Last-minute preparation

FCPS had months to create a clear, set in stone plan.

Yet somehow schools were teaching students about in-person expectations and preparing equipment just one week before schools opened. The procrastination made no sense; the return to school date was determined in February, and the district had all year to develop a schedule for preparing students and staff within a month’s notice.

The sloppy, last-minute work reared its ugly head in the slideshow teaching students about in-person restrictions. It covered the most juvenile topics imaginable, like why masks are important and how washing hands stops the spread of COVID-19. It even asked students to flick water at their wall to see how COVID-19 droplets spread.

There was no excuse for the slideshow’s topics. It was clearly a preschool-level lesson sloppily repurposed for middle and high school students, who deserve more information about reopening than common sense statements.

At McLean High School, the administration made a video that covered more expectations, but it was not mandatory for teachers to present and wasn’t publicized. It described certain rules, like requiring students to follow one-way signs on staircases. The district and school board have never properly explained how such specific rules will be enforced in schools with the staff constraints.

Most teachers at McLean had one week to prepare equipment and there was little training on how to use it. As a result, many didn’t get a chance to use it in class with their students. The last-minute rush yet again brings up a question echoing across the county―Is FCPS even doing anything?

There are a few months left in the school year for the district to finally get their act together, but for many it’ll be too late. Still, FCPS still has a chance to become organized, transparent and decisive, but change will need to immediately or its final shreds of credibility will dissolve in controversy and derision.