(8/1) By the time the August edition comes out, our FCPS summer programs will have concluded and the first day of the new school year for students will be only a few weeks away. We had about 3,000 students take part in a variety of summer programs, and reports are good. One parent let us know that their middle school aged child was enjoying math for the first time ever. Let’s keep that enthusiasm going! The June issue described our summer programs if you would like to review the variety of what was available.
Frederick County Public Schools probably has the earliest start date for the 2021-22 school year in the state, although there are many systems around the country that begin in early or mid-August. This upcoming calendar was created by the Calendar Committee at the Board’s direction. There were a number of reasons for beginning in mid-August, but for me one of the most persuasive was when we heard from high school students, especially those in dual enrollment programs, how it would improve their academic lives. We tried to ease into the earlier start over the period of several years, and we are making efforts to have our future tentative calendars published at least a year or two ahead so that the community, including not only staff and families but businesses as well, is able to plan accordingly.
I don’t have to guess, because I’ve heard from a few people – but only a few – that this calendar will not be popular with everyone. We’ll see how they feel when school is out at the very beginning of June, barring too many snow days. One good thing about the calendar is that if you don’t like it this year, things can potentially change the next. Fall conferences, for instance, have been anywhere from early October to the week of Thanksgiving. That was based on parent and staff feedback, as well as other items that cause the calendar to shift such as holidays. Election day comes every other year, while the primary election only affects the school calendar once every four years. (It alternates between April and June, depending on whether it’s a presidential election year or a gubernatorial one.)
We haven’t even been hearing from teachers who, after the most grueling year of their professional lives, needed some quality R&R time this summer. What I’ve heard is that they are excited to get back to a more normal situation so they can do what they know how to do best – teach and care for their students. More about the 2021-22 school year in a moment.
In addition to the seemingly successful programs this summer, we had an extremely low occurrence of Covid within our student population. That was due to our layered mitigation strategies, fairly high rate of vaccination in Frederick County, and a low instance of infection in the community. Masks and distancing were not part of the summer picture. Who isn’t ready to be done with this global pandemic? Not so fast. World, meet the Delta variant.
Most of the emails that the Board is currently receiving concern mask-wearing and have been brought on by recent recommendations from the Center for Disease Control and the American Academy of Pediatrics. This is largely because the preponderance of the Covid cases in the United States, but not to-date Frederick County, are now of the Delta variety. The number that is often used is one thousand times the viral load of the original, making it extremely transmissible. One doctor said that if it hasn’t found you yet, it will. The one bright spot is that the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines seem to still be highly effective against the Delta variant. (I’m not even going to talk about the Lamda variant that I just heard about for the first time...)
So, what does this all mean for our school system? If we’ve learned one thing from this pandemic, it’s that it would be foolish to say in July what we might do by mid-August. It is truly a constantly moving target. In November 2020, the Board put the day-to-day operational decisions in the hands of our superintendent, Dr. Theresa Alban. That determination has served FCPS well. Of course, no decision has been universally liked or appreciated, but we lost no staff or students to Covid (as happened in other states), and details can change more easily when we don’t have to wait until special Board meetings are called in order to hash out details. It’s made us more flexible and accommodating as a system. FCPS had students in small groups in the buildings in Dec. 2020 even after all the other Maryland systems had to revert to total virtual school again.
Dr. Alban is in regular contact with Dr. Brookmyer of the Frederick County Health Department, as well as the other Maryland superintendents and state level education and health personnel. It is never just one number they look at, but rather a more holistic approach. As of this writing, Maryland still has reasonably good numbers in terms of vaccination, spread, and hospitalization. Of course, we know that no student 12 or younger has had the opportunity to get vaccinated. Reports are that the earliest this might occur is late 2021-early 2022. We will continue with many of the layered mitigation strategies such as improved ventilation, air filtration, hand washing, and other hygienic measures. Our plan is to have every student in a school building that wants face-to-face instruction. This means we cannot use distancing in the vast majority of our schools.
That leaves masks. Please know that FCPS will make that determination in plenty of time for the first day of school, and a solid rationale will be provided. Again, Dr. Alban is paying close attention to the data and the experts, and the decision will be made with the idea of maintaining the safest environment for our students. That is a promise I can make.
