Are you sending your kids to school next month?

[SamFaniam]

Half the school would be going to church at a time...not comfortable with that.

this statement right here would be why I would not send a child to that school. I understand the need for services in religious-based schools, but putting half of your student body together just seems like a disaster waiting to happen. Lots of churches have done virtual services, couldn’t the school do the same with their students?

 

[sk!mom]

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

I have said several times recently, “Thank God my lack of ambition kept me in the classroom. I’d hate to be the decision maker right now.”

 

[Happyinwonerland]

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

unfortunately I couldn't read the article since it is behind a paywall

 

[greg9x]

Give me a break. Fire marshalls once told us we couldn't use doorstops to prop our classroom doors open. How that was realistically a fire hazard, they never explained. They need to get a life imo.

Doors are a barrier to fire and smoke to slow the spread.. Fire will spread into a classroom much quicker if the door is open. Also if the room has windows/doors and students evacuate through those, it the hallway door is open then the fresh air can more readily feed the fire.

 

[scoutie]

I had planned on it, but my kids' district just announced remote learning. I'm a private school teacher (new position...super timing on my part..ugh), which will go back face to face in two weeks. Looks like my kids will be remote and I have some tough decisions to make.

 

[Bambi1942]

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.

New York did shut down for months. Everything was closed since March. My kids missed 5 months of school. We are now probably the best state to be in because of that I believe. As good as NY is right now we still can’t go anywhere without a mask. Maybe other states should follow NY as an example. I’m not a big fan of our governor but in this instance he did the right thing. Trust me it was not easy.

 

[Bambi1942]

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.

It’s going to be an interesting school year that’s for sure.

 

[Bambi1942]

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

New Yorkers can’t go anywhere without a mask. As we enter phase 4 in some areas we have not seen an uptick in positive cases. Maybe some of these states should look at NY as an example.

 

[mom2rtk]

New Yorkers can’t go anywhere without a mask. As we enter phase 4 in some areas we have not seen an uptick in positive cases. Maybe some of these states should look at NY as an example.

New York was hit hard in the early days of the pandemic. I think it's easier for New Yorkers, many of whom know people personally who not only got sick, but died, to continue taking this all seriously. Many other states started their lockdowns before the pandemic hit their states full on. So the high numbers hit just as they were losing patience with the whole thing. It's no excuse, but it's an explanation of why other states aren't doing as well complying. The critical phase hit after Covid fatigue hit rather than at the same time. Thank heaven the death rate is a lot lower now. I can't imagine the horror if the death rate was still as high as it was in NY with the high number of cases we have now.

 

[gwynne]

unfortunately I couldn't read the article since it is behind a paywall

Sorry you weren't able to access it.
Here's a shorter article about the same situation.
https://www.12news.com/amp/article/...itive/75-3b6b16e3-c68d-4f4e-ae20-aaa7df7e8f57

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

New Yorkers can’t go anywhere without a mask. As we enter phase 4 in some areas we have not seen an uptick in positive cases. Maybe some of these states should look at NY as an example.

People forget that the U.S. didn't get hit all at once and yet many of the measures trickled down but quickly upon the states irrespective of their COVID situations.

People also forget we're all susceptible to the same behaviors. Maybe the inverse would be have been interesting to see. If all of NY especially NYC area had been NOT the harder hit areas but instead got it late. It's a moot point but it's not something one can ignore. Sure knowledge is on our side but many other factors are at play that human behaviors often override.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

New York was hit hard in the early days of the pandemic. I think it's easier for New Yorkers, many of whom know people personally who not only got sick, but died, to continue taking this all seriously. Many other states started their lockdowns before the pandemic hit their states full on. So the high numbers hit just as they were losing patience with the whole thing. It's no excuse, but it's an explanation of why other states aren't doing as well complying. The critical phase hit after Covid fatigue hit rather than at the same time. Thank heaven the death rate is a lot lower now. I can't imagine the horror if the death rate was still as high as it was in NY with the high number of cases we have now.

I've wondered recently if we actually had done things almost opposite of what many people want. Instead of a collective national effort back in March (and I mean that like the schools closing largely, stay at home orders largely, closing of essential businesses largely, etc) I've wondered if we had actually tailored each state's response in proportion to their situations.

In other words stay at home orders, closing of non-essential businesses, mask mandates, phases and when to reopen, etc if all of that had been related to what the situation was in each place. The only thing being tightly controlled was travel including international travel as that was how a lot of places started with their known cases. It's also a moot point but things like unemployment, mental health issues, testing issues, PPE issues, fatigue, civil unrest, etc all of that IMO it just all came down and hard all at once when not every place had the same situation. To me you have a valid point. I think sometimes people treat it like it's being offered as an excuse but I agree with you that I don't think it is, it's just offering up some reasons.

 

[mom2rtk]

I've wondered recently if we actually had done things almost opposite of what many people want. Instead of a collective national effort back in March (and I mean that like the schools closing largely, stay at home orders largely, closing of essential businesses largely, etc) I've wondered if we had actually tailored each state's response in proportion to their situations.

In other words stay at home orders, closing of non-essential businesses, mask mandates, phases and when to reopen, etc if all of that had been related to what the situation was in each place. The only thing being tightly controlled was travel including international travel as that was how a lot of places started with their known cases. It's also a moot point but things like unemployment, mental health issues, testing issues, PPE issues, fatigue, civil unrest, etc all of that IMO it just all came down and hard all at once when not every place had the same situation. To me you have a valid point. I think sometimes people treat it like it's being offered as an excuse but I agree with you that I don't think it is, it's just offering up some reasons.

I remember telling a friend at the time they started our closures that they were playing that card too soon. I think you can only keep things locked down for so long, and once you open again, good luck getting buy in for a second closure. And here we are. We've played those cards, and numbers are much higher than they were before.

 

[sk!mom]

I've wondered recently if we actually had done things almost opposite of what many people want. Instead of a collective national effort back in March (and I mean that like the schools closing largely, stay at home orders largely, closing of essential businesses largely, etc) I've wondered if we had actually tailored each state's response in proportion to their situations.

In other words stay at home orders, closing of non-essential businesses, mask mandates, phases and when to reopen, etc if all of that had been related to what the situation was in each place. The only thing being tightly controlled was travel including international travel as that was how a lot of places started with their known cases. It's also a moot point but things like unemployment, mental health issues, testing issues, PPE issues, fatigue, civil unrest, etc all of that IMO it just all came down and hard all at once when not every place had the same situation. To me you have a valid point. I think sometimes people treat it like it's being offered as an excuse but I agree with you that I don't think it is, it's just offering up some reasons.

I think hindsight will show that this is absolutely what should have happened. My city shut down in March before we had a single positive case. We probably should have finished the school year and shut down in late May/early June.

Instead, it’s raging here now and we’re about to start school F2F.

That and everyone should have been wearing masks this whole time.

 

[JM23457]

Doors are a barrier to fire and smoke to slow the spread.. Fire will spread into a classroom much quicker if the door is open. Also if the room has windows/doors and students evacuate through those, it the hallway door is open then the fresh air can more readily feed the fire.

Doors can easily be closed.

 

[monsterkitty]

Doors can easily be closed.

Tell that to the fire marshal. Doors also have to be closed and locked in case there is an active shooter or a person who just shouldn't be there.

 

[spiders]

Being angry at the fire marshal over a code is as useful as being angry over a cop over a law. They're not writing the codes or the laws, they are simply there to enforce them.

 

[DisneyOma]

Last night our school board took away any choice parents have about their child's education this fall. They voted to offer only remote learning until it is deemed safe for students to enter the buildings for hybrid or in-person instruction..

So, basically, you are looking at school as babysitting and the parents have more rights to say what a teacher has to do (risk getting COVID) than that teacher herself?

Just an FYI, our county schools were told by the fire marshalls that we cannot use plexiglass in a school due to the fact that it is a fire hazard. Schools had already ordered it so it was such a waste of money.

Look around your area - do the stores have plexiglass around the cashiers? At restaurants? If so, make a list of all these places and submit that to the fire marshall. How can it be safe in those places but not in a school?

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.

Isn't participating in band one of the most risky behaviors to catch COVID right now? Blowing through instruments - how are they going to wear masks?

 

[Pucks104]

Our only grandchild is 6 and will start school as a first grader Aug. 17. Schools will Ge virtual for 9 weeks with a reassessment at that time about whether to continue virtual only or Allie some in-oerson classrooms. Her mom and dad work as do I. DH has been laid off. Last day of work is Aug. 16 and after several weeks of unemployment Ge will likely retire unless he finds other work he can do from home. Anyway, because no one is available full-tune to manage schooling, DGD will be trying something new. Her gymnastics studio is offering a 6 hour day, 5 days a week in which small pods (6) students working with one teacher will log on to their individual school’s virtual classes each day at 8:45. The students will be supervised by their in-person “teacher “ who will help her 6 students attend to their virtual learning and supervise their daily gymnastics and swim classes. The pod will stay together and the number of pods in the building will be 6. This will allow DGD (an only child) some daily engagement with other children and someone to supervise her schooling. DH and I, her mom, her mom’s partner, her dad and 2 aunts will all share out of “school” time each week so everyone can work at least some. It’s expensive and who knows if they will end up shutting down due to CoVid exposure but we have all agreed that it is worth a try. Crazy times!

 

[ThisIsJason]

Look around your area - do the stores have plexiglass around the cashiers? At restaurants? If so, make a list of all these places and submit that to the fire marshall. How can it be safe in those places but not in a school?

You do understand that there are different rules for different types of buildings and/or what is in said building, right?