Are you sending your kids to school next month?

[Lilsia]

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.

Two weeks ago parents were asked to commit to one of three options: remote, hybrid or in-person. Our commitments were to be biding until January. I chose in-person. My daughter has an IEP and need to have individual attention from teachers and aides.

I'm not happy with what they did, but now they need to make remote learning effective for all students, not just those who do well in that format.

This year is going to be very challenging for many. What about the single parents who have to work and have elementary school kids? How are they supposed to do synchronous remote learning?

I offered to volunteer to help with any planning for the school year. I hope they take me up on my offer.

Edited to add: We are in PA in a suburb of Philadelphia.

Does your state offer assistance with special needs kids in the form of one on one tutors? My niece is autistic and when she was younger and needed it, they had assigned her a person to go to school with her all day to help her. As she grew and needed her less and less, she was cut down until my niece was fine on her own. I wonder if you can get someone like that to come to your home to help your child with their school work.

 

[holden]

Does your state offer assistance with special needs kids in the form of one on one tutors? My niece is autistic and when she was younger and needed it, they had assigned her a person to go to school with her all day to help her. As she grew and needed her less and less, she was cut down until my niece was fine on her own. I wonder if you can get someone like that to come to your home to help your child with their school work.

Thanks for that information. I’ve never heard of that offered in our state. My DD13 has ADHD and anxiety. Her needs are more about staying focused and reteaching of concepts- particularly math. I’ll inquire about it though. Thanks!

 

[mi*vida*loca]

Philadelphia public schools (8th largest in the country) will start as all online learning. They will re-evaluate in November and decide if they’ll start bringing kids in at that time.

Im in NJ, about ten minutes from philly, and my district will decide in mid August. We don’t return until after Labor Day. We will have the option to choose online only no matter what the district proposes. They did say it’ll most likely be a hybrid model. 2 days in school and 3 days home.

DD said she is leaning towards online only.

 

[MrsBooch]

Update on our school - this is a private school in PA:

as of now - they are heavily investing in both returning the Lower School students to in person learning and offering an At Home version with a Virtual coach assigned to each family who opts for this method to help with the experience.

They've spent about $1.7M in technology, added cleaning staff, cleaning products and machines, as well as additional teaching and non teaching positions to support the class teachers so they do not have to focus on cleaning and they assessed and rebuilt/updated where necessary the air filtration systems in the entire campus, to focus on cleaning the air.

I could go into more detail on specifics- our zoom meeting lasted almost an hour and a half going over everything - but I'm beyond comfortable with their plans and sending my child back in person which will be, as of this moment, early Sept.

To sum it up -

He's looking at a class size of 8 with one dedicated teacher and two additional assistants (one teaching and one non teaching).
They will still have recess twice daily and they'll include other same grade cohorts in socially distanced PE activities
They will have masks on except in their mask relaxation zones, which will be monitored by the non teaching staff person.
For the most part he's still getting everything he got before, but they're moving to pod learning and maintaining cohorts.

If nothing changes in a month - which we all know anything is possible - that's the plan for our family.

 

[roomthreeseventeen]

A new report suggests children of all ages are susceptible to coronavirus infections and may also spread it to others

The report, released Friday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, details an outbreak at a sleep-away camp in Georgia last month in which 260 children and staff — more than three-quarters of those tested — contracted the virus less than a week after spending time together in close quarters. The children had a median age of 12. The camp had required all 597 campers and staff to provide documentation they had tested negative for the virus before coming. Staff were required to wear masks, but children were not.

 

[TJA]

Our school in New York just submitted plans to our governor for his approval. Keep in mind, we are not in or near New York City.

Our school is offering a very extensive online remote learning program to any child who wants/needs to learn from home. All other kids will be on a hybrid schedule keeping ALL kids in the same household in school on the same days. As far as high schools, desks will be spread out 6-10 feet apart and classrooms will hold 16 kids that way. To be extra cautious, barriers will also be put up between the desks even though they are the required distance apart. Masks will be required while entering/exiting building, in common areas, and in hallways. Once seated, kids may be able to remove masks if the particular classroom is set up as indicated. Hand-sanitizing/washing stations set up in many locations. There are many more details, but those are the general points. It's a very well thought-out and solid plan. It goes on to say the hope is to add on more in-school days as time passes.

As a side note, our district had overwhelming support to return to in-school classes. Close to 90 percent of families chose this option.

 

[roomthreeseventeen]

There isn't going to be any state that has in-person schooling for more than a few weeks.

 

[Hikergirl]

My school district has kept us all in the dark to what their plans may be. They had to come up with 3 of them and submit them to the governor for approval.
I did take a survey, but I'd rather have had the plans to read through and pick which one I would prefer.
I guess we'll have to wait another 2 weeks to find out what the heck our schools are planning to do.

 

[monsterkitty]

There isn't going to be any state that has in-person schooling for more than a few weeks.

I had a doctor's appointment yesterday. When he asked about what our district is doing, I said they are going 100% in person with parents having an online option as well. His face was priceless when he asked, "You mean they are actually going to go into a school building, sit in a poorly ventilated room, while just waiting for someone to share the virus with them? Then they're going to take the virus home to share with their entire family? That is the dumbest plan I've heard because there has been an increase in positive cases in the area."

He does know I retired but he also knows DH is still teaching. He went through precautions again and said that he will give it two weeks tops before our district closes schools. He was a little cranky about it, haha.

 

[TJA]

My school district has kept us all in the dark to what their plans may be. They had to come up with 3 of them and submit them to the governor for approval.
I did take a survey, but I'd rather have had the plans to read through and pick which one I would prefer.
I guess we'll have to wait another 2 weeks to find out what the heck our schools are planning to do.

What state are you in? I know the waiting is hard! Our deadline to submit plans here in New York is today and our plans were just posted online. We are very happy with the plans, though we'd prefer in-school all 5 days we can understand the logic of starting out hybrid.

 

[Hikergirl]

What state are you in? I know the waiting is hard! Our deadline to submit plans here in New York is today and our plans were just posted online. We are very happy with the plans, though we'd prefer in-school all 5 days we can understand the logic of starting out hybrid.

I'm in NY and decided to check after I posted and sure enough at 3:40 I got the email from the district that the plans were posted LOL.
We are OK with the plans, I have a Senior so I don't have an issue with remote as long as it's done properly, but I do feel for working parents who have young ones. I don't know how they are going to do it with 3 days of remote learning.
I also don't know how they are going to transport all the kids when they have to cut the bus capacity by 2/3rds. We have over 11,000 students in the district, that's alot of kids to get to and from school!

 

[TJA]

"You mean they are actually going to go into a school building, sit in a poorly ventilated room, while just waiting for someone to share the virus with them?

Oh dear! Ventilation is a key bullet point for our district's summer preparation here in New York. There will be reviews of HVAC settings, filters, and additional areas will be targeted for specific air quality equipment. Without proper ventilation, we will not be allowed to have in-school classes. So even though our plans were submitted, we still have checkpoints and the governor also has to give his ok. Good luck to you and your kid(s)! What state are you in? Sorry if I missed that part.

 

[TJA]

I'm in NY and decided to check after I posted and sure enough at 3:40 I got the email from the district that the plans were posted LOL.
We are OK with the plans, I have a Senior so I don't have an issue with remote as long as it's done properly, but I do feel for working parents who have young ones. I don't know how they are going to do it with 3 days of remote learning.
I also don't know how they are going to transport all the kids when they have to cut the bus capacity by 2/3rds. We have over 11,000 students in the district, that's alot of kids to get to and from school!

My kids are seniors too! We are good with the plans too. Your school is very large Lol....we have a small district so it will be easier to accommodate the new regulations. Here's to hoping our kids can have a semi-normal senior year!!

 

[HeatherC]

And so it begins...

https://www.cnn.com/world/live-news...31-20-intl/h_09f1c29df6e2289e46c1a4d396a34a7a

 

[mjkacmom]

Does your state offer assistance with special needs kids in the form of one on one tutors? My niece is autistic and when she was younger and needed it, they had assigned her a person to go to school with her all day to help her. As she grew and needed her less and less, she was cut down until my niece was fine on her own. I wonder if you can get someone like that to come to your home to help your child with their school work.

It sounds like she had a paraprofessional, I doubt they will require them to go to students’ homes.

 

[barkley]

There isn't going to be any state that has in-person schooling for more than a few weeks.

i think it will depend on the number of cases in a given region and how extreme the accommodations the school/faculty/students have to adopt and stick to. back in may after many if not most schools in our part of the u.s. closed up shop entirely a small private k-12 (and pre) school in idaho drastically amended their school model and reopened successfully until the end of their school year. they are scheduled to start up again with the new model in late august. it's not a model that could easily work in the majority of public schools and i don't think it would bring the aspect of 'face to face/in person' schooling that most are seeking for their kids but it has worked and i guess if it were the only way to keep in-person an option and a school district was intent on doing it then they potentially could stay open.

 

[Mrs. Ciz]

Oh dear! Ventilation is a key bullet point for our district's summer preparation here in New York. There will be reviews of HVAC settings, filters, and additional areas will be targeted for specific air quality equipment. Without proper ventilation, we will not be allowed to have in-school classes. So even though our plans were submitted, we still have checkpoints and the governor also has to give his ok. Good luck to you and your kid(s)! What state are you in? Sorry if I missed that part.

Our little private school just got a brand new HVAC system over the summer. I hope it’s good enough to handle the virus while I’m locked in a classroom with 18 maskless middle schoolers per class period.

 

[roomthreeseventeen]

"Schools are prohibited to record or track student/staff temperatures or other health information." - NYC school reopening plan

 

[Kitty 34]

And so it begins...

https://www.cnn.com/world/live-news...31-20-intl/h_09f1c29df6e2289e46c1a4d396a34a7a

Wow, that was quick!!! Didn't they just start Wednesday? I know my granddaughter's preschool at a public school started Thursday in Indiana.

How fast are the results now on being tested for Covid in that state?

 

[lifesavacation]

"Schools are prohibited to record or track student/staff temperatures or other health information." - NYC school reopening plan

Does that mean they can take it but not document it? I can see that. It’s private medical info.