Survey Responses - Dear JCPS

4 out of 6 family members with whom I live are considered high risk….

55 years old, allergic asthma, and take care of an 89 year old parent

as a parent and an employee I have no choice but to send my children back if we have in person classes to return to work. I honestly feel safer with a NTI start. Contact tracing and positive cases at school would be such a distraction and has the ability to make classes inconsistent.

Attempting to maintain my own classroom while teaching my child.

Both of my children have asthma and can not wear a mask all day. I feel that it is safer for everyone children and staff to not return to in person classes. I myself am taking Covid-19 very seriously and will not put my children in harm’s way for anything.

Consultant working with district

Diabetes Ii, asthma, 60 in Dec.

Don’t go back to school til COVID-19 has plateaued and cases are rare. If people wore masks we Wouldn’t have to be going NTI right now and might be starting a hybrid model of virtual and live. At the point that we can consider live school, count the number of teachers who are willing to come back, survey substitutes ( that’s gonna be an issue) and see how many are willing, then count the number of kids that parents want to return to school, and see if numbers work out. If not, I saw a plan that admitted the neediest kids back first. The biggest issue is that they are often the most at risk. But all of this is a moot point if the sickness as nun 4 year old twins call it isn’t defeated.

For my kids to be able to do the NTI I would need devices for them to do so

Husband has hypertension.

I adore and admire my resilient Newcomer students! In person instruction is crucial to language development, rapport, and feeling welcomed in a new country. IF we can do this responsibly, I am willing to meet with small groups of English learners in person. I wouldn’t ask teachers at a higher health risk to do this, but I am willing and able.

I am a JCPS employee as well as a parent. I really dont think there is a way of returning to school “safely”, what would we do if someone in a class or cafeteria gets COVID, do we have to quarantine the entire class or school? It doesnt matter how clean we keep the schools, you cant control theor household. I really think for the safety of children amd stafg we should start with NTI.

I am a single parent and have two children with special needs. Both are on the Autism Spectrum. Their needs are very different from each other, as are their education requirements. I cannot provide them both the education they need to thrive by myself. I’m struggling hard enough caring for both of them 24/7 without school requirements, I have had absolutely no help or respite care for the last four months. Realistically, my youngest child (who is on the lower functioning side of the spectrum) really needs one on one instruction from a licensed educational professional regardless of the current pandemic. The lack of educational resources provided over the last NTI series have shown the true gap in standards between typical classroom education vs special education. If I have to home school my older child, who is on the high functioning end of the spectrum and recieves little support in the classroom (compared to my younger child) there will be no educational set back. But for my younger child, virtual learning will never be enough. My child’s education will suffer.

If only for special education purposes… Classroom learning NEEDS to be implemented. These kids deserve an education too.

I am a teacher at a special school. I love!!!!!my job and my students. I know we cannot safely return to school in person. My team and I are dedicated to offering a valuable education to our students. We cannot put our students in harms way. This virus is too serious, with repercussions unknown to us at this time. Look how much we have learned in 4 months, and it never ceases to surprise me as we learn more about it.

I would support not returning to the classroom until it is under control, not running rampant. This period in time is but a blink of an eye in respect to a life time. There are NO DO OVERS when our child dies or suffers irreparable damage to their body.

Please keep our children safe!!!

I am currently pregnant which some will say is high risk. Even so, I would return to work in person.

I am extremely worried about going back to school. We are not ready

Even the rumor that clerical would have to work in the building to provide NTI support is not okay when we could do that safely from home!

I am immune compromised, my son has severe asthma, my husband has diabetes, and I care for my 82 year old mother.

I am immunocompromised, however, I am willing and wanting to return to in person for the sake of my mental health and my students.

I am JCPS retired. Taught for 15 years in a total of 5 schools.

I am scared to return to school. I am scared for my daughter, my family, and myself. We have sacrificed and quarantined since March while so many others haven’t. There is no way to safely return to school until there is a vaccine. Teachers, students, family members, and care givers will die. There is no safe option except NTI.

I can work from home, but am unsure how I can get my work done and also supervise NTI for my 10, 7, and 4 year old. My husband is a JCPS teacher as well. One of our children is high-risk for COVID complications so we can’t send the kids to someone else, and we have no family in the state anyway.

I don’t believe school will be safe.

I don’t see how we could have gone back with the steep increase in cases. I am thankful for the hard decision that the Board members had to make. Hopefully if cases decrease & we come up with a safe plan for social distancing, providing PPE, and addressing possible teacher and sub shortages, we will be able to return to our school buildings.

I feel it’s very unsafe for kids to return back to school with a pandemic like this. If one child is affected even in a smaller classroom and one teacher there is still the risk of many people and families be affected as well. In a time so serious as this there has got to be another plan. The smaller children which I have will not keep a mask on during the school day these are the same kids who can’t remember to wash their hands. This is a huge liability and risk for staff and families.

I feel like NTI for preschool is not effective. They need the social Interaction. My childs IEP mostly contains social/emotional goals. He struggles with social communication. His needs are not met with NTI like they are for in-person classes. I do work full time from home and can do NTI with him but I feel like I am not doing as good of a job.

I feel safest for my child to participate in NTI, and to work from home myself as a bookkeeper!

I have 4 kids spread across 3 schools. If one is exposed at school and needs to quarantine, there could be potentially 100 students and staff exposed with their sibling returning to school. As a nurse I understand infection prevention and will be keeping my kids at home, not only for their safety, but also everyone else’s.

However. NTI has to be more substantive than it was in the spring. Having one middle schooler doing daily meeting with instructors and work everyday was great. The older middle schooler (different school) had a choice board! Only one assignment per subject per week. He was done within 10 minutes a day and no meetings or calls with teachers. It wasn’t enough.

I have a disability

I have asthma

I have kids who struggle and need more structure. I have kids who love the NTI. We have a very sick person and we just can’t take the chance

I have pulmonary disease and my Dr. has told me not to return to in-person teaching in August.

I have type 2 diabetes.

I want my kids to do NTI because I have 4 kids in 3 different school, and I’m

Afraid they are going to have me take them in and out of school all year and it is so much easier to plan if we know ahead of time what the plan is. We have to work out help with 2 working parents. I want my kids safe and with a lasting plan

I want to be back in person…HOWEVER… I’m not confident we can do it safely, so my preference is NTI. I am both a JCPS employee and parent of a middle schooler. I am concerned about: the ability to social distance and keep masks on, the sub shortage, transportation, internet and device access for NTI, inability to reach parents, caregiver ability to assist with NTI, and much more.

I will have 3 children in elementary school and will need 2 more devices for them.

I will only allow my child to be Part of jcps if she can do NTI. If not I will pull my child from jcps.

I will send my 2 children back to school after Labor Day if there are no cases of the virus in school during that period Of time

I work at home outside of COVID-19, so NTI is very accessible to our family.

I work but we did our NTI at Night. My daughter is ECE. She did just fine.

I work in Early Childhood for JCPS. Social distancing, masks, and continuously washing hands is simply not realistic in the preschool classroom. This will add to the many behavioral issues we already deal with day to day. I see our days being even more hectic, chaotic, and stressful than productive. A lot of our kids and myself have underlying health conditions, and I don’t see how this can be overlooked when considering the district’s health as a whole.

I would like to see jcps try the hybrid model where they split classrooms into 2 groups (one attends Mon/Tues & one attends Wed/Thurs & everyone does nti on Friday. I think that would allow more space for social distancing if class was cut in half. From what I’ve read in medical journals, schools in other countries are not having significant issues with outbreaks when they return to in-person instruction when kids are wearing masks & sitting 3ft or more apart. The researchers have said that children ages 3-11 do not appear to be driving the transmission of this virus & are rarely getting sick. For some reason, middle school & high school age kiddos are not daring as well as preschool and elementary age. I think most countries are waiting to return until community positivity rates are 5% with good results. I am a psychologist so I really worry about the long-term impact of isolation on children. It is an important time for social/emotional development and isolation can worsen symptoms of depression. Our suicide rates are extremely high in Kentucky and I fear they will go up if children are unable to return to school. I do worry about getting sick or my kids getting sick. But, I think that the health risk for elementary age kiddos is extremely small compared to the the risk to social/emotional development if we do not return. I do believe that teachers should have the ability to have no tolerance for kids refusing masks. Children who refuse to wear them should be transferred to nti immediately. The health of our teachers should be paramount above the needs of kids with behavioral issues, trauma etc which might impair their ability to wear masks, social distance etc. A separate outreach plan should be developed for students with developmental delays, behavioral issues, etc if they would not be able to comply with masks & social distancing. I also believe mask wearing should not be optional for Kindergarteners…preschool age kiddos (without delays or behavior disorders) are able to wear without difficulty so there is no reason 5 & 6 y/o kiddos should not be required to wear them to protect themselves and teachers. I also liked Pollio’s suggestion that teachers over 60 & those w/ underlying conditions should be able to choose nti & teach students who choose nti due to chronic health issues or fear.

I would likr interactive learning /virtual learning as well

I would not be able to survive without income on my early retirement.

I would ove start NTI because my daughter gas low immune system and I don’t feel comfortable to send her right now

I would prefer distance learning due to protecting the kids, myself and my family at home. My husband is diabetic, my daughter is asthmatic and my elderly, handicapped parents depend on me for everything. I only have 2 3/4 years until retirement. I am praying they will change their minds.I teach all the kids at our school.

I’m scared to return to in person. I’m a care giver to my 89 year old father and 62 year old disabled brother. I’m all they have. I also have severe asthma. I love my job. But I love my life more.

I’m 55 and live with Hashimoto’s Disease. Because we know so little about this virus, I dont think that puts me at high risk, but I’m not sure I won’t affect it. I’m not as high risk as many others, though.

I’m a single mother with a child who is ece and had a iep I work 6 am -5 pm I have 2 children it doesn’t alot me time to help them with it at all … and 2 children I think ece should be allowed back with teachers or have a teacher teaching them i can not help him learn and its so hard to work full time and also have to be a teacher to 2 children on different grade levels i understand the difficulty but im not sure nti will work for us with one kid the other will rpo ably be fine but I worry so much a bout my ece child who will be starting g high school

I’m in the high-risk category with comorbidities. I live alone and have no one to care for me if I get sick. I also own a farm and have no one to care for my animals if I get sick.

Immunodeficiency

It’s way too dangerous right now to participate in in person school. Kids are not capable of following the rules when many adults don’t set the example. Also working with students with behavioral issues increases my risk because, well, behavior issues.

Kids wearing mask all day isn’t a good idea. Kids are aso the fastest germ spread. My kids have asthma and I’m just not comfortable. What happens if staff/teacher is infected? Everyone has to quarantine including kids resulting in being shut down anyway. Mine will be home safe

My child has Asthma (Jcps student)

My child was attending his last year of preschool when Covid-19 started. So he was not eligible for a chromebook. Now that he will be starting Kindergarten he is in need of a suitable device to maintain and keep up with tasks. He is special needs. Autistic non verbal. He has a compromised immune system… I am looking for any assistance available at this time to try an prepare for what’s to come. Please help me help him. Thanks.

My husband and I work full time so it will be challenging but I think NTI is safest for everyone.

my idea of returning safely to school would include space in the classroom for students to sit apart from each other. I would also want the reassurance that their is adequate staffing to clean and disinfect tables, desks, sinks, etc on a daily basis, especially if students are expected to eat in the classroom. (There was a custodial shortage last year.)

My parent lives with me. She is over 65 and has COPD.

I have an autoimmune condition and moderate asthma.

I put I would prefer to do NTI because I do not trust the district can keep me safe. Too many students come to school sick as it is, and I do not trust that I would not be exposed.

My son is starting kindergarten. He previously was unable to attend early childhood programs through JCPS bc we did not qualify for financial assistance. However, private childcare was cheaper. I really feel my son needs structure and help from trained/certified early childhood educators. I am a professor at a university, however, my expertise is not in K-12 learning. I will do whatever I need to do for my child to be successful. I support the district in what they fee the safest decision for the children. I am willing to adapt and be flexible.

My student is an ECE student in a LBD contained classroom. I would prefer her to go back to the classroom, NTI was not the best for her in the spring. She needs her classroom environment, peers, teachers, and support. If NTI happens in the fall we will need to sign up for a chrome book.

My wife is immunocompromised.

Not comfortable returning. I have high risk people living with me

NTI is less than ideal for my child due to his learning needs.

NTI is the safest option for students and staff. My 14 year old son is high risk. His ENT doctor told me it is not a good idea to open schools. These kids can and will bring Covid home to parent, and grandparents. My husband is a teacher and I am a bookkeeper. We have a college age child and a high schooler. That’s germs coming home from 4 different schools. Too much of a risk for our family. Please NTI only!

Our daughter is 16 years old and has no problems with the technology of NTI. She works well at her own pace since she has been a Montessori student since kindergarten. She enjoyed the format of NTI that began in March when schools were first shut down.

Over weight

Diabetes

High blood pressure

Personally, I am diabetic and overweight. I also have gastroparesis. My husband has stage 4 cancer

Please be organized this time, all assignments on Monday versus scattered and impromptu

Recent breast cancer diagnosis. I’m very worried about returning to brick and mortar school.

Safety comes first and I believe JCPS could work it’s way back if only we start off with online NTI work. My family and myself have practice social distancing the entire time. Cramming everyone back into the building all at once is a no for me and isn’t fair to my family. I would have went along with half a day options with students rotating days.

Spouse is high risk, previous lung damage

T2 Diabetes

The emotional and physical till this is taking on kids and parents is beyond comprehension. Kids are depressed and need school. Friends (parents) are killing themselves. Child abuse and more is up.

Kids need to be in school!!! Period. Kids don’t react well to parents teaching them. They are unable to learn in this environment. Parents work!! Don’t have support to send them somewhere. We are losing our children to this.

Open up our schools!

The two choices in front of us are both bad/wrong choices with equal amounts of pros vs cons. There is no correct choice. There is not even a less correct choice. There is wrong and wrong

Therefore, we have to allow families (of teachers as well) choose their plans for school 2020-21. I think making a choice in either direction is completely wrong and irresponsible by those in charge.

There is no way for us to safely welcome students into the building right now. I am hoping that JCPS will spend this time collaborating with community partners to help develop childcare solutions and make sure that WiFi is available to students so that access is equitable. I would like to see a more systematic approach to making sure that no students slip through the cracks.

Three kids, one has a laptop, we have a chromebook from JCPS but need another one, I also worry about internet since I work at home and three kids will be using it as well all day.

Was hoping for in person school. I think the children really need the interaction. But I will support any decision. There is so much to consider and to be figured out.

We have internet access as well as laptops for each student to access NTI. I am working at home so I am available to assist with connecting and work.

we have no problem completing homework. The problem lies in the time spent completing the class work during the day. Will our child care be able to teach a kindergarten and 2nd grade curriculum? No! Last year’s NTI was a joke and I fear we will continue to do busy work that falls on the parents. My first grader was asked to write a research paper during NTI!!! Where was the focus on spelling, math, science, more foundational skills. It was obsurd.

We need a device (Chromebook) for our daughter. Our family of 4 has struggled since we share one computer.

We need to keep our kids and staff members safe and continue with NTI or paper packets.

We would need to purchase more computers or iPads for all of our kids to not be sharing one single device. Otherwise, we are equipped to do NTI. It’s just for one school year. Our kids will be fine.

When NTI was done the prior semester it was horrible. I feel my children haven’t had quality instruction since March 2020. Contact with their teacher once a week and then being graded on basically did they log on once a week was horrible. They need to be challenged, they need interaction with their teachers. What JCPS called NTI was less than subpar.

With the new NTI (yes, it is “non-traditional” instruction), teachers must be available in the evenings at various times to assist parents. Parents need to hear their commitment to that.

Would like paper packets. Thank you

The comments here were submitted via the online survey. While the names of those submitting the comments have been withheld here, they are not anonymous to us. If a school board member would like to follow up on the content of this message, they may contact us via email to request a connection with the respondent(s).