Are you sending your kids to school next month?

[TJA]

Yes parents question that already and we were told by the superintendent that they are made from a material that is approved by the fire dept.

Yes, same in our area/state (New York). The language in our plans states "physical barriers" rather than plexiglass. Each of our classrooms can hold 16 kids with the desks 6 feet apart (our population is small enough that we can handle those restrictions). The classrooms will also have "barriers" as an added precaution, but we haven't seen actual pictures yet to get a visual.

With the 90% of families that voted to send kids back to school, the general consensus said it will be a safer way of living for everyone if we could get kids regulated on a set schedule, social distancing, wearing masks, and washing hands constantly versus what they have been doing all spring/summer around here (don't get me going on that lol....both indoor and outdoor club sports, day camps, grad parties, etc., no masks, no social distancing). Our positive percentage rate remains under 1% even after all that, and we're praying it stays that way. My kids (age 17) recently had their annual physicals and we had an extensive talk with their doctor. She said the virus is usually very weak in kids because their systems knock it right out, and that's why if/when the kids spread the virus, it's already so weak that the recipient does not generally get sick. Obviously, there are always exceptions, but that was her general way of explaining it.

 

[Kitty 34]

She is using masks and shields, right? Because you still need masks.

Yes, she is wearing both.

 

[EACarlson]

Science and the coronavirus do not at all care about what this person believes is right for their child.

And if they live in a place where there is no, or next to no cases of COVID, you still believe that no one should send their kids to schools that aren't requiring masks?

 

[roomthreeseventeen]

And if they live in a place where there is no, or next to no cases of COVID, you still believe that no one should send their kids to schools that aren't requiring masks?

Where is that place in the US? New York, which is doing the best of any state in the country, basically, requires masks.

 

[HeatherC]

I kinda wish at this point the whole country would just stay home for 4 weeks. We are on a treadmill going backwards at this point.

 

[EACarlson]

I'll give you the two counties that I have family in that have had less than 20 cases. Bayfield and Ashland counties in WI. There are six counties in MN and at least 8 in Michigan that have had less than 10 cases.

 

[roomthreeseventeen]

I kinda wish at this point the whole country would just stay home for 4 weeks. We are on a treadmill going backwards at this point.

If we all stayed home for four or six weeks, we could go back to normal.

 

[HeatherC]

If we all stayed home for four or six weeks, we could go back to normal.

I wonder if this would actually “kill” off the virus or would it just go dormant until things started again. But at least doing this would let us get it a little more under control and then maybe a “real” school year could at least be a possibility.

 

[roomthreeseventeen]

I wonder if this would actually “kill” off the virus or would it just go dormant until things started again. But at least doing this would let us get it a little more under control and then maybe a “real” school year could at least be a possibility.

The latter - you get the virus under control to the point where community transmission ceases, and then the contract tracers will be able to do a much better job when they aren't chasing thousands of new cases every day.

 

[SaintsManiac]

I wonder if this would actually “kill” off the virus or would it just go dormant until things started again. But at least doing this would let us get it a little more under control and then maybe a “real” school year could at least be a possibility.

The virus needs a host. I feel like there's a chance we could kill it by really, actually locking down. The NBA bubble has been so successful.

 

[roomthreeseventeen]

The virus needs a host. I feel like there's a chance we could kill it by really, actually locking down. The NBA bubble has been so successful.

Unfortunately, some folks still need to work, and will get sick/bring the virus home to their family.

 

[mmbrad02]

We had planned for our DD to return to in person school this year. She is going into the fourth grade. However our original start date was August 12, then was pushed out till August 26. Now the county has elected to start the year virtually for everyone and will re-evaluate on September 16 to see if it is safe to start in person.

Like many others have said, my DD needs some interaction with others. She is an only child and we both work full time. So it's been her and a babysitter all summer, in addition to 2.5 months at home in the spring with her Daddy and I while we worked from home. At first she loved it, because as a busy working family she had never had so much time to spend at home with her toys and electronics and such. But that has since grown quite old.

The virtual aspect is also putting a huge strain on my DH and I to figure out coverage for her. My boss has said she will make it possible for me to work at home 2 days a week. We are hoping DH can get the same approved, and then she will go to a grandparents one day a week. I do not see how this set up will be ideal for her education at all, but we are doing what we can do.

 

[roomthreeseventeen]

We had planned for our DD to return to in person school this year. She is going into the fourth grade. However our original start date was August 12, then was pushed out till August 26. Now the county has elected to start the year virtually for everyone and will re-evaluate on September 16 to see if it is safe to start in person.

Like many others have said, my DD needs some interaction with others. She is an only child and we both work full time. So it's been her and a babysitter all summer, in addition to 2.5 months at home in the spring with her Daddy and I while we worked from home. At first she loved it, because as a busy working family she had never had so much time to spend at home with her toys and electronics and such. But that has since grown quite old.

The virtual aspect is also putting a huge strain on my DH and I to figure out coverage for her. My boss has said she will make it possible for me to work at home 2 days a week. We are hoping DH can get the same approved, and then she will go to a grandparents one day a week. I do not see how this set up will be ideal for her education at all, but we are doing what we can do.

Funny how different life is now. In fourth grade, if I was home sick, my parents went to work and told me to have a good day.

 

[SaintsManiac]

Unfortunately, some folks still need to work, and will get sick/bring the virus home to their family.

Oh I know. It just sucks that it would probably be the only way.

 

[KittyKitty]

It's like choosing between 2 evils. And having to decide which is worse.

 

[gwynne]

It's like choosing between 2 evils. And having to decide which is worse.

Spot on. And that is exactly the point of that sad Washington Post link that I posted in this thread today.

 

[KittyKitty]

Spot on. And that is exactly the point of that sad Washington Post link that I posted in this thread today.

I read it. It was truly heartbreaking.

 

[godisney14]

DDs school starts tomorrow (she goes to a private school with 350 kids PK-8), but we have elected the online option to start—we can switch to in person at any time during the semester (her semester ends the week of Thanksgiving). There were a couple of factors for us...

We are in TN and our county has been seeing a spike in cases, our positivity rate is around 7%, and over 85% of our county deaths have occurred in the last month.

Her school is allowing face shields instead of face masks in the classroom for
K-3 grade...while shields are better than nothing, I do not feel they are an adequate substitute for masks. I understand that they probably think shields will be easier to manage than masks for kids. They also will aim for 3-6 feet of distance instead of 6 feet, 3 feet isnt much. Half the school would be going to church at a time...not comfortable with that. Anyone with symptoms that could be attributed to COViD needs to be symptom free for 72 hours or have a doctor note with a specific diagnosis (respiratory viral infection is not acceptable but a diagnosis of strep throat is). So if she gets a cold (which she always does) and has a lingering cough, that would stretch into a 1+ week stay at home anyway. Kids are going to be constantly missing anyway because of illness not COViD related but needs to be treated as COViD suspicious for safety reason.

I like knowing what we are doing and not worrying week to week about if her class will go into quarantine or if the kid coughing in the drop off line has COViD or just a common cold. 5/19 kids in her classroom are starting online, including 2 of her good friends. We will try for picnic meetups outside to do homework together and ride bikes with one of her classmates.

Not TN, but here's an example of what happened to a school that opened in IN.
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/01/us/schools-reopening-indiana-coronavirus.html

They don't? I haven't heard that one yet or possibly overlooked that info. Please tell me why as my sister who works for Head Start is planning on using shields.

Not that face shields don't work, but not as effective as masks. Imagine what would happen if someone were to sneeze with just a face shield. It will go down and out everywhere.

 

[Mrs. Ciz]

This article is so sad. I'm not saying what happened there is going to happen everywhere. But it is sobering.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/nati...reopening-coronavirus-arizona-superintendent/

Wow! Just wow! The superintendent really is in a bad spot.

 

[Turn the Page]

We decided to keep our kids home for at least the first semester. We have a powerhouse band program and our 9th grader will go for that but otherwise it will all be online. The cases in our county is still quite low, around 50, but that has doubled in the last month and I imagine it will keep going up, especially once schools open.

There are just too many unknowns. Both of the kids are really missing the social interaction but they aren't going to be hanging out with friends in school anyway. School isn't going to look like what they are used to school being this year. It just isn't. And given that i'm a SAHM most of the year it is super easy for us to keep them home so we decided that was the best choice for us. I really feel for the families that have to make this impossible choice.