To meet Covid guidelines DMPS would only be able to provide each student bussing 1 day per week. Please share your plan to get kids to their building. By the way, they never aren't trying to hire drivers.
The battle between Iowa high schools and state.
- Thread starter ClonesTwenty1
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To meet Covid guidelines DMPS would only be able to provide each student bussing 1 day per week. Please share your plan to get kids to their building. By the way, they never aren't trying to hire drivers.
If you go off free and reduced lunches, the school is around 50-60% area. We have had two schools forced into online due to the guidelines in our area. We had softball and baseball teams not play the season due to Covid numbers. While we don't have 2000 in a building, the other factors are still there.
So why do 7000 kids need to be in school to let 43 play football?
Not one district in the state is following those guidelines because they are not practical. Many districts require masks on the bus instead of physical distancing.
DMPS's original plan was 40% in person education. All they needed to do was go to 50% and they complied . . .
I'm not saying they do. I was just pointing out that the statement you made can be flipped in the opposite direction.
Like I mentioned, my kids get their choice and chose to go in person so it is harder for me to put myself in their shoes as totally online and not able to have sports. I would be making a "if I was in that situation" statement which is devoid of the emotional aspect of the situation. Do they have volleyball, cross-country, tennis (not sure when that is held, our school doesn't have it), soccer or any other sport that is held during the fall. You also have JV teams. High probability that you are looking at several hundred kids, now you have their siblings that will basically be affected at home, along with girlfriends/boyfriends and close friends that many see anyhow. So now you have a significantly higher rate than just the 43 being affected.
If a community has #s so bad they have to shut down schools and sports...wouldn't that be a needed kick in the pants to get it under control ASAP so they can go back to those things?
I just don't get it.
People really don't want high school football if they have to be mandated by law to wear a mask in order to help get this thing under control.
I just don't get it.
People really don't want high school football if they have to be mandated by law to wear a mask in order to help get this thing under control.
Is that actual? I'm curious why they didn't just go with that than going completely online. It seems that it wouldn't take as much of a change if they lost to go that route and 4 out of 5 days would count if they lost. I was thinking they were 100% online immediately.
DMPS original plan was split the grades in half. One in the building Monday Tuesday online Thursday Friday. Group B opposite. Wednesday buildings sanitized, everyone online.
If it is too risky to have students attend school in person, it seems to me that it is too risky to have any school-related activity be held.
That may be accurate but for the 10% this is devastating. I have a senior on the golf team and he is no longer able to attend the meets or practice. He's disappointed but he can still go play golf. My older son played football (2018 grad) and he and his teammates would have been heartbroken if they were told their senior season was done after 2 games. Those kids work so hard to get ready for their seasons and games and deserve better than being the victims of a political tug of war.
I disagree on some key points here.
First, it is not really a binary choice between "safe" and "too risky." The choice is between greatly increased risk of spread in order to get some level of improved effectiveness of in-person classes. Since we are talking about high school activities, I think we have to focus on HS school students. I'd say most HS students are going to learn better in-person than online. However, outside a very small few that difference is going to be relatively small. If your HS student gets nothing out of online classes, chances are they are getting nothing out of in-person classes. I'm sure there are exceptions, but for a large majority this is probably the case.
Second, people argue as if in-person learning is incredibly valuable in public schools, and activities have marginal value to students. I think this is incredibly wrong. I would much rather have a HS kid learn algebra marginally less effectively and get the valuable lessons that sports and activities teach them in terms of dealing with adversity, working hard, working as a team, etc.
There is a huge difference between getting dozens of kids together for an organized activity vs. getting hundreds or even thousands together in a building. There is at least an option to take classes remotely. Most activities an alternative to in-person simply doesn't exist.
So I see organized activities as having relatively low risk with high reward. I see a large school putting kids in the building in order to get some level of improved learning as a huge risk for a marginal reward. So I see the peak of the reward vs. risk curve for high schoolers being 0-2 days in person with activities still going.
So maybe there is a compromise that can happen here. If every other large high school in the Des Moines area can meet the 50 percent in-person threshold, there must be a way for the high schools in Des Moines to meet that threshold.
It is early in the semester, but what has been the level of positive Covid tests among DM suburban schools? I realize the demographic of DM public schools may be more at risk. But if WDM, Urbabdale, Ankeny, Norwalk, etc. have been able to operate some % of in person school without an outbreak, why can't DMPS. If individual parents have concerns, they can select a 100% online model for fall semester.
In regard to sports. It is pretty obvious DM school officials feel there is a significant community spread risk with in person interaction. Many sports by nature invade another's personal space.
As coaches and educators why would you extend your communities high risk of Covid spread to another community? Seems pretty selfish of DM Administrators, Coaches and Athlete Parents that they are willing to endanger another communities kids!!
If HS kids could be tested a couple times a week, maybe the answer would be different.
Actually schools that choose to put 2000 kids in a building all week and then play team sports against another communities are the ones endangering of communities.
It's purely political and they made it painfully obvious. Ask yourself this....if they are so upset over sports why did they ONLY protest/march on govs mansion? Why not do the same to the school board/super? If you're being truly honest that's who ultimately made the decision that cancelled sports for DMPS. All DMPS had to do was 50% like the other schools and they'd be playing but nope.
