(2/2021) Last month’s column left the school system with teachers returning to their buildings on Jan. 13 and students beginning hybrid on Jan. 28, the start of the second semester. Anyone associated with the school system knows that didn’t occur.

On the last day of winter break, January 3rd, a Find Out First went out informing the school community that small group instruction and winter sports were being suspended beginning the following day. Of course, more advanced notice would have been appreciated by all, but pandemics just do not seem to abide by any rules of etiquette. The previous three days had shown an increase in the Covid-19 metrics, and this was prior to the anticipated bump from the recent holidays. Superintendent Alban made the painful, but correct, decision to have the entire school system in virtual mode for the first time this school year.

Add to that the events of Jan. 6 that occurred in our nation’s capital. We knew that many of our students were confused or dismayed by the Capitol building being breached for the first time since the War of 1812 when it was attacked by the British. Our Board felt that we needed to release a statement, as many institutions did. When a board of seven individuals creates a public statement, it is rarely an easy matter. There should be a majority consensus on the verbiage, while at the same time trying to expedite the publication. Many emails often ensue in order to put out the most agreed on sentiment in a timely fashion.

On January 20, a Find Out First went out, confirming that teachers would start back in their buildings on January 27. The plan as stated was also for students to start back on February 16. What did not come across in that announcement was that it would remain to be seen whether it would be the hybrid model for students or restarting of small groups, or somewhere in between. That will depend on the various trends. Dr. Alban, in communication with Dr. Brookmyer of the county health department, will make that decision. That was part of the motion passed by the Board in November. Since we only meet several times a month, it would be difficult to have the ability to be facile enough to alter or update any decisions. We’ve learned that metrics, hospitalization levels, and other considerations can change in a matter of days.

On Monday, January 25, the Frederick County Teachers Association published a vote of no confidence in the FCPS Superintendent and the Board of Education. That is their right, of course, and to an extent it is understandable. We are in the middle of a, fingers crossed, once-in-hundred-years pandemic. There is little background knowledge to learn from. Hindsight would now tell us we could have had students in the hybrid model back in August for the start of school when our numbers were well below the 5% guidelines that we’d all come to rely on. But it was new and we didn’t know. So, we erred on the side of caution and voted to have all virtual instruction. We also added into our motion to have volunteer instructional staff work with small groups in-person. That was going well, and we were one of the last remaining Maryland counties still doing that when we finished 2020.

Then the unfortunate uptick from the holiday get-togethers hit and FCPS would be in a complete virtual mode for the first time as our school system returned from winter break. On January 6, an FCPS Employee News email was sent out updating the plan for the return of all staff to the buildings, followed by the students in the hybrid model. The staff would return on January 27 two weeks later than planned in November. The students in the hybrid model would return two weeks after that on February 16.

Later in the same email, Dr. Alban, states, "If we do not see positive trends in our data later this month, I will delay the implementation of the hybrid model again and bring teachers back in the buildings on Wednesday, February 10, with students returning on Monday, March 1." Last week an email was sent to staff confirming their return on January 27. This came as a surprise to the teachers, who released a statement on the afore mentioned vote of no confidence. I’ve been going back through the various statements that were released. It seems that assumptions were made on both sides. It seems there was too much room left for interpretation. While the percentage of those with positive tests is going down, it’s not below the 5% at this time. The state health department, however, is no longer focusing on the same metrics.

As a 25-year elementary teacher, I used to have a magic wand. I haven’t been able to find it since I retired. I sure could use that right about now. Since I’m not sure it would be powerful enough to rid the world of a pandemic, I could at least make sure there were enough vaccines to inoculate our entire FCPS workforce, or at least the instructional staff. From the hundreds of emails we’ve received this week, that would apparently go a long way towards ameliorating the feelings of the teachers toward the board members and superintendent. It’s rather hard to comprehend how Frederick County is only getting 100 doses this week for all of the educators at all levels in all of the schools, public and private in the entire county. At that rate it seems to me it would be well into next year before we could have all of our teachers and instructional staff vaccinated. Let’s hope the powers that be are able to ramp up production and distribution to help attain herd immunity. By this time next month, I certainly hope to be able to give a positive report with regards to Frederick County Public Schools.