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80% Of Escambia County Remote Learners Failing To Make Adequate Progress, Should Return To Campus
December 14, 2020
A majority of Escambia County School District students enrolled in online learning are failing to make adequate progress, and the district is reaching out to inform parents that the students should return to traditional on-campus school.
Of the 9,475 students enrolled in remote learning in Escambia County, 7,541 (80%) are not making adequate academic progress, according to the school district.
Parents and guardians of those students are receiving letters and automated phone calls. Each letter will explain the principal’s concerns regarding the student’s lack of academic progress. Criteria utilized to determine “not making adequate academic progress” includes grades, assessments, attendance, and for high school students, GPA and graduation requirements.
Parents who choose not to return their students to face-to-face learning are required to sign and return the letter to the school district. In signing the letter, parents also agree to participate in a required Child Study Team meeting to discuss the academic risks associated with remaining in a remote learning model, as well as appropriate interventions available to help students.
“Most educators agree that face-to-face instruction is the best instructional model. We want to be sure every student has the best chance for success this year,” Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum and Instruction Steve Marcanio said.
Data from the Escambia County School District shows 82% of elementary, 89% of middle, and 70% of high school remote learners are failing to make adequate progress.
Florida Department of Education Commissioner Richard Corcoran issued as executive order requiring school districts to communicate with the parents or guardians of any student failing to make adequate academic progress as defined by the state.
Comments
58 Responses to “80% Of Escambia County Remote Learners Failing To Make Adequate Progress, Should Return To Campus”
This is all about the politic and funding and less about the kids health. There are some situation in the family that the family cannot send their kids to school.
The state should do a better job to accommodate to online learning for those family who can’t send their kids to school. This sound like a mandate rather than a choice. Remember to vote when the time comes.
Kids are failing whether in home or in school. The reason being is these school boards are more impressed by numbers or scores on ridiculous testing. They worry about how fast a kid can read a book or passage but care less if the child understood it. They’ve tried to update school to where even us as parents don’t even know what’s going on, why cant it be simple as it was for us, some Dick and Jane, regular 5+5, and home economics so these kids can grown up to be functionating adults. Now they just sit them in front of a chrome book, I’ve been told, please send earbuds to school as your child spends most of his day on the chrome book…..this is not healthy and this is not how I want my child taught, the teachers have gotten lazy, I see it all the time. “He’s got this to do and this to do, oh he can go on to Google classroom and do that or this other website” just ridiculous. This is in school teaching, I am not even talking about virtual, that probably is completely on their own. Lazy, I’m telling you, their depending on computers TOO MUCH to teach our kids!!
Stupid Is as Stupid Does! Glad I do not have a child going to school. And, yet, the school system is building another school on Sorento Rd, P’cola. If you people do not have someone to sit by your child and help with Remote learning, OR, cannot home school, pack them up, put them on the school bus & go to school. Parents you still have to be active and supportive and help your child. Yes, even when you get home from work and tired, and have to cook supper, you have to help your child continue to learn to read and write.
My child does remote as well, she is in middle school, she has one teacher out of 7 that really includes her remote class.. Infact one of them turns off her chat so the kids on remote can’t communicate with her… I was told they don’t have to have chat turned on…. there has been countless times that she would email the teachers with no response… I emailed one to let her know that my child had been trying to reach out to her and her response was she has so much going on that she can’t keep up….
At least 3-4 times a week she can’t get into a class or the teacher will post that’s she’s not there that day… when this happens I have my child email the teacher to let them
Know she couldn’t join the class..so they wanna say they failing if attendance is below 90%, they need to fix the issues… I keep up with all the emails
This is the thing, they offered it to us, it’s not our children’s fault the county didn’t have this figured out before It was offered… My child will do Virtual before going back to the classroom at this point they sending several kids home a day bc of COVID or exposure, my child has over 20 to join one class in one day…
And the parents have spoken! Listen hard Escambia county. This school system has been broken for a long time. This is about money and funding. Not the health of our children.
One of the factors was FSA testing. Since it was cancelled last year, many students show as “Not tested” and were awarded a level 1 on their FSA scores for Math and Reading. This triggered the letter for many of them, even if they had good GPA’s and passing grades.
It is every parent’s right to choose how their student will be schooled. However, I have students who simply log in, turn on the avatar and then don’t do a thing. I call parents, email them and the students, to no avail. THOSE students need to be back in school where they can be held accountable. For those who are doing well, I say to carry on. I actually TEACH my remote students. Whether or not they are on the other side to get it is up to them and up to their parent.
I have a friend in Panama City who has 2 young children in the Bay County school system. Both of them are now positive for Covid-19, so is she. The state will not admit to any positive cases from school. The worst thing is that the kids exposed their Grandparents the day before they showed symptoms. DON’T SEND YOUR CHILDREN TO DIE. They will bring home something you can’t stop.
Our children are not failing; the instructors are failing to properly teach our children. Everyone that has listened in on my grandson’s class have said that the teacher needs a lesson on remote teaching. The school board wasn’t ready for remote teaching and are blaming our children for their shortcomings… My grandson interacts with instructors for approximately 5 hours 45 minutes each week; the remainder of this time he’s to figure things out for himself – at this point, I become the teacher. How much is a child expected to learn teaching himself? I will be preparing a letter and forwarding it to the school board because it is not fair that our children are doing their best with the little they are given.
Please everyone remember, we are in the middle of a killer pandemic and people young and old are acually dying. It was mentioned by a government official after all school’s had closed their doors for about 3 month’s that the country was going to have to shut down completely if the kid’s didn’t get back into school physically soon and bully moods of no funding to school who didn’t agree to opening because of the danger of more deaths, well it appears that the schools getting funded equals more deaths but higher grades maybe and our kids and families KEEPING it safe as possible for now equals our kids and families staying safe but our kids failing (so to speaking)for now. I RECOMMEND THAT OUR COUNTRY LEADERS STOP ALL THIS MADNESS RIGHT AWAY AND QUICKLY BY FREEZING THEIR OWN PAY CHECKS UNTIL THIS PANDEMIC GETS UNDER CONTROL AND THIS COUNTRY GETS BACK TO WHAT’S IMPORTANT, WE THE AMERICAN PEOPLE OF THESE UNITED STATES.
We know that our child is not failing. What they should have done is look at the report for students that really do need to return and not send a big mail out to everybody. We know that they are pushing to get students back in school. Some teachers that are doing virtual school are sometime as lost as the kids are. Then when you start with one teacher and have to change teachers thats not good for students. Teachers are working very hard to do the best that they can but some really fall short. The district do not seem to be concerned about our childrens health with covid and i know that mine will not be put at that risk and not doing social distance. Protect our children first.
What they mean is 80% of students are attending a school that’s not making adequate progress. There are a lot of students that are doing fine. We got a letter telling us or son who has one B and the rest A’s and has increased his test scores wasn’t making adequate progress. I later found out every remote student at their school got the letter regardless of their individual progress. The superintendent owes a lot of parents and students an apology.
This is pure bullying! My son has a single D the rest is A’s and B’s. He will not be going into the school building. I spoke to someone today I am signing the paper but will be adding comments stating that I am only signing to be able to continue remote learning and I am not at all acknowleging that my son is failing because a single D doesn’t mean that at all. I will be attaching a letter stating his grades and attendances are fine. Unless they can show me proof that every kid in the class has all A’s but I doubt that is the case. I received an automated call almost everyday with a new covid case.. yea thanks no thanks…
My daughter also has a single D… Her school has changed three different things since school started. Some teachers get up and take walks with the kids leaving the remote students just sitting there. I had to call each teacher just to get her grades first quarter cause their wonderful Focus had a glitch!!!! I am invested in my children’s education. I am the parent not DeathSantis!! Shame on that executive order!
In speaking with our high school student EVERY single student she knows has recieved a letter/phone call. That’s a little suspect wouldn’t you think? To include a friend that’s A/B honor roll in the list of letters. Her parents were told it was because her grades fell last 4 weeks. Fell as in they went from a high A to a mid A. Or a high B to a mid B. They claimed she may be experiencing difficulties with remote learning and that she would most likely do better in person. What? Come on school district! This is a charade!
Is anyone suprised here? If so, I have beach front property in Arizona to sell you. Escambia county has lagged very far behind in education. Now it is absolutely dismal. Who is to blame? Society. You all wanted and allowed political correctness into the classroom and this is what you get. Just look at all the Youth and young adult homicide and violent crime in this county. I blame all the psuedo intellectuals in administrative positions making certain changes at the school district. It has trickled down to the kids especially in the curriculum. Just because you have a degree in “whatchya macallit” doesn’t mean you need to go shoving your political agenda into every thing. Now look at where we are at now: multiple divided groups of victimized “special kids” you all raised as weak with no backbone. This is what you get. Enjoy your EMS scandals, violent crime, lack of leadership in top levels of government in Escambia it’s only going to get worse.
What I was told today was it is any grade D and under that flag the students and they request they come back. That’s ridiculous honestly. It’s not a failing grade. One high D and my child was flagged. Historically grades have been really good even at home this whole time. We have an issue with the teacher putting in grades on time. Which we have addressed repeatedly. But yet you want my child to come back because of one grade one time??? When the rest of their scores are impeccable? I don’t think so. That’s unnecessary exposure. It is bad enough that they have to go to school to do testing. Simple planning ahead could get these tests proctored. What I hear is everyday a call that more and more students in school have covid19 and by now that has to mean that the schools cannot remain open with the populous that they have. We recieve a call EVERY Day that someone has it. Escambia Country also needs to look into the teachers that are not instructing. I can’t tell you how many times a teacher has said assignments are loaded log off now. So any instruction is not being passed to the remote learners. Or for days and class periods where the teacher doesn’t turn on the Google classroom. Or it freezes and they never get back on. I think there are a myriad of opportunities here and the school system needs to fact check their own before blaming the parents/students for any other those actually falling behind. Teachers don’t answer messages. Guidance counselors don’t call back. Stop passing the buck here you’ve had plenty of time to work out plans.
Call your teacher and ask. There are very few facta shared here.
I have 3 kids. All great grades. 2 of them got letters. Called 2 different teachers and the results cited are taken from a pretest during the first week of school.
My opinion is this is a dishonest trick to force families in sending their kids to physical school.
CALL YOUR TEACHER AND GET THE FACTS
@ Super Mom
You seem awfully quick to judge others. You don’t know my life. You beat it? Good for you. Many aren’t so lucky. You’re also fortunate that you have someone to “Teach” your child while you work. Most do not. I tried remote learning and my child had a panic attack due to fear of people popping in and flashing inappropriate things. Her teachers also barely acknowledge her being there. So she tried on her own, then had to start over when she was 1/3 way through because she skipped around to easier things she could do without help. Now, she’s so far behind I know she won’t catch up. She was so discouraged that she gave up.
We’re also dealing with family who has been in the hospital with COVID since JULY. Lost 3 other members to it in August. The one may be released in a few weeks, but will need 24/7 care that we can’t give. So, yes, the lot of us are all tired, but you go ahead and call us lazy, though you don’t know squat about the situation.
I bring my child to work and work with her during my work, and still she’s behind. My husband works graveyard. And my parent’s are not in good health, so they can’t help her. We do what we can.
Think before you judge. I am disabled. Legally, I could file disability, but I choose to work until I literally have to have help to get out of bed every morning. So I’m happy that you’re “Super Mom” in your book, good for you.
But I and many others are doing the best we can. Keep your judgements to yourself. Like the old adage, if you can’t say something nice, keep your mouth shut!
NO TEACHER WILL SUPPORT CAMERAS IN THA CLASSROOM…THEY DO NOT WANT U TO KNOW HOW BAD IT IS!
We send our kids to school regardless of school shooters and pandemics. Seems like we treat them as if they are soldiers instead of kids.
My kid is one of the ones that’s “failing” being remote. I think it’s funny though because he has not had anything below a B. I don’t know where there getting these statistics from but they are crap. I can understand how it could be because I have witnessed from some of the kids that’s in the class but for mine I am constantly going and checking to make sure what needs to be done is done and helping him along the way if need be and they want me to sign an agreement that he’s at risk of not getting credited for this full year in DECEMBER?!? Yeah… I’m not signing a dang thing. He is more than likely going to be staying home for the remainder of the year and this is not going to bully us into agreeing. Sorry not sorry
Context is important, and statistics can be made to say whatever you want them to say. 80% is an alarming number, and I wonder if that is the school board’s intent.
What we are not being told is what percentage of the in-school kids are not making adequate progress. In 2017 only about 50% of students in Escambia County made adequate progress in reading and math. 50% did not, of course, and 2017 was a pretty typical year. So, is there a 30% difference between in-school and remote kids? This has been a tumultuous year for all kids. Compare the progress of kids at home and kids in the school. Show us that data.
Tell us if there is any sort of financial incentive to the district to get kids back in the buildings. Schools still get the FTE if kids attend remotely, don’t they?
Data driven decisions is the current fixation in education. Give us all the data.
Peace!
I received the letter regarding my daughters performance in remote learning. I can tell you that she busts her behind to do what she can with the little information she receives from her teachers. We are constantly emailing the teachers for further explanations and details only to be met with silence. I truly feel that the teachers are doing the best with what they are given, but the remote students are neglected. The teachers do not pay attention to their screen at all. Not to mention that class is continuously interrupted by in person students disrupting the class. And, if there is a substitute teacher, my child doesn’t have class at all. I feel that the school district is responsible for this high percentage students that are not succeeding with remote learning. Yes, I am sure that there are a few parents and children out there that simply do not care, but not the majority. We didn’t choose this option to make things easier on us, we chose it for the safety and well-being of our families. The school district and/or state needs to figure out how to make this better for the remote learners and not just by sending them back to traditional learning.
I called the school on this matter and i was told testing scores were pulled from 2yrs ago on these kids…don’t post inaccurate statuses on remote learners being that it has only been a few months since they have been doing this….to keep the schools funding a certain percentage has to be at the schools anyway….seem like the all mighty dollar is what’s at hand instead of coming up with a solution to see that these kids get the proper learning tool and guidance to be on track with there lessons….there were teachers wanting assignments due during Thanksgiving break and that’s not right….this pandemic is real while schools are trying to secure a check….come up with strategies to help the kids instead of your pockets…mine won’t be returning that’s for sure…this pandemic is very real
Bringing back 7k plus kids will NOT help NOW! How silly. I have COPD and my kid is remote, failing one class and I have sat in on instruction many times. I agree, the teachers don’t care about the remote kids. They point the camera elsewhere, leave their chromebooks inside when doing outdoor assignments, etc. We didn’t sign up for COVID just like you didn’t sign up to be a remote teacher, but you have to do your job. Period.
Im calling you guys out- some parents are lazy at doing their job to teach their children’s the quality of life. You have to yourselves discipline yourself to work with your children and help them achieve in life. You wont get it being on the phone or just let them play all day.
Not only that but you better differentiate the truth behind theres a difference between home and society. You getter teach these kids being soft doesnt always work in disney fairy tales. Bring them reality.
Bring them knowledge that not everyone knows of.
Be a dang Parent.
Teachers, you’re next. You are getting paid to make sure these kids get the education they need. If you’re not going to do your job, then step the fudge down and let someone else do it.
Im a fulltime mom, my bestie teaches my 3 yr old when im at work,
My 7 year old is in elementary school and i worry day to day while im at work is she gonna bring back the covid? Im asymptomatic. My daughter is too, i can feel absolutely fine and my lungs would feel like crap. I fought it off as a high risk with a low immune system. I beat the odds.
So if you aren’t fighting for these kids, parents, teachers, you making them not smart at all. You basically put the kids in the woods and expect to see who survived. Being honest.
Some parents actually get off their butt and work on their kids but some they dont. Its sad.
Do more with the children because they are the next gen and you guys are screwing it up.
As a teacher in the county (6 years in), I will say that teachers were not fully trained and prepared to teach online at all. We were literally flying by the seat of our pants, and still are, because we were not given or forced to do ANY remote teaching training even after the school start day delay. Each school may have a different scenario, but my meetings consisted of whining and complaining about “what if” situations rather than actually giving me the tools to succeed. Parents are not holding students accountable or checking grades regularly, and because teachers are struggling, kids are taking advantage of that weakness and exploiting it to get away with doing nothing or very little. I try my hardest everyday but I know that it’s not enough. I didn’t get my degree in virtual teaching, NOBODY DID. We are having to how to teach all over again and on our own because our district did NOT equip us like they claimed they did. Not to mention not having the appropriate microphones and cameras needed to teach adequately. This has been a disaster on all fronts. Stay healthy, everyone.
@highschool child
You sure the reason you aren’t failing is because of punctuation and grammar and possibly the fact that you’re posting on a forum during the school day?
Why are your assignments missing in the first place?
“Teachers are not teaching”… surely that excuse is as old as education itself and you can do better than that.
@Eryn Don’t feel to bad you’re not alone my family is in the same position as yours.
My child has a 90% absentee ratio. I have gotten automated calls from the school telling me he is not in class even though I’m standing there staring at their classroom screen that they are currently IN.
I have witnessed teachers absent from the virtual class for entire periods some not even bothering to be in the class at all instead opting to leave an assignment in google classrooms for the virtual students.
This is not a judgment on teachers I know they are overworked trying to run two classrooms at once I can’t imagine how frustrating that must be. However for the safety of my family my child will most likely get a G.E.D this year.
I can not in good faith send my child back to school were masks are not worn hands are not washed and social distancing is ignored. I would rather them get a G.E.D then to catch this potentially deadly debilitating virus. We have all let our children down.
Instead of standing United against this virus we listened to politicians and how they “felt” about the virus and it divided us. People decided it was no big deal just a flu not deadly. They choose to forget about those that this virus kills and ignore their pleas for help instead focusing on their own base needs. This is the world we live in now.
Ultimately it is my choice to send my child back to school or not even though the county is trying to force my hand. The consequences for this will be that my child will miss some of the school activities that are associated with graduation ie: prom, graduation. I will do every thing in my power to make sure my child gets that G.E.D and does not die doing it. Oh and if you don’t like my choices well “Frankly, my dear, I don’t give a damn”
Considering that the daily death toll for Covid 19 is as high as it’s been since the pandemic began, it seems kind of crazy to pile all of these kids back into school.
When you start seeing refrigeration trucks parked outside of hospitals and funeral homes, you’ve got to know they ain’t delivering ice cream. They’re stacking bodies in those things. I keep hearing, “what learning model is best,” for safety, academics or behavior? The fact is, only one of those things really matters, right now.
I know that getting state testing going is really important for the politicians that are making gobs of money off of their publishing interests, money that could be better spent hiring teachers or building/repairing infrastructure. That’s really the only thing driving this push for having students give up remote learning. The fact that they are in such a hurry to have testing in a year where any data they get will be completely useless, even more so than usual as these tests don’t even predict if a student will do well in college, is proof that student achievement is not their primary concern.
i am a failing student and i can say that the reason i have issues with my school work is because teachers ARE NOT TEACHING. they are assigning work on top of work and skimming through lessons. ALL the school board cares about it due dates. they don’t care if we learn anymore. I have literally been turning in missing assignments instead of eating lunch and not learning one single thing.
We are in uncharted waters with this pandemic. The strain that it has put on our educational system is unprecedented. I know teachers who are struggling to meet the needs of students and students that are struggling to meet the demands of remote learning. It is a difficult situation for all and just as stressful on the educators as the students and their parents. Along with the stress comes, apprehension, anxiety, and impatience, and all involved are suffering from this.
Not having any children in school I am not directly affected by all this but I do have grandchildren, and have listen to their parents concerning this. It is very trying times for all. Personally I feel for the High Schools students who are missing out on the best four years of their childhood and stress it has placed on possibly some of the last years of living at home.
My prayers are for patience, understanding, and a willingness to believe that all involved are doing the best they can. Communication is the key. If your child is struggling by all means ask for help early, not after they have failed. This is America, We are Americans, and we can do this!! This country was built on “I can”, and “We will” attitudes, not on finger pointing and “he said she said” pomposity.
WE ARE GREAT, LET’S STAY THAT WAY!!
@ TJ….After reading the post three times in an attempt to comprehend it, I will agree with you.
What is more important, school or letting your child get sick and bring a death sentence home to the rest of the family? Times have changed, being alive is so much more important.
The remote learning has had major effects on the in person as well because teachers have to split their time between the two methods. My kids are struggling.
My child is one who is failing. I KNOW she NEEDS face to face, but we cannot risk it due to myself being immunosuppressed, my father also immunosuppressed and has end stage pulmonary cystic fibrosis, and my mother who is ALSO immunosuppressed. We all live together, due to extreme medical issues. I work full time, in a closet, away from my co-workers answering the phone, just so I can keep my job of 20 years. My husband works with 8 people and they all practice social distancing, masks, hand washing etc. We get our stuff via contactless delivery.
Putting my child back in school would put her with HUNDREDS of potential spreaders. We cannot risk it. So yes, she will likely fail. And retake summer or the entire grade.
IF the school would create a pod where say 10 kids were in a room ALL day, and the teachers taught via remote, I would likely put her back in school, provided the students were all socially distanced, masked and used hand sanitizer/handwashing frequently. And were all brought by parent/guardian to a separate area, not bussed in or mixed with the school students at large.
My daughter was an Honors student before the pandemic. Now she is so far behind, I doubt she’ll catch up. I doubt I’m the only one is this situation with children who simply cannot go back due to risk to family members. I’m curious if other parents would like this type setting.
Eryn – A concerned mother.
My child is a remote learner in highscool. I am very involved, my child does her best. The problem is that the teachers (some not all) are disgruntled. They hate having to deal with the remote kids. Many times I have sat right there & listened in & watched the teachers turn the camera to the wall. The wall not the board & ignore the kids that are remote. I’ve also seen the floor bc that’s where they point the camera. The teachers mute the mic as well. Then teachers go out side with the class to learn like for science for example & they tell the remote kids they can leave the meeting, instead of simply taking the chromebook with them(the teacher). So the failure is not on the parents & kids alone. Its the teachers as well. I’ve even had a teacher tell me to remove my kid from the public school & go completely virtual that its not in them to teach in person & remote. That their main concern is the kids that are physically in there class period.
I just think teachers need more help in the classroom. New technology that would make this more effective and efficient. Some parents are forcing kids to stay at home even after the child requested or asked to return to campus because of difficulty in classes remotely. I bet if there is random home visits during school hours, the school district would not have a problem with SOME parents. These options are available for those who need them, but this sounds like some parents have abused the provisions set in place to protect their families. I think all failing with no health condition should go back at least until there is consistency in improvement.
All this coming from a school system that said they were prepared to remotely teach students , yet have failed miserably and were woefully unprepared. They won’t be honest about how many active covid cases they have and are constantly inappropriately informing people about their contacts with covid and / or taking proper precautions while the disease ravages on.
As a parent of a child who is doing remote learning and is consistently making A’s and B’s, I don’t believe the criteria or the standards for this particular evaluation is correct. If the child is performing above-average for the work that’s given then the problem lies with the curriculum. I don’t fell that in any way whatsoever that sending them back t face-to-face is going to change that. He made the same grades in school as he does out of school. I think the school just needs the funding and this is a ploy to get the students physically back in the school room. My child is a student at Bellview middle school and there are multiple times a week where his teachers don’t even login, they just leave a message to complete the work for the day. I think the whole system needs to be re-evaluated.
I agree face to face learning is better. The blame needs to be on everyone. Parents not being concerned about how their kids are doing, kids not wanting to learn it, and teachers that only care about a paycheck. Again it’s just my opinion. I say lose the chromebook and go back to pen and paper.
Better to be behind in a child’s education than to be dead from COVID, or passing it along to loved ones.
Some of the remote learning issues are because there are kids with special needs who also struggle in person and other issues have to do with the computers and technology not being user friendly.
Both of my children are doing remote learning this year. They are both thriving and any of the issues we have experienced have been due to poor equipment given by the school or the schools lack or resources to make remote learning more effective. While covid cases continue to rise again and this state being one of the worst with cases the idea of trying to force parents to send their children back to school is disgusting. I don’t see teachers wearing masks. I have zero trust in the school holding hundreds of kids responsible for using a mask. So my children will stay home. That’s it my choice as a parent. I’m very disappointed by how the school district has handled themselves during this pandemic and their lack for effort in rolling out a more practical remote learning environment, but I guess when all you care about is gov. Funding you make it impossible to for parents to trust that you have ours child’s education and safety at the top of the list.
The biggest problem with remote learning is that is still requires an adult to monitor the child. My wife monitors our grand kids, and I hear the horror stories of what goes on in the virtual classroom, and over 90% of it could be solved if there was an adult monitoring what the child is doing.
I understand keeping your child at home in these uncertain times, but you cannot expect an 8 or 9 year old to stay on track without some supervision, and when the teacher has children in the classroom they have to tend to, they cannot monitor what is going on with the virtual students.
My grand kids have excelled in the virtual environment, but that is ONLY because they have someone monitoring them the entire day, and keeping them on track. If they didn’t, they would be getting off track, not paying attention, etc. There is no doubt in my mind they would be part of the problem.
Really? Let’s tell the whole story.
1. We have an amazing remote teacher.
2. The school board has her teaching 2 grades at the same time. Why?
3. The criteria for their assessment is 1 automated program, IREADY.
4. I do not believe they have looked at teacher assessments, grades, or attendance.
5. IREADY is a horrible program. Good program to use as a teaching tool, as long as there is an adult sitting right with them. But this should not be used solely to determine if we should be putting our children at risk during a pandemic. That decision belongs to the parent, no one else. We are the ones responsible for their health and safety.
6. The message to parents, phone calls are harassment. Coming from the school board, and possibly the governors office. Bullying parents to put their children back in school. We welcome this discussion once vaccines are issued to all.
I’ve seen multiple parents receive letters stating this and their kids are honor roll. I’ve also seen kids with IEP’s and 504’s get thrown to the wolves. The schools are no longer providing accomodations. And as a parent to an previously A B honor roll child that is currently on site, I’ve watched her reach out to teachers a few times and not get a response or talk to the teacher asking for help only to get embarrassed in front of the class. This year has been a nightmare and before passing judgement on parents people need to realize there are some that are still working full time to support their families and there are others that just plain struggle. These teachers should be reaching out to the parents and trying to figure out how everyone can work together to help the kids
I’ve worked in online education for years and am continually shocked by haphazard implementation of Escambia’s program for remote students. Courses do not contain any indication of milestones or pacing, leaving students with what appears to be an absolute mountain of work. Teachers (at least for my son) have been unresponsive and routinely blow off scheduled, mandatory phone calls.
Sitting around boldly crying that “kids need to be in school” and blaming the parents/students for failing grades are missing the fact that Escambia County has utterly failed to deliver a meaningful remote experience for students.
First I would like to acknowledge the hard work and extreme conditions our school faculty and administration are under. Mistakes are and will be made along the way. As long as they are admitted and addressed we should all move forward with grace and understanding. I also acknowledge that some students are not doing well with remote learning, I have one child that struggled with it and we made the face to face choice for her. However, my youngest child is remote and has straight A’s, 4’a on his test scores, perfect attendance and great feedback from his teachers. And we received this letter requiring my signature to acknowledge my child is at risk. No sir, I will not acknowledge something that I know to not be true brocade if a mass district process that sent out letters signed by school principals without their confirmation of student achievement, or lack there of.
Ok new school district administration, let’s see what kind of character you have.
Interesting this announcement was made when they’re starting to roll out covid-19 vaccines
“Just Saying”, I think you might need to back to school.
Well maybe y’all forgot …. But there is this thing called Covid which is killing people and that includes kids too… The school district is far from clean…explains why almost every kid gets some type of bug during a school year… And therefore NOT all kids should be in school… (Especially when a child, like mine, have low immune systems) Escambia county needs to quit being so damn cheap and hire some more teachers so our kids can get proper educations… Teachers shouldn’t be teaching elementary age kids with kids in class and remote… Thanks for your concern though… Makes sense we should risk our child’s well being so society believes they are smart!!!
Why have students making A and B honor roll and A honor roll recieved a letter? There has been several teachers and support personnel that positive in the last couple of weeks.
The kids are failing when they go to school, and have been failing a disastrous curriculum for years. They now think socialism is a good idea. They don’t know if America is a democracy or a republic, know absolutely nothing of our nations founding, and can’t show you Texas on a map.
i laughed when this crazy stunt was announced before school started. it had to be a highly educated idiot o think that parents many of whom worked were going to educate their children. the kids sat at home and watched tv or played video games.
Just my opinion but I think some in the district do not want them to progress. They could be losing money. That’s the problem period. Money means more to some than our kids. They certainly could do things differently than online, some kids just need books instead of online and have drop off boxes so that the parents could drop off curriculum. They also could have DVDs for instruction to go along with the books. Teachers would still have jobs.
And is anyone surprised by this announcement?
Kids NEED to be IN SCHOOL….
Escambia County School District needs to look into the fact that some of the children that are not in there standards at the correct percentage for remote/ virtual learning isn’t because the children or parents are not doing their part but its the fact that the teachers that are a wonderful over worked people that are not only just teaching either a class and remote students and the ones that teach all grades for virtual are not able to get some of the students assignments ( discussion based assignments) that they have to speak to the child done for the fact that with things as they are due to covid schedule differ meaning the teachers hours or parents hours they can not get in contact because it was out of school hours. I am just saying!!!!
All these parents not sending their kids to school and not keeping them up to par……No idea what kind of damage you’re doing to their education.