then need to be taken to each school. The schools need to receive the ordered supplies and put them up and in place for operation and use. Also likely not an overnight job. Hopefully within 2 weeks, but just in time to open on Aug. 3rd with zero checks or necessary other safety features looked for or handled yet. Even if they could manage this in less than 48hrs by then making it to Aug. 5th before opening. The likelihood in having everything cleaned, in place safely & securely to reopen to this many students without something working improperly or malfunctioning that soon is highly improbable. Also knowing how much the counties placed orders for overall (is not reassuring for students to be traditionally returning or even weekly in hybrid manner for very long) at least not safely and up to CDC standards or guidelines. Likely we should see a delay in an opening date for school regardless ahead because the first week, even 2nd is pretty much unrealistic for DeKalb. Forgot to ask a few “other” questions about “the return” too. We also haven’t seen mention of how bathrooms will be managed? Toilet use and cleaning? Water faucets? Fountains? Etc. Will there be bathroom attendants now? (Unlikely again based on lack of staff overall in certain schools). Modular “tin can” usage? Air filtration? If students are placed into a gym or lunchroom or library with multiple classes, how do teachers teach? Yell over each other? Still 6ft apart? Plastic or no? Buses and transportation? Will there be congregation in hallways for these times? Entrances and exits beginning and end of days? Are students remaining in classes until called? Including carpool? Hours changing if not all classes held? Temperature checks how are they planning on handling these (relying on the “sure the parents did it” word or actually taking them)? Lunches in the room or in a hall? If in a room are students bringing lunches or able to purchase at school? Will they be brought up and how are those trays being “cleaned” this time because even normal means aren’t typically fully sterile? And no there are no purchases in place for PPE materials to clean lunch trays etc. How about safety protocols for doors etc. – will they be left open to minimize touching of handles etc.? Or how often will those be cleaned? Will visitors be allowed in buildings or not? How about needing to check out children early what happens if the family finds out they are ill, who collects their child? I know there are SO MANY other questions, but I imagine these will suffice for now.
That was pretty thorough but you left out active shooter drills and social distancing during those — as if. Under the current circumstances, it’s fairly unbelievable that we’re even having a conversation about putting children and staff into Dekalb’s buildings next month. Gwinnett has lovely, spacious, airy new buildings with classes under 22 to start with and I’m happy for them. Dekalb doesn’t, and acting as if we do is suicidal.
Thanks at Georgi! I know I’m still missing a bit and I definitely didn’tmemtion social distancing during a crisis, completely missed that mark, so thanks for pointing it out. I couldn’t agree more it’s ridiculous to think of attempting this for Fall in DeKalb, but I’m more concerned with the aftermath when it goes wrong. I know things like ordering PPE this late and the superintendent being hired and just starting was not the county or the boards fault by any means, but timelines set up hire up. Same with the pittance that schools in this country received overall to be returning already, that budget overall is a joke if anyone actually starts doing any math whatsoever. For one thing divide how many schools per county, then city, then state even only k-12. The amount of students and staff in each of those buildings is of course going yo be smaller in some, but much larger in others and this budget is right now considered “it” for the year. It’s nowhere near what’s necessary to keep kids safe or school staff and everyone’s families (as things spread further and any potential outbreaks make rounds). I’m a bit aggravated though at DeKalb continuing to even pretend they are ready to handle this ahead when they are just now setting up a zoom style conference for pretty much up to 100 people. Even if it’s per school in DeKalb some schools alone have over 300 staff members total including teachers who should be very much present during these discussions. Students and parents some of these schools have upwards of 1,000. I’m sorry so we add how many members of the board, the superintendent, likely and take up those spaces and leave what’s left for a few voices to be heard? Are we weighing in on the percentage of people concerned advocating for and against returns? IT individuals who can tell you we are able to vs not virtually? How about some pediatricians, counselors, and medical staff, such as those aware of and pointing out the limit some schools have with no nurses in the area on campus? How about the janitorial staff who would be handling the cleaning and upkeep of these locations? Immunocompromised children, staff, families who want to have a representative? What about those handicapped or disabled or needing extra support from the school system? Minorities or students who need some more meals or definitely aid with internet etc. during the days? Point is instead they are setting up a meeting for 100 individuals which is a laughable matter. Instead of streaming a full conference live. Or better yet presenting a conference of what they know and leaving a forum for further discussions to be discussed and/or answered at another conference held later this week, but allowing full fledged community input and the ability to know what is and is not already available, in the works, being looked at, and will be done. Again leaving the community and counties and individual schools to be handled and heard for their personal needs. Some schools definitely have other issues or needs that were already in turmoil or not being met prior to this beginning. These families are still in the dark in making how any of those matters are being handled. We want to know everything ongoing prior to you telling us they are prepared to handle a pandemic at school and reopen safely in the midst of it all. It’s ridiculous though we see again poor handling and management of this situation already, like this so-called “meeting” now being held, it’s a thrown together attempt to appease a few individuals, but realistically is neither effective nor a proper way to manage a decision ahead for potentially 10x and upwards individuals impacted. I get that with hundreds or thousands speaking they’d be bombarded. Look at the threads and people already making decisions. People getting death threats, hacked, and lunacy taking place afterwards in this country, and yes I will state here because I know teachers, staff, board, government, medical community members, and parents in several states & several other countries. Since this began I have been in contact with them all throughout this is the only country that hasn’t been setting things up for next year since last year ended. Some states here we see people already lashing out and leaving hate-fueled messages, phone calls, etc. showing up to scream when representatives are outdoors, it’s completely chaotic. We have some people making decisions by just keeping updates or determining as they go what will happen and those people seem to be having the least problems overall because parents are being informed & teachers/staff being kept aware each step. We feel like we are in the dark here. Some of us know how behind everything is, and again yes it’s still developing, but zero real information even on other issues in schools. No updates on the true facts PPE materials aren’t even here yet or transparency in how much and what they will be able to use. No transparency yet in whether they include budget increases for staff or in further materials necessary to maintain sanitization standards. No visible attempts heard that they have already begun putting virtual learning in place in case fall needed to be virtually handled even if it is hybrid! We have also not been told again about who is responsible after decisions are made?! Do you suffer the guilty conscience if it all goes wrong l, great! What about the bills and fallout for those individuals that suffer those consequences of your decisions? Who takes responsibility for others not handling things during this by your set standards? More security? New nurses hired? Will we have nurses capable of administering more than an ice pack or a bandaid in some of these places? Counselors doubled or more for anxiety of not just students, but teachers, staff, and parents. What’s the budget per school for these matters? The list is literally endless. The things that go wrong normally are pretty endless and yes, many have protocols already set in place. We have the occasional it happens, we learn from it, and NOW we have new protocols in place for it. This is unprecedented though because we are having to rewrite formerly set protocols, procedures, and standards already in place. Now on top of that be prepared for almost any measure of situation that can realistically arise ahead because most of them will be taking place during what’s already considered an emergency or crisis situation. To date we’ve heard maybe, it’s, surveys asking for ideas, but we’ve seen no formalized plans in place. Had no formal conference and meetings put out with a this is our idea to handle the stuff we’ve already heard and what we’ve ordered etc. Now we are doing for feedback and to help fill in what we’ve missed. I’m sorry again it seems last minute all thrown together and you are asking us to trust you with our children, our friends and families, our volunteers, put more essential employees under fire, and as a community our educators whom we should have a symbiotic relationship with of trust and success dependent upon each other. You want us to trust your decisions, but you are making them for us without all input, seemingly blindly, and with little to apparently no regard for those concerned. Again I get the developing still, we understand things will change, but hearing no true set plans or transparency until just literal weeks prior to school supposed to be reopening. It’s a wonder why people are in a bit of panic and not feeling like anyone in DeKalb truly has this “covered”. I am sorry, but as a board please make the decision you will, but as community members if you attempt to reopen know we are obviously not confident in the decision being made by you for us, so grant the allowance for us to make it ourselves for our families. EXEMPTION to physically being present if hybrid or traditional options are chosen. Grant our families and educators to make decisions to solely learn virtually this year.