Thread by @asanderford

Hello all, I will be live tweeting today’s @OmahaPubSchool presser about moving to remote learning from a 3/2 hybrid schedule that was proposed.

I’ll try to keep up with all that happens. If I miss something key, let me know. Hope you’ll follow along.

Speaking today will be @OPS_LoganSupt and @MarqueASnow from the @OmahaPubSchool board. They've already announced the big-picture changes via text and email to parents.

Here are the high points from @OWHnews:

omaha.com/news/local/edu…

The presser is supposed to start at 3 p.m. @OmahaPubSchool officials are not yet sure who will join them to speak. Already see #Omaha City Councilman Ben Gray and Douglas County Board member Chris Rodgers.

For folks not used to the pace at which I live tweet these meetings, a word of warning. Might be good to set the notifications for my tweets to off if you're a new follower. I will paraphrase everything not in quotation marks. But it will be as near to transcribed as I can write.

The last television station is doing some setup, so it might be three to five minutes before we start. We will update you when they get rolling here. For those who are wondering, the school year has pushed back for @OmahaPubSchool to start on Aug. 18. Snow just got here.

From what I understand from my fellow media members, @KETV, @FOX42KPTM, and @WOWT6News will carry the press conference live on TV.

I will make sure after I'm done tweeting to create a document that puts all the tweets in order in a readable online document that will be easier to follow than the individual tweets. As an @OmahaPubSchool parent of two students, I'll be listening for my family, too.

A look at the @OmahaPubSchool board room, now filling in with reporters, socially distanced. Hi @stuOWH! He’ll have the story from the sports angle for us.

The @OmahaPubSchool spokesman is saying we are about to get started in a few minutes. People will be allowed a question or two. I'm hoping to defer those questions to @emily_nitcher, so I can keep up with what is asked and said. But I'll ask if something comes up.

Snow gets us started.

Snow: With 54k students and our employees, stay at home learning is our best options. It's going to require our teachers, students and families to come together to make sure our students receive the best education they can, what they deserve.

Logan is up. Logan: Called many state senators, texted the governor, reached out to the mayor to communicate with them. Like to thank Councilman Gray and County Board member Rodgers for being here.

Logan: We miss our children terribly. From the beginning we have focused on health and safety. We were transparent with families that those plans might need to change. With the latest changes, we saw that the most responsible approach was remote learning.

Logan: We hope to get back to the 3/2 model. Our labor partners are ready to serve learners in that environment. We will use next week for teacher in-service and prep as well as sharing new technology with students.

Logan: Also looking out for social and emotional well-being of our students. Counselors and social workers will be available for students. Based on what we see, "this is the right way forward."

Q: What tipped the balance for you?

Logan: Well-publicized article about rising cases in Omaha. Had many, many parents reach out to us.

Logan: In just the few days we've been back with our staff, we saw staff have to be tested and quarantined in numbers that gave us an educated way to look at what to expect.

Logan: On June 29, there was a lot of reticence about the 3/2 model. Then it flipped to people being concerned about in-person learning at all. We are seeing a rapidly changing dynamic with parents sharing their anxieties. It was very difficult for parents to navigate.

Logan: Some do not feel afraid at all. Some feel afraid and want to keep their children home. All of those things impacted our decision.

Q: Any plans to get the tech out faster?

Logan: We will be getting it out before the first day of school. Aug. 18 will be virtual first day of school.

Q: Why push the first day of school back another week?

Logan: We had to distribute devices, and we wanted to be sure we gave our families and our teachers significant time to prepare for the shift from a 3/2 model. Preparing for a fully remote model requires some time.

Q: What variables and factors will the district be looking at to decide when it's safe to return and who decides?

Logan: I'd make that decision with our board of education. We'll be looking at a lot of factors.

Logan: Impact to staffing. Impact to all the risk profiles from the Douglas Co. Health Department and UNMC. We also can see this in our schools. This is our fourth day to having full staff back. Not everybody had COVID, but many had to be quarantined. 14 days.

Q: What changed overnight to make the decision today?

Logan: Had a convo with our board president and understood what BoE was hearing from constituents. My phone pings every time there's a COVID alert.

Logan: "Very disappointed to be here today." Desperately want the children to be in school. Adding up the days with HR. All of those things, and when Mr. Snow contacted me, it was time.

Logan: I know the children do better in school. I was a principal and taught 11 years. Many of the things that they love happen in school. It's disappointing for them and parents. I know how hard parents had worked to adjust to the 3/2 model. We didn't want to do it.

Logan: "This was a decision that needed to be made, as difficult as it was. It's much more difficult for the people that we serve."

Q: Any message to parents and employers?

Logan: As a community we have to live through this together. We cannot do this by ourselves. I would humbly ask employers to work with their parents and to be flexible.

Q: Any plans to get kids lunch and breakfast?

Logan: We will continue what we did in the summer. Worked with a philanthropist for food distribution. We will continue. "We are hopeful that we will be able to move toward normalcy much quicker than we did in March."

Logan: There will likely be a lot more of them (students) needing meals.

Closer pic.

Logan: I want to thank our parents, our teachers and our administrators for what will be a big lift over the next nine weeks.

Snow: Thank you to Dr. Logan. When she came to our district, this isn't what she signed up for. She cares about our staff and our community. "Making this decision was not an easy decision." I ask you to be patient, be humble and understand that we will get through this together.

That's a wrap. Thank you for following along. Went really quickly. If you have questions that weren't answered, please let @emily_nitcher, our OPS reporter, know.

Appreciate your feedback.

@threadreaderapp Please unroll

Gray: I think Dr. Logan made absolutely the right call. We've got to stop playing with this virus. It's serious. Yes 90 percent survive, but in what condition?

It is ridiculous for us to continue to think we can play with this virus. Dr. Logan did the right thing.

Gray: I will support a mask mandate on Tuesday.

Gray: You can still speak and pray and assemble in a mask.

Rodgers, president of the Douglas County Board of Health: She noted all the things I hear as a parent. My kids are eager to come back. One is worried about the athletic piece. The board and Dr. Logan's pulse is on what people were feeling.

Rodgers: I've been trying to get a handle this. We are not going to break this. We have to yield to this. The virus is the driver, and the reality is quite frankly for the next 18 months, it is going to be driving.

Rodgers: This thing, thinking you're going to get a one-shot solution to this, no. We're going to have to tweak and adjust to this. I don't think anybody wants to shut down. We cannot have another shut down.

Rodgers: What Dr. Logan did today, we thought we were in Phase 2. We're probably in the third quarter of Phase 1. This is a reality check. "We've got to deal with now."

Gray: I think this strengthens the position of a mandatory mask ordinance. We need to be realistic. We're not going to arrest people for walking down the street without a mask. We need to slow the spread and bend the curve. If we don't, we will shut down again.

Gray: If you think the last one was bad, that was a picnic compared to the next one. We have to do this for the viability of our city, our school district and our children.

Rodgers: I'm not saying a vaccine won't help. You won't have one shot that's done. The virus and the vaccine will be ever-changing. You'll have to deal with anti-vaxxers. You'll have to deal with people who don't want to go first. It will be a public health education effort.

Gray: We all know that these are difficult decisions and these decision are going to be borne by parents and children in the district. If you don't do this, you run the risk of significant spread. As the numbers have shown, young people are not immune to this.

Point of clarification: Most studies say young people can catch coronavirus but they have been less likely to face severe symptoms. Some have died, but in far fewer numbers than older, sicker people.

Rodgers: Watch what happens after this announcement. I believe there will be some dominoes that fall (with other school districts). Millard's made some adjustments. Westside is making some adjustments. People will have to take this seriously.

Rodgers: Had a question asked of me yesterday, do I think they should go? I didn't have an answer. We got our answer today. I think you'll see some changes.

OK. I'll try this again. @threadreaderapp Please unroll.

And here’s the updating story on the @OmahaPubSchool decision to move to remote learning.

From @emily_nitcher:

omaha.com/news/local/edu…