DeKalb Schools sent out a 2-Week return to hybrid working environment notification to staff yesterday.
According to the Georgia Department of Public Health Daily Status Report, COVID-19 cases are trending down and Cases Per 100K (Last 2 Weeks) in DeKalb have been below 100 for the last 4 days. Using the Formula To Calculate Moving To Hybrid, the DeKalb Schools Superintendent Cheryl Watson-Harris sent out a return to hybrid working environment notification.
Columbus Day – Also, DeKalb Schools has off Monday Oct 12, 2020. Happy Columbus Day.
Return to Work Staff Notification (October 6, 2020 )
From: Cheryl Watson-Harris
DeKalb Schools – Superintendent
During the Board meeting on September 14, 2020, the District disclosed and discussed the phase-in plan. Under my leadership, the COVID-19 Re-Opening Task Force monitors the data trends daily and acknowledges that there has been a significant decline in the 14-day average per 100,000 DeKalb County residents from 122 on September 12, 2020 to 93 on October 6, 2020. Since the 14-day average per 100,000 DeKalb County residents is less than 100, the District is engaging in the following activities to prepare our staff, students, and families for the transition to the next phases:
| Begin Phase II | |
| October 19, 2020 | Hybrid Working Environment 2 Days Per Week (10, 11, and 12-month Staff) |
| October 9-23, 2020 | Distribute the Parent/Guardian Intent to Return Notification Electronically |
| Begin Phase III | |
| November 2, and 4-6, 2020 | Traditional Working Environment 5 Days Per Week (10, 11, and 12-month Staff) |
| November 3, 2020 | Digital Learning Half Day |
| November 5-6, 2020 | Begin One-Day Hybrid Learning Environment for Beta Group |
| November 9, 2020 | Begin One-Day Hybrid Learning Environment for All Students Who Opt-In and Continue Distance/Remote Learning for Students Who Do Not |
Please note that the tentative timeline is subject to change based on COVID-19 data and current health guidance from medical experts and health agencies.
In an effort to prepare for the re-opening of schools, all staff members will receive the Return to Work survey. Please review the attached documents in anticipation of completing the survey. Thank you in advance for submitting the survey by Tuesday, October 13, 2020. Your time and commitment are appreciated.
Supporting Documents
FAQs for ADA due to COVID-19
FAQs for Leave due to COVID-19
Emergency Paid Sick/Expanded Family and Medical Request For COVID-19 Related Leave
“Extremism in defense of liberty is no vice. Moderation in pursuit of justice is no virtue.”
Grocery stores look exactly the same except they have partitions at the check out counters and stickers on the ground that say to socially distance. Employees are not getting hazard pay.
Parents and students are given a choice, because they pay your salary. If taxes followed my child to private school, I’d be happy to give up my public school choices and send my kids to private school where they go to school face to face 5 days a week. The teachers make half as much in private school … and they also complain a lot less.
@DeKalbTeacher, ProTeacher commented about the town hall yesterday. I received the notice internally today.
@concerned citizen
This is my last comment to you and then I have nothing more to say.
Difference between flu and Covid? A vaccine!
Stan,
Will the town hall explain why the Intent to Return form that was supposed to have begun on Friday has yet to be released?
Or why the “plan” released on September 14 and the website haven’t been updated to tell teachers, staff, and families what the district has done to prepare for a return to school?
It’s obvious that the majority of commenters on this board never want to return to in-person school, because they have become completely convinced that whenever we go back F2F, every teacher & student will get infected with Covid & then will pass it to everyone they know, either killing them instantly or subjecting them to a lifetime of debilitating infirmity. It’s a truly baffling mindset, but not wholly surprising considering the fear porn that gets peddled by most of the media around Covid.
Oh, and @DSW2Contributor- “white Buckhead parents bought a billboard”? Why did you have to bring race into the discussion? Seems a bit out of nowhere and unwarranted. Imagine if someone on here said “Black parents bought a billboard” or “Black parents complained to the superintendent”, or something to that effect. Wouldn’t that seem just a tad bit…oh, I don’t know…racist? And yet, you apparently have no problem negatively portraying a segment of parents simply because of their race. That’s not very neighborly of you. Or very inclusive or tolerant.
I have answers,
Teachers and our families pay taxes and we also have school-aged children in the county. We have just as much of a say as you do. Your sense of entitlement and your attitude are disgusting.
@Stan Jester That’s one more notice than we received.
Here we go again with claims of racism where there are none. The “white buckhead parents who bought a billboard” statement is not racist. EVEN LOUDER FOR THE PEOPLE IN THE BACK: RACISM IS A COMPLEX SYSTEM OF SOCIAL AND POLITICAL POLICY SET UP GENERATIONS AGO TO BENEFIT WHITE PEOPLE AT OTHER PEOPLE’S EXPENSE. Using the descriptor “white people” or “black people” in itself is not racist.
As someone who joined the DeKalb group pushing for face-to-face – I’m appalled at the racism and virus denying that they (poorly) attempt to veil out of concern for the kids who have yet to log on. I only stay in the group to watch their trainwreck of an attempt to bully the Superintendent into opening but dear God I would never sign their ridiculous petition (it sounds like a 7th grader wrote it) or attach my name to their initiative – and that’s coming from someone who is desperate to get my kids back in school. But it needs to be done safely and I’m alarmed how little the District seems to be listening to their largest asset – the teachers.
@StanJester,
I have a question regarding testing. I think we’re all aware of the Supreme Court hearings taking place and the fact that the Affordable Care Act is being heard by the Supreme Court soon. It is likely that it will be struck down and pre-existing conditions will be an issue again. Because of the possible long-term health effects of COVID, it’s likely that it will be considered a pre-existing condition. I’m young and healthy. If I contract the virus, it’s likely that I will recover just fine at home. If I’m exposed to the virus by a student, I have no intentions of getting tested for it because I do not want a positive test result to show up on my health record. I am not going to risk paying higher insurance premiums over a positive test result. If I refuse testing, can the county force me to get tested? If I continue to refuse, then what? Thanks in advance for your insight.
Why haven’t the reentry dates changed… the numbers have gone up over 100 all weekend… Today it is 103.
My husband works for a fortune 500 company and they are bringing back their employees in stages. There are probably 500-600 people total. The building has 24 floors and the employees have pretty good distances between either the other pods or the offices. He works in an office downtown, that is very nice with state-of-the-art amenities with a large janitorial service that cleans/disinfects the building. The first group of employees are set to return to the building at the end of Jan 2021. My husband has been given a tentative March date. If this company feels that it is not safe for their employees to be in the building, why in the world would any school district want to bring any students back f2f? When was the last time any of you non-educators set foot into a classroom? Even with only 16 students, it is hard to maintain social distancing. The air system is laughable— this comes from years of hiring sub-par contractors due to the lowest bid (or because it’s a family friend/relative). That’s a discussion for another day.
According to the CDC guidelines, if the new cases per 100K person of Covid is 50 – <200, then there is a higher risk of transmission in schools
https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/downloads/community/schools-childcare/indicators-thresholds-table.pdf.
If the Super is letting science guide her, then I hope she is using reputable scientists. I think it is totally unfair for teachers to be bullied to come back to school if they feel unsafe. In no other profession would this be allowed to happen. Also, please stop using "I pay taxes, so therefore I pay your salary" line. My co-pay contributes to my doctor's salary, but I do not tell her how to perform medical procedures. My airline ticket fee pays the pilot's salary, but I do not tell him or her how to fly. My taxes pay for the roads, but I don't tell you how to drive. Just for fun, line item where your taxes go to see how much you actually contribute to a teachers'a salary… you'd be surprised by how little it really is. Thankfully teachers give you way more than you "pay" for.
For the record, if I have to choose between the health and well being of myself and my family OR a job that where the parents of the very people I serve have little regard to my physical and mental well-being— guess what, I will choose me and my family every time. You seem to think that teaching is just a "job"…. well, I guess I can always find another "job."
And so it begins…
https://www.ajc.com/news/georgia-school-closes-temporarily-due-to-covid-19-outbreak/D6F4KBUBMZBW7B7YAG6FX6H3IQ/
@Scared and prayerful
I am in a similar situation. So, like many other DCSD teachers, I will be starting an extended leave of absence beginning next week. It is too bad I am not being offered an opportunity to continue virtual teaching because the fact is I’m good at it.
All you need is a letter from your doctor advising you to remain in isolation. Then you are qualified for the 2-week COVID leave. After that, you can start using paid sick leave. As a veteran teacher you have probably accumulated a lot of leave. I have enough leave hours to remain on leave through the end of the 2020-2021 school year if it is not safe to return to the classroom.
Which begs the question: What will the district do to replace all of the teachers who will be out on leave?
Parents who insist on f2f, please understand: your children will be sitting in many classes without lessons (because there is no certified teacher). In the best case, those classes will be supervised (but not instructed) by a substitute teacher or an Admin.
@Stan Jester,
Could you please provide a link for the aforementioned event where *hopefully* as you mentioned, many of our questions may be answered there? Date and time help with possibly finding it through an internet search, but it would be great if you could post a link for it here. Maybe I just missed it here. I know I did not receive any official communication from DCSD about it, which is disappointing and frustrating especially during this stressful time.
@Stan Jester
Do the numbers over 100 per 100k (last 2 weeks) over the last few days reset the 14 day clock for teachers to return to their classrooms? I believe the information here ( https://dph.georgia.gov/covid-19-daily-status-report ) is what the county is using to determine when we go back. That number is now over 100 once again. Should I, as a teacher, expect to go back into the building on the 19th or not? I’m not taking sides on whether I should or not, but it’s ridiculous that I don’t know either way.
Mr Jester, The fact that the town hall is tomorrow, during PSAT administration, that there are still schools who have not received official communication about the town hall (we got official word after school today), and the fact that we have to potentially reveal what should be private medical information to the Teacher of the Year if we want to ask questions for the town hall are all severely disappointing. Please communicate our disappointment in this to Ms Watson Harris, because the perception is that she is intentionally making it difficult and uncomfortable to get information.
City of Decatur Schools just reversed their decision. Hopefully DeKalb follows suit. States they will reassess the situation in January. #TRAILBLAZERS
Last week, I started to feel sick. I took a Covid test and found out I am positive. As a teacher, I would have been so scared that I would have passed this on to my 23 students if we were face to face. Its not safe to go back. Trust me. I wear a mask and really only go to the supermarket.
https://decaturish.com/2020/10/breaking-city-schools-of-decatur-backs-away-from-reopening-plan-will-reevaluate-next-year/
Okay Decatur City Schools! I see yall are making tough decisions and not allowing parents to bully you into choosing a plan that’s not safe for everyone. Kudos for not worrying about what neighboring districts are doing.
@smh, flu vaccine effectiveness over the past 5 seasons ranged from 19% to 48%. The high mark for coverage during the past 5 seasons was 64% of children vaccinated (this past season) and the low mark was 42% of adults (2015-16 season). Deaths per season during the past 5 seasons ranged from 22,000 to 61,000. So now we know how many deaths are acceptable to you as long as there is a vaccine.
Oh, deaths of children (aged ≤17 years) during the 2016-17 flu season numbered 634. During the past 5 seasons, deaths of children exceed 1,300. The number of deaths of children from COVID-19 as of 10/7/2020 is 119.
@Concerned Citizen asked “How many teen suicides are acceptable to you?”
DCSD has a long and tragic history of child suicides caused by bullying DURING IN-PERSON CLASSES.
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Recent numbers for DeKalb County, reported in the previous YRBSS, published in 2018, are similar. In 2017, 12.4 percent of DeKalb County high schoolers were bullied on school property, while 9 percent were electronically bullied. Further, 5.9 percent of De Kalb County high school students were threatened by, or injured with, a weapon on school property, another 7.7 percent purposely missed school out of safety concerns, while 15.9 percent seriously considered suicide and 11.7 percent actually attempted it.
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https://www.heartland.org/publications-resources/publications/research–commentary-latest-bullying-and-school-violence-survey-shows-georgia-students-need-child-safety-accounts
The source is the far-right Heartland Institute.
Please tell me that we (teachers) have not been bamboozled (again)? This reminds me of that hot, sultry August day (I forget the year) that we were bused to Miller Grove High School where then Superintendent Dr. Crawford Lewis stood and told us that we should be “glad to have a job.” Come on DCSD. Do your teachers right. Remember, we are stakeholders too!
What happened at the teacher town hall meeting?
https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2020/10/13/923253681/americans-are-dying-in-the-pandemic-at-rates-far-higher-than-in-other-countries
“Overall deaths in the United States this year are more than 85% higher than in places such as Germany, Israel and Denmark after adjusting for population size. Deaths in the U.S. are 29% higher than even in Sweden, “which ignored everything for so long,” “
Teacher Town Hall, Wednesday, October 14, 2:00pm (I have seen 2:30pm, but the flyer my TOTY shared indicates 2pm.)
Link to MS Teams meeting: http://bit.ly/DCSDteachertownhall
I’m sure DeKalb is going to chicken out and push their decision. It’s what they do. So the kids continue getting screwed.
It would be nice if our elected rep suggested ways that the kids can get more from virtual. Maybe Wednesday needs to be used – you could have one set of classes one week, the other set the next week. Maybe it’s time to push “required live time” to more than 30 minutes.
If this is going to continue – which is a mistake, we should already be back in person – it’s time to focus on what’s BEST FOR THE STUDENTS.
Stan, are you going to step up and be heard from today?
So teachers are in effect striking? I personally know teachers who desperately want to go back to the classroom. Do you really think those who want to go back are going to speak up during this town hall? That would be like crossing a picket line – talk about being bullied. They will be silenced just like the bullies want them to be.
Sad, sad, sad state of affairs.
My child has had the best teaching he has ever had in high school this semester. He can actually focus on what the teachers are trying to teach in a virtual environment. Taking a chance on any child or teacher getting sick and dying or having lasting complications from Covid-19 is reckless. I do not understand why the Dekalb teachers are not protesting like the City of Decatur teachers did. My child is a teacher and was told that they have to buy their own cleaning supplies and sanitize their own room, also purchase a web cam. They work in an old building where the A/C never works well and some bathrooms have no hot water. If you are not in a fairly new building, your health has already been at risk. It is even more at risk now. Experienced teachers with health conditions that put them at greater risk will be lost to our children if they put their health before their job. They should not have to choose when virtual teaching is an option. A billboard was purchased for pro face to face. They have money but not the numbers! Teachers get out and protest, you have the community’s support!
@Stan- Why isn’t Dekalb focusing their efforts on creating/expanding their own county-wide virtual learning academy? I believe we have one, but how is it being funded/utilized or advertised? All metro school districts will likely need to have this option for the near (and far) future if they do not already. Then, the teachers that fear returning to the buildings can transition to teaching through the Dekalb virtual learning academy that will be open to all Dekalb students, not based on individual school districts. And, all students that do not want to return to the buildings can register to attend the virtual learning academy. If this can be organized by January, I believe it could be an acceptable compromise. This would minimize the amount of students and staff that attend the local schools in person and reduce the need for teachers to have to teach both in-person and virtually simultaneously (which we know will be a disaster having to use school issued chromebooks, spotty WIFI reception, teach through masks…). Has this been considered?? Why reinvent the wheel with all of these hybrid plans when both teachers and families are asking for choice? Virtual teachers teach virtual students through the Dekalb Virtual Learning Academy and in-person teachers teach in-person students through their local home schools. Makes sense to me and gives everyone involved a choice. Is this on the table? Thanks!
@DSW2Contributor, your notion that bullying is the only cause of suicides among children is simply not true, and your attempt to use the despair and tragedy of bullied children and suicide victims as a justification for not having in-school classes is pathetic and contemptible.
Kia Carter, M.D., medical director of psychiatry at Cook Children’s Medical Center in Fort Worth, TX, recently stated that suicidal ideation may be more prevalent during the pandemic because more children are on their devices and online than ever before. Fort Worth’s schools closed on March 13, 2020. So far in 2020, 192 kids have been admitted to Cook Children’s for attempting suicide. Compare that to the same time period in 2015 when the hospital saw 88 patients – less than half of the current statistics.
From a July 2020 WaPo article (https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2020/07/06/why-schools-must-find-safe-way-reopen-most-vulnerable-students-by-veteran-educator/) about school closings, Carol Burris, the New York State High School Principal of the Year for 2013, wrote: “Research tells us that socially isolated children and adolescents are at risk of depression and anxiety. We know that too much screen time can result in inattention and impulsivity, and mental health disorders in both children and adolescents. And preliminary studies have shown that all but top students are academically falling behind — with the most disadvantaged students experiencing the most significant learning loss.”
I’m not sure how many resources are being put forth to expand DeKalb Schools’ virtual academy. Before COVID, it was somewhat limited. Seems like an excellent opportunity to provide a 100% virtual for students and parents that would like to remain 100% virtual. I believe the survey shows that almost all employees want to work virtually. A majority of students want to return to school. Parents are split down the middle.
Sweden, “which ignored everything for so long,”—if one is going to write about a subject, Teacher123, one should know what one is writing about. Sweden didn’t “ignore everything.” Sweden’s health authorities are bound by Sweden’s constitution, which protects its citizens’ personal liberties. The Swedish government cannot prohibit freedom of movement. The constitution does allow the government during an epidemic to restrict freedom of assembly and freedom to demonstrate, and the government did restrict assemblies larger than 50 people. Not only was the government NOT ignoring “everything,” the Swedes were testing certain travelers from other countries. Sweden’s Foreign Minister, Ann Linde, said, “The week the virus broke out was Spring Break in Sweden and we had so many more international travelers, more than a million, coming to Stockholm from all over the world. We only detected, at that time, Italian and Austrian travelers and we followed them up by testing them. But now, later on when we know more about the virus, we could see that it was the virus coming from the United States, U.K., Belgium and other countries where we did not do this testing and tracing.”
Stan,
Can you tell us what survey you’re citing? The October 9 intent to return form is still coming soon, according to the district’s website. The return-to-work notification sent on October 7 didn’t ask teachers or many of the other staff to whom it was given if we wanted to continue teaching virtually or ask anything about our needs for virtual or hybrid or face-to-face teaching. It required us to check off one of two options: report to work as expected or unable to report to work.
Of course the answer to this two-question notification “survey” was also with recognition of Covid numbers and advice from unnamed medical experts and absent of any information that would help staff understand the physical and work conditions to which they’d be returning.
Any survey given to students and teachers and parents weeks ago may not apply. Other districts have given multiple surveys over the duration of virtual learning so far. I guess Dekalb’s realignment of so many central office positions didn’t give the manpower needed for such planning and information gathering.
As seems to be case with all things in Dekalb, teachers and parents are on a need- to- know basis, even if there are supplies and logistical planning that require more a few days’ notice. That wait to the last minute must be a research-based strategy that works for our school district.
@DeKalbTeacher, I’m referring to the teacher, parent and student survey done last month. The results of the survey will be disclosed and discussed at the Monday board meeting.
Talking about the essence of irresponsibility, evidently Dekalb will not be testing students or teachers as they return for in person school.
case count up to 107 on 10/16