Lol, what? No, it means you can’t just waffle all year.
My kid is in blended K and the group is forming bonds and getting to know each other. i can only speak for this age, but it would be a huge disruption to shuffle around three more times this school year.
Not to mention the logistical headache for the admin and teachers!
Horrible decision and absolutely designed to force people to choose in person as someone else mentioned on another thread. I don’t buy the cohort argument. Changing cohorts every semester is really nbd.
Constant reshuffling is an issue. However, there should have been one opt-in period only from the beginning and it should have been in Feb or so. Why Nov? Why the short notice? Because incompetence.
Because BDB and DOE promised things that were not realistic and they never considered the practical aspect of it. It's a huge undertaking for the schools to plan for this and I agree, the 4 opt-in periods made no sense.
@Anonymous Because only 25% of kids showed up in person and its an embarrassment to the City, so they want to bully families to bump up the in person numbers to closer to the expected 50%.
Makes perfect sense under the circumstances. The idea that families could chop and change every quarter was yet another Deblasio/Carranza ideal without the resources to back it up. Schools are already struggling to staff the hybrid model; they don't need to be scrambling to change it up every few months.
Agree with the poster above that the short notice is a problem though. Again, why did the DOE not recognize this from the start and set expectations accordingly?
I know a bunch of families doing hybrid option this Fall and who want remote for the winter months so they can go west, south or overseas to Mexico, Caribbean etc then opt back into hybrid in the Spring.
What makes no sense is the timing. Of course they should do one opt-in window - about halfway through the year - late January. The timing of this is suspicious. Why NOW?
There was already an opt-in period planned for November, and schools most likely already planned for it. It was a huge undertaking and they most likely don't want to do all the work again.
I'm sorry but by this point, you should know what you want. It's not fair to anyone to keep playing musical chairs
Teacher here. Makes sense to have one opt-in window. Does not make sense for it to be now and on such short notice. I’d give families until Xmas break to decide, and then give schools the flexibility to start the new cycle (with new redistribution of kids) at their choice of date, either after winter break, after MLK weekend, or after Feb break.
Exactly. So let the school choose the best date for them (sometime between winter and mid-winter break). Parents make decision in December. Elementary admins can decide to work over the break to make it happen for the New Year, or get their well-deserved rest and handle it upon returning (with the actually switch happening a few weeks later).
Of course there’s always going to be a party complaining. I don’t think that should dictate the decision though. Promises are out the window at this point; they should do what is logical. Fwiw, everyone I know who chose fully remote has been really satisfied with the stability of their decision and most were not intending to come back in November, so I wouldn’t expect *that* much backlash if it was moved to January.
@anonymous As a hybrid family, I think this decision is perfectly logical. The sooner we all know what the rest of the year is going to look like and the kids can bond, the better.
We are very happy with our decision but would appreciate the same level of stability that your all-remote families are feeling.
np. Right now only 25% of students are doing in-person school. It’s a huge waste of money/resources for so few kids attending. I think this is a last resort to get people to come in but if it doesn’t work, the city will have good reason to go fully remote. Especially given their current financial crisis, the costs of building operation through the winter, extra teachers needed, etc.
don’t know if you are right or wrong but I’m so tired of worrying about school shutting down. We have an A/B/C Schedule and so little school but I will be so upset if it’s shut.
DOE is handling back to school in the worst possible way.They are forcing the hand of parents as only 1/4 of students are actually going into school. I'm happy if those in remote stay in remote as my kids love the small class size in person.
Anyone who opts in starts in December. Which is 1/3 of the way through the school year. Our school has a 2-cohort, A/B schedule where kids get half time in person. If many opt in, they would have to go to a 1/3 A/B/C. And maybe back again in January, and back again in April, if NYC had followed the 4-window plan.
What they're doing just makes sense. You are free to stay remote---no one is keeping you from doing so
We are very happy with the hybrid option so far. Especially the small class sizes in person!
I don't understand this--you're happy but have nothing but complaints about how the DOE is handling things? Sounds like you're just looking to complain.
Lol, what? No, it means you can’t just waffle all year.
My kid is in blended K and the group is forming bonds and getting to know each other. i can only speak for this age, but it would be a huge disruption to shuffle around three more times this school year.
Not to mention the logistical headache for the admin and teachers!
This is one of the few DOE decisions that makes a lot of sense. Don’t see any issue with it.
It only makes sense if the next opt in period is the beginning of the second semester.
Horrible decision and absolutely designed to force people to choose in person as someone else mentioned on another thread. I don’t buy the cohort argument. Changing cohorts every semester is really nbd.
Constant reshuffling is an issue. However, there should have been one opt-in period only from the beginning and it should have been in Feb or so. Why Nov? Why the short notice? Because incompetence.
Because politics.
Because BDB and DOE promised things that were not realistic and they never considered the practical aspect of it. It's a huge undertaking for the schools to plan for this and I agree, the 4 opt-in periods made no sense.
@Anonymous Because only 25% of kids showed up in person and its an embarrassment to the City, so they want to bully families to bump up the in person numbers to closer to the expected 50%.
Makes perfect sense under the circumstances. The idea that families could chop and change every quarter was yet another Deblasio/Carranza ideal without the resources to back it up. Schools are already struggling to staff the hybrid model; they don't need to be scrambling to change it up every few months.
Agree with the poster above that the short notice is a problem though. Again, why did the DOE not recognize this from the start and set expectations accordingly?
Right call, badly handled. But I’m glad. The strain on our principal has been unfair.
I know a bunch of families doing hybrid option this Fall and who want remote for the winter months so they can go west, south or overseas to Mexico, Caribbean etc then opt back into hybrid in the Spring.
That's just so obnoxious. I'm kind of glad they put a stop to it
Also glad they ended this. Hybrid is not ideal but it’s better than zero school. I have no sympathy for anyone who can’t decide now.
Lucky folks, going on a Caribbean vacation for months!!
What makes no sense is the timing. Of course they should do one opt-in window - about halfway through the year - late January. The timing of this is suspicious. Why NOW?
There was already an opt-in period planned for November, and schools most likely already planned for it. It was a huge undertaking and they most likely don't want to do all the work again.
I'm sorry but by this point, you should know what you want. It's not fair to anyone to keep playing musical chairs
Teacher here. Makes sense to have one opt-in window. Does not make sense for it to be now and on such short notice. I’d give families until Xmas break to decide, and then give schools the flexibility to start the new cycle (with new redistribution of kids) at their choice of date, either after winter break, after MLK weekend, or after Feb break.
For HS it wouldn't make sense to do this until the 2nd semester starts - at end of Jan/Early Feb. Its a good mid point for any HS.
Exactly. So let the school choose the best date for them (sometime between winter and mid-winter break). Parents make decision in December. Elementary admins can decide to work over the break to make it happen for the New Year, or get their well-deserved rest and handle it upon returning (with the actually switch happening a few weeks later).
@Anonymous THIS
Then there would be a different set of people complaining, because they were already promised a November opt-in period.
I think it's a great sign that they listened to the schools and the principals, even at the risk of pissing some people off.
hadn't thought of that. You're right.
Of course there’s always going to be a party complaining. I don’t think that should dictate the decision though. Promises are out the window at this point; they should do what is logical. Fwiw, everyone I know who chose fully remote has been really satisfied with the stability of their decision and most were not intending to come back in November, so I wouldn’t expect *that* much backlash if it was moved to January.
@anonymous As a hybrid family, I think this decision is perfectly logical. The sooner we all know what the rest of the year is going to look like and the kids can bond, the better.
We are very happy with our decision but would appreciate the same level of stability that your all-remote families are feeling.
I had the same thought - this will be used to shut things down.
I don't see how/why. Can you explain?
np. Right now only 25% of students are doing in-person school. It’s a huge waste of money/resources for so few kids attending. I think this is a last resort to get people to come in but if it doesn’t work, the city will have good reason to go fully remote. Especially given their current financial crisis, the costs of building operation through the winter, extra teachers needed, etc.
THIS
don’t know if you are right or wrong but I’m so tired of worrying about school shutting down. We have an A/B/C Schedule and so little school but I will be so upset if it’s shut.
DOE is handling back to school in the worst possible way.They are forcing the hand of parents as only 1/4 of students are actually going into school. I'm happy if those in remote stay in remote as my kids love the small class size in person.
Anyone who opts in starts in December. Which is 1/3 of the way through the school year. Our school has a 2-cohort, A/B schedule where kids get half time in person. If many opt in, they would have to go to a 1/3 A/B/C. And maybe back again in January, and back again in April, if NYC had followed the 4-window plan.
What they're doing just makes sense. You are free to stay remote---no one is keeping you from doing so
We are very happy with the hybrid option so far. Especially the small class sizes in person!
Actually, I think some of the schools forced parents' hands, not the DOE.
I don't understand this--you're happy but have nothing but complaints about how the DOE is handling things? Sounds like you're just looking to complain.