"Interesting", "unprecedented", "challenging"...there are many words to describe our current situation. We WILL get through this together. And make sure to VOTE in November!
No surprise there, admin at the SSC- the very same people responsible for planning a safe return to school- had not been wearing masks until some of them tested positive last week. And look at the board meeting minutes from June 1st, theres more than a dozen people out for either exposure or that probably tested positive. That was in May, when there were hardly any staff and there were ZERO students in schools. I wonder if thats why they haven’t posted meeting minutes for July. And why didn’t they broadcast last nights meeting? Are they hiding something? So many neighboring districts have been streaming their board meetings long before COVID, why is EA making people go to the meetings in person if it’s possible to have them listen to them safely at home.
(5 ILCS 120/1) (from Ch. 102, par. 41) Sec. 1. Policy. It is the public policy of this State that public bodies exist to aid in the conduct of the people's business and that the people have a right to be informed as to the conduct of their business. In order that the people shall be informed, the General Assembly finds and declares that it is the intent of this Act to ensure that the actions of public bodies be taken openly and that their deliberations be conducted openly. The General Assembly further declares it to be the public policy of this State that its citizens shall be given advance notice of and the right to attend all meetings at which any business of a public body is discussed or acted upon in any way. Exceptions to the public's right to attend exist only in those limited circumstances where the General Assembly has specifically determined that the public interest would be clearly endangered or the personal privacy or guaranteed rights of individuals would be clearly in danger of unwarranted invasion. To implement this policy, the General Assembly declares: (1) it is the intent of this Act to protect the citizen's right to know; and (2) the provisions for exceptions to the open meeting requirements shall be strictly construed against closed meetings. (Source: P.A. 88-621, eff. 1-1-95.)...
We need to demand the board of education to stream their board meetings. It's our right to know what is happening. They have the technology so let's use it.
Could this be a violation of the Open meetings Act?
Just because our governor is a fool, and the left wing nut job media have turned the last 6 months into political nonsense, please stay positive if you work in 131, you are not being slighted. Some of you complain too much. The district just follows the state... because thats where the money comes from! Rule #1... follow the money. Rule #2-#199... see Rule #1.
Board of Education elections are happening soon. We need to start planning on who we want in those seats. We need individuals from the community that will challenge this administration.
Please explain why we need to challenge the current administration. I am confused Dr Norrell meets with us and communicates. They have a decent e learning plan and seen to be trying to meet us half way.
Admin meets and communicates with who? Because there are so many things that have been communicated to staff AFTER the fact. We have been bombarded with programs and apps that were bought in a whim and not proper thought or research was done. Just ask anybody about classlink. Parents and staff are frustrated with the lack of communication about what is being done and how. So many parents were clueless about when the first day of school was. Many took days off work to help their kids the first days of school only to find out start had been pushed back a week. Today is the forth day of the midterms grading window and teachers still don’t know what they’re supposed to use to calculate grades. How about the videos and tech tips that have been sent weeks after we have figured out things ourselves. How about attendance data being presented as in the +90%. Board members should ask about actual time students spend on Google meets to see real attendance. Students are counted as “present” if they’re in class or not, as long as they claim they attended, log in for a minute or say they have trouble logging in. Parents were sent a survey asking them what they would prefer, hybrid or continue elearning. When are they going to ask teachers and other staff? Oh that’s right, they’ll ask the night before they present results to the board. So yes, elearning plan is half decent, but communication is simply not there.
I have had it with all whiny, left wing, soft teachers that act like you are somehow more prone to catching a flu (that you think apparently kills you on contact) than any other working person in the world. You sot there and believe every bit of nonsense main stream media and that blow-hard BILLIONAIRE governor tell you to do. You're as gullible and soft as typical sheep. Just admit you're lazy and want to stay home. Teachers & politicians are the only people in the world staying home and getting paid. Private schools are going full force and having no problems. Why are you so special? Just because you hide behind a union with self-righteous left wing stats, you feel entitled. You already get more vacation time than any profession in the world. Suck it up like every other WORKING person in the world, and get to work! Demand no passing periods and minimal class changes per day, and Ill support you. But these public school unions need to look in the mirror. CPS can go out and picket in LARGE groups so that they don't have to go back to work because of large groups. Police, store workers, construction, fire dept, gas station clerks, office & business workers are GOING TO WORK. Stop playing the soft card and get in the class and teach. You're no better than the left win politicians doing this to our nation.
Re: Enough BS You have no idea how difficult remote learning is for teachers and students. You need to do lesson plans that you cannot present personally to students from computer programs that teachers have not been trained to do. They have no connection to our curriculum which the teachers worked on and was great. Teaching is a creative innovative profession and remote learning can be but it takes multiple hours to transform it. Calling us lazy makes you sound like Mancow Muller. Vacation time is also spent on lesson plans. Summers were always interrupted with weeks of professional development. No one wants to stay home, but data shows that Covid is on the rise when schools are in session. Look at the science. Getting up at 5:30 and emailing all of your students, grading piles of work and communicating with students having difficulty, communicating with counselors and social workers about these troubled students and calling parents weekly is not easy you are wrong in your thinking about the real hard work that is involved. Teachers do go into the schools to do work as well and to go to meetings. Get yourself educated about the realuity of the situation before you attack people who are doing their darndest in this pandemic crisis.
I am an ESL tutor, and I can confirm that teaching remotely is WORK. It requires just as much of my time in planning and interacting with my student as in-person teaching. And vacation time?? Summer "vacation" was non-existent for me this year, as I continued to teach one-on-one on Zoom to hopefully make up some of the deficits experienced by my students'limited exposure to the subject matter since March. And as far as your claim that "teachers and politicians are the only people in the world staying home and getting paid"...that's absolutely not true. Many, many employees in the tech field have been directed by their employers to work from home until further notice (including my son, who is a computer programmer for Facebook and has been told that he can work from wherever he wants for as long as he wants). You are clueless and need to learn the facts of how things work in the 21st century during a pandemic!!
See, you all are always crying and missing the point. Nobody said it isn't work, and if its even "harder", than why wouldn't you want to go back to work?? It's because you want to sit at home. The kids are suffering while you hide behind unions and fake hysteria. Kids need the school experience. Why does it work so well at private schools?? Are they praying harder? You're just lazy and don't want to go to work.
‘Why wouldn’t you want to go back to work?’ Uhm, you should watch the news dude. We all want to go back to the buildings, not back to work, because we have been working all these months. I don’t doubt a few teachers have taken advantage of the situation and don’t do much, but those teachers are lazy wherever you put them, we all know who those are because they are just like that in the buildings. As I said, we all want to go back to the buildings. If we had wanted to be sitting in our bottoms all day we would’ve chosen a different profession. I would not mind going back to the buildings if we had a safe environment, but the district is not prepared to have us back. They don’t even supply basic items needed any given year, I doubt they have the capability to have us all back SAFELY. I have worked in the district for YEARS, and I can tell you whatever is said at the board meetings isn’t always what’s really happening in schools. Just look at the attendance rates that have been presented 95%... Are you kidding me??? It’s not even close. The board should ask for the actual times kids are logged in to see the real numbers. Kids and parents know they only have to log in for a minute or say they have internet problems and they are marked present. Just looking at those ‘embellished’ numbers makes me not trust them when they say we’ll be alright. I saw the plan for hybrid and there is no way we can comply with what’s in paper. Yes, working from home is way more work than being in schools, buy I prefer that over being sick.
Who says it works okay at private schools?? My niece goes to St. Ritas on the west side of Aurora and they have been remote learning since last March. They tried a hybrid method in September and went back to remote when two people tested positive. Next week they're starting hybrid again, fingers crossed that nobody gets sick. Also, some private schools were overly optimistic last fall and opened for in-person learning, then had to close and go online-only after somebody got the virus and it started spreading (St. Joseph in Downers Grove is one example, a friend of mine teaches there).
This virus does not care who it infects. Fortunately, there is a vaccine on the way and hopefully the pandemic will be just an unpleasant memory in a few months.
At the high school, it already seems like there is an “us versus them” mentality with the administration. Rather than working with us, they are trying to make our lives more difficult. Especially the hand-picked athletic director. The only thing he is hand-picked for, is to bring embarrassment and shame to the department. He is a lazy blow hard who doesn’t want to do anything to help the school.
As an alum it hurts me to see lower levels have old, tattered and mismatched jerseys. They don’t even provide water….coaches have to get it. It’s a good thing he has a coaching staff that outworks him on a daily basis.
25 comments:
https://www.chicagotribune.com/suburbs/aurora-beacon-news/ct-abn-aurora-schools-st-0724-20200723-2l62z2gb5zfpvb6j6amxdpxbr4-story.html
https://www.chicagotribune.com/suburbs/aurora-beacon-news/opinion/ct-abn-crosby-schools-opening-st-0724-20200723-4wt6ndqr4fhn3dnf3ddyzfudfa-story.html
https://www.d131.org/fall-2020-reopening-guidance/#
A handful of (SSC B&G) admin are out for possible exposure.
No surprise there, admin at the SSC- the very same people responsible for planning a safe return to school- had not been wearing masks until some of them tested positive last week. And look at the board meeting minutes from June 1st, theres more than a dozen people out for either exposure or that probably tested positive. That was in May, when there were hardly any staff and there were ZERO students in schools. I wonder if thats why they haven’t posted meeting minutes for July. And why didn’t they broadcast last nights meeting? Are they hiding something? So many neighboring districts have been streaming their board meetings long before COVID, why is EA making people go to the meetings in person if it’s possible to have them listen to them safely at home.
(5 ILCS 120/1) (from Ch. 102, par. 41)
Sec. 1. Policy. It is the public policy of this State that public bodies exist to aid in the conduct of the people's business and that the people have a right to be informed as to the conduct of their business. In order that the people shall be informed, the General Assembly finds and declares that it is the intent of this Act to ensure that the actions of public bodies be taken openly and that their deliberations be conducted openly.
The General Assembly further declares it to be the public policy of this State that its citizens shall be given advance notice of and the right to attend all meetings at which any business of a public body is discussed or acted upon in any way. Exceptions to the public's right to attend exist only in those limited circumstances where the General Assembly has specifically determined that the public interest would be clearly endangered or the personal privacy or guaranteed rights of individuals would be clearly in danger of unwarranted invasion.
To implement this policy, the General Assembly declares:
(1) it is the intent of this Act to protect the citizen's right to know; and
(2) the provisions for exceptions to the open meeting requirements shall be strictly construed against closed meetings.
(Source: P.A. 88-621, eff. 1-1-95.)...
We need to demand the board of education to stream their board meetings. It's our right to know what is happening. They have the technology so let's use it.
Could this be a violation of the Open meetings Act?
They are having public meetings so it is not a violation.
Think the district will change up the schedule again at the last minute? 😃
Just because our governor is a fool, and the left wing nut job media have turned the last 6 months into political nonsense, please stay positive if you work in 131, you are not being slighted. Some of you complain too much. The district just follows the state... because thats where the money comes from! Rule #1... follow the money. Rule #2-#199... see Rule #1.
Board of Education elections are happening soon. We need to start planning on who we want in those seats. We need individuals from the community that will challenge this administration.
Please explain why we need to challenge the current administration. I am confused Dr Norrell meets with us and communicates. They have a decent e learning plan and seen to be trying to meet us half way.
Word on the street is Norrell is leaving at the end of the year. More Money bigger District
Admin meets and communicates with who? Because there are so many things that have been communicated to staff AFTER the fact. We have been bombarded with programs and apps that were bought in a whim and not proper thought or research was done. Just ask anybody about classlink. Parents and staff are frustrated with the lack of communication about what is being done and how. So many parents were clueless about when the first day of school was. Many took days off work to help their kids the first days of school only to find out start had been pushed back a week. Today is the forth day of the midterms grading window and teachers still don’t know what they’re supposed to use to calculate grades. How about the videos and tech tips that have been sent weeks after we have figured out things ourselves. How about attendance data being presented as in the +90%. Board members should ask about actual time students spend on Google meets to see real attendance. Students are counted as “present” if they’re in class or not, as long as they claim they attended, log in for a minute or say they have trouble logging in. Parents were sent a survey asking them what they would prefer, hybrid or continue elearning. When are they going to ask teachers and other staff? Oh that’s right, they’ll ask the night before they present results to the board. So yes, elearning plan is half decent, but communication is simply not there.
Well, U-46 could come close, or CPS... but outside of that, where do you think she would get so much more money??
Who says she’s staying in Illinois?
https://www.chicagotribune.com/suburbs/aurora-beacon-news/ct-abn-east-aurora-pandemic-attendance-st-20201120-egmhgy4ntbhjnkj6ivxabmzjfa-story.html
I have had it with all whiny, left wing, soft teachers that act like you are somehow more prone to catching a flu (that you think apparently kills you on contact) than any other working person in the world. You sot there and believe every bit of nonsense main stream media and that blow-hard BILLIONAIRE governor tell you to do. You're as gullible and soft as typical sheep. Just admit you're lazy and want to stay home. Teachers & politicians are the only people in the world staying home and getting paid. Private schools are going full force and having no problems. Why are you so special? Just because you hide behind a union with self-righteous left wing stats, you feel entitled. You already get more vacation time than any profession in the world. Suck it up like every other WORKING person in the world, and get to work! Demand no passing periods and minimal class changes per day, and Ill support you. But these public school unions need to look in the mirror. CPS can go out and picket in LARGE groups so that they don't have to go back to work because of large groups. Police, store workers, construction, fire dept, gas station clerks, office & business workers are GOING TO WORK. Stop playing the soft card and get in the class and teach. You're no better than the left win politicians doing this to our nation.
Re: Enough BS You have no idea how difficult remote learning is for teachers and students. You need to do lesson plans that you cannot present personally to students from computer programs that teachers have not been trained to do. They have no connection to our curriculum which the teachers worked on and was great. Teaching is a creative innovative profession and remote learning can be but it takes multiple hours to transform it. Calling us lazy makes you sound like Mancow Muller. Vacation time is also spent on lesson plans. Summers were always interrupted with weeks of professional development. No one wants to stay home, but data shows that Covid is on the rise when schools are in session. Look at the science. Getting up at 5:30 and emailing all of your students, grading piles of work and communicating with students having difficulty, communicating with counselors and social workers about these troubled students and calling parents weekly is not easy you are wrong in your thinking about the real hard work that is involved. Teachers do go into the schools to do work as well and to go to meetings. Get yourself educated about the realuity of the situation before you attack people who are doing their darndest in this pandemic crisis.
I am an ESL tutor, and I can confirm that teaching remotely is WORK. It requires just as much of my time in planning and interacting with my student as in-person teaching. And vacation time?? Summer "vacation" was non-existent for me this year, as I continued to teach one-on-one on Zoom to hopefully make up some of the deficits experienced by my students'limited exposure to the subject matter since March. And as far as your claim that "teachers and politicians are the only people in the world staying home and getting paid"...that's absolutely not true. Many, many employees in the tech field have been directed by their employers to work from home until further notice (including my son, who is a computer programmer for Facebook and has been told that he can work from wherever he wants for as long as he wants). You are clueless and need to learn the facts of how things work in the 21st century during a pandemic!!
See, you all are always crying and missing the point. Nobody said it isn't work, and if its even "harder", than why wouldn't you want to go back to work?? It's because you want to sit at home. The kids are suffering while you hide behind unions and fake hysteria. Kids need the school experience. Why does it work so well at private schools?? Are they praying harder? You're just lazy and don't want to go to work.
‘Why wouldn’t you want to go back to work?’ Uhm, you should watch the news dude. We all want to go back to the buildings, not back to work, because we have been working all these months. I don’t doubt a few teachers have taken advantage of the situation and don’t do much, but those teachers are lazy wherever you put them, we all know who those are because they are just like that in the buildings. As I said, we all want to go back to the buildings. If we had wanted to be sitting in our bottoms all day we would’ve chosen a different profession. I would not mind going back to the buildings if we had a safe environment, but the district is not prepared to have us back. They don’t even supply basic items needed any given year, I doubt they have the capability to have us all back SAFELY. I have worked in the district for YEARS, and I can tell you whatever is said at the board meetings isn’t always what’s really happening in schools. Just look at the attendance rates that have been presented 95%... Are you kidding me??? It’s not even close. The board should ask for the actual times kids are logged in to see the real numbers. Kids and parents know they only have to log in for a minute or say they have internet problems and they are marked present. Just looking at those ‘embellished’ numbers makes me not trust them when they say we’ll be alright. I saw the plan for hybrid and there is no way we can comply with what’s in paper. Yes, working from home is way more work than being in schools, buy I prefer that over being sick.
So nobody has an answer to the question why it works ok at private schools, huh. I guess its the prayers...
Who says it works okay at private schools?? My niece goes to St. Ritas on the west side of Aurora and they have been remote learning since last March. They tried a hybrid method in September and went back to remote when two people tested positive. Next week they're starting hybrid again, fingers crossed that nobody gets sick. Also, some private schools were overly optimistic last fall and opened for in-person learning, then had to close and go online-only after somebody got the virus and it started spreading (St. Joseph in Downers Grove is one example, a friend of mine teaches there).
This virus does not care who it infects. Fortunately, there is a vaccine on the way and hopefully the pandemic will be just an unpleasant memory in a few months.
At the high school, it already seems like there is an “us versus them” mentality with the administration. Rather than working with us, they are trying to make our lives more difficult. Especially the hand-picked athletic director. The only thing he is hand-picked for, is to bring embarrassment and shame to the department. He is a lazy blow hard who doesn’t want to do anything to help the school.
As an alum it hurts me to see lower levels have old, tattered and mismatched jerseys. They don’t even provide water….coaches have to get it. It’s a good thing he has a coaching staff that outworks him on a daily basis.
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