Are you sending your kids to school next month?

[dreamer17555]

Before you get snippy, you might want to look into actual facts.

https://www.npr.org/2020/11/13/9341...e-where-cases-are-rising-but-schools-are-open

Europe closed bars and restaurants and prioritized students and keeping the spread down. We are doing the opposite. We prioritized the wrong things. We also should have triaged students. Those in low income or in unstable homes should be brought back first. Elementary students seem not to transmit the virus well so them next. Remote learning is an inconvenience for some and down right dangerous for students who are safer when a teacher can keep an eye on them.

 

[Lumpy1106]

Wow that’s a long way into the future ...what state ?
In Ohio, many are adding a week after the normal Christmas break, but looking to start in person or hybrid again on Jan . 11 th
But we did go remote 3 times for a week or so during the past2 quarters

Southern California (Long Beach). We have not been back at all since March. My DD7's private school got a waiver and she is headed back Jan 11. We are ecstatic. Ironic thing is, that school has done a pretty decent job with remote learning - unlike the public high school. The PS even shut down all the athletic workouts because there were 2 (yes, 1, 2) cases reported in all of the teams COMBINED. Which teams? Source of the cases? It doesn't matter - they just shut it all down.

 

[Ellie008]

Every kid is going to be in the same position.

If that were actually true, I wouldn't be so concerned. The truth is that a lot of districts have decided to be open full time in person for all students, and those students are actually learning what they are supposed to this year. Our district is hybrid, and the teachers said at the beginning of the year that the curriculum had been pared down so the kids would learn roughly HALF of what they were supposed to. Some of it will never be covered, some will have to be made up next year (and the year after... until they catch back up) which means they won't be learning all that they should next year either.
Yet, the students in my area that pay to attend private schools are all in school full time in person, and are covering the full expected curriculum. So NO, every kid is not in the same position. Some are getting the same level of teaching they got last year, some are only getting half, and some are so tuned out of online learning that they aren't learning anything at all this year.

 

[sparkle78]

One school district in Ohio , kept K-6 in person all fall with option for remote. They did great. A few quarantine groups from school bus or one classroom, not all the 4 th grade rooms, they kept them separate in the building for lunch areas, walkways, etc. 7-12 was remote for a month, there for a month, week off after thanksgiving , back , and now remote early January. More due to staff being sick and high schools exposed then other students.
Yes, some areas really need the younger kids in school to learn, but it is also scary for the teachers too. Prayers all around

 

[SaintsManiac]

Every kid is going to be in the same position.

Not all. Our school has been open since August 10. While I thought that was crazy it’s been working just fine. I’m grateful every day.

 

[Lumpy1106]

Move South. Wide open down here. Some mask wearing (Costco , etc), but public schools are completely open. We have a senior also. Our school district says they are following the science and that the death rate is less than with the flu, so they are OPEN. They email letters every time someone tests positive. Probably 2-3 people a week in a high school of 3000. No one hospitalized. They work for you. Make sure you tell them you want them open. We went to a school board meeting over the summer and told them to open the school. Most parents were saying the same thing. They didn’t have much of a choice. It’s completely ludicrous for schools to be remote. They are open face to face in Europe.

Oh, believe me, we did that. Parents were going to the school board meetings regularly, impassioned pleas, presenting actual facts and data, asking for the data the board was using the keep the schools closed in return. We couldn't even get the school board to put "reopening schools" on the agenda - it was only the public comments at the end that the school board, by rule, does not respond to. Even that ended - when the school board meetings also went to Zoom only. They aren't listening - just falling back on the State guidance that lumps us into the same requirements as the 10.6 MILLION other people in LA County. We are just praying that the State puts teachers high on the vaccine priority list at this point. It is our only hope.

 

[Lumpy1106]

If that were actually true, I wouldn't be so concerned. The truth is that a lot of districts have decided to be open full time in person for all students, and those students are actually learning what they are supposed to this year. Our district is hybrid, and the teachers said at the beginning of the year that the curriculum had been pared down so the kids would learn roughly HALF of what they were supposed to. Some of it will never be covered, some will have to be made up next year (and the year after... until they catch back up) which means they won't be learning all that they should next year either.
Yet, the students in my area that pay to attend private schools are all in school full time in person, and are covering the full expected curriculum. So NO, every kid is not in the same position. Some are getting the same level of teaching they got last year, some are only getting half, and some are so tuned out of online learning that they aren't learning anything at all this year.

This EXACTLY. Thank you.

 

[monsterkitty]

Southern California (Long Beach). We have not been back at all since March. My DD7's private school got a waiver and she is headed back Jan 11. We are ecstatic. Ironic thing is, that school has done a pretty decent job with remote learning - unlike the public high school. The PS even shut down all the athletic workouts because there were 2 (yes, 1, 2) cases reported in all of the teams COMBINED. Which teams? Source of the cases? It doesn't matter - they just shut it all down.

Private schools can make the parents sign a waiver stating your child must wear a mask at all times and the family must also follow strict protocols of social distancing and quarantining if you come in contact with someone who is positive. Public schools cannot do this.

What is the high school not doing with remote learning that makes it inferior?

They can't tell you which teams had the positive cases because of confidentiality laws. Trust me, there were more than 2 cases. The others weren't reported or the parents didn't get their child tested.

Students are in the same boat as your high school students. Your children aren't falling behind. We keep trying to measure student success with scales that have been broken for years. People are refusing to allow any change while children of all ages are watching family members become ill or are dying around them. Ask a student whose been face to face in school how stressed they are about taking the virus home to a family member or worrying about a family member getting sick and what could happen to them.

The kids are not falling behind. They may not be learning how to take a standardized test but they are learning new skills. They are adapting. They are overcoming. They are surviving a pandemic that has rocked their worlds and they don't understand why.

I literally have former students who got the virus at school and took it home to their families. The family members became ill and died. Be thankful your children do not have to live with the guilt.

As for the school lying, how can they be lying about something that is beyond their control? When we were 10% in person for 10 weeks before they did a two week pause. The week before we were going to return to in person they had staff and student voluntarily take COVID tests. 1 in 20 came back positive. This is a fluid situation and schools have to look at the data in their area.

 

[amylevan]

Private schools can make the parents sign a waiver stating your child must wear a mask at all times and the family must also follow strict protocols of social distancing and quarantining if you come in contact with someone who is positive. Public schools cannot do this.

What is the high school not doing with remote learning that makes it inferior?

Public schools absolutely can require masks and protocols of what do to do if you come in contact with someone who is positive. My son has to wear a mask all day. He gets to take it off IF they get to go out for “recess”. (He’s in 6th grade, they don’t normally have recess but due to COVID they get to go outside on decent weather days for 10 minutes to walk around and take off their masks.). Don’t, can’t or wont wear a mask? You get to be 100% remote with the others who opted out of in person learning. And every morning I have to fill out a form stating no fever, symptoms, travel or contact with a positive case, yes to any of those, you get 14 days of full remote. It’s working here. We’ve had approximately 10 cases since September (they have to alert us because of dept of health regs and quarantine close contacts) and no further spread from those cases.

And as for HS not working, at least around here the stories of rampant cheating, of kids trying to get away with saying ”I did that” when the teachers can SEE that nothing was edited, and the flat out failing of the many full remote students say it’s not working. Nevermind the kids who don’t actually have access to internet at home. But you know, that’s not you, so it must be working.
I’m thankful every morning I drop my son off at school.

 

[Meglen]

Public schools absolutely can require masks and protocols of what do to do if you come in contact with someone who is positive. My son has to wear a mask all day. He gets to take it off IF they get to go out for “recess”. (He’s in 6th grade, they don’t normally have recess but due to COVID they get to go outside on decent weather days for 10 minutes to walk around and take off their masks.). Don’t, can’t or wont wear a mask? You get to be 100% remote with the others who opted out of in person learning. And every morning I have to fill out a form stating no fever, symptoms, travel or contact with a positive case, yes to any of those, you get 14 days of full remote. It’s working here. We’ve had approximately 10 cases since September (they have to alert us because of dept of health regs and quarantine close contacts) and no further spread from those cases.

And as for HS not working, at least around here the stories of rampant cheating, of kids trying to get away with saying ”I did that” when the teachers can SEE that nothing was edited, and the flat out failing of the many full remote students say it’s not working. Nevermind the kids who don’t actually have access to internet at home. But you know, that’s not you, so it must be working.
I’m thankful every morning I drop my son off at school.

This is what our schools are doing but our teachers keep getting sick so we open for a week than cant keep a full staff on and have to close. We are now closed and full remote till jan 8th

 

[monsterkitty]

Public schools absolutely can require masks and protocols of what do to do if you come in contact with someone who is positive. My son has to wear a mask all day. He gets to take it off IF they get to go out for “recess”. (He’s in 6th grade, they don’t normally have recess but due to COVID they get to go outside on decent weather days for 10 minutes to walk around and take off their masks.). Don’t, can’t or wont wear a mask? You get to be 100% remote with the others who opted out of in person learning. And every morning I have to fill out a form stating no fever, symptoms, travel or contact with a positive case, yes to any of those, you get 14 days of full remote. It’s working here. We’ve had approximately 10 cases since September (they have to alert us because of dept of health regs and quarantine close contacts) and no further spread from those cases.

And as for HS not working, at least around here the stories of rampant cheating, of kids trying to get away with saying ”I did that” when the teachers can SEE that nothing was edited, and the flat out failing of the many full remote students say it’s not working. Nevermind the kids who don’t actually have access to internet at home. But you know, that’s not you, so it must be working.
I’m thankful every morning I drop my son off at school.

We did require all of our students to wear masks at all times and it still spreads. We take the students' temps every morning and a few hours into the day because parents give their children Tylenol to mask the fevers. We have them fill out the health surveys every morning. Parents who refused to these rules for in school learning were told their children have to go remote. HOWEVER, private schools can go beyond their walls and tell parents and their families they have to follow rules as well. A certain family family in DC was asked to follow the guidelines that their private school had in place and they refused. The children were withdrawn but the headmaster said they would have had the family leave. The district I live in asked parents to not allow their children to have large parties and sleep overs and there was a huge outcry. The neighborhood high school was in person 1 day before half the school had to go remote.

All schools have divided their kids into cohorts of 10-22. They do not interact with other cohorts at all during the day. However, the high school cohorts are tricky because of the different classes. High school kids also think they are invincible and have heard they can't get COVID so they aren't always as careful as they should be. They can be just as bad as the younger kids about keeping their hands to themselves.

We've done everything we can but it still spreads. One of the students I described who lost her guardian took her mask off to put on lip balm. She dropped the mask on the bathroom floor and for obvious reasons didn't put it back on. When she left the bathroom it was passing period and the high school kids were being kids. They know the rules but sometimes there is a disconnect. She got to class and asked her teacher for a new mask. The teacher didn't have anymore masks so she called the office to bring her some. The ventilation in 60 year old buildings isn't the best and the air exchange probably isn't what it should be. If it wasn't from the going maskless for about 20 minutes, it could have been from touching a desk, door handle, who knows what else. What is known for sure is that she caught it at school because that is the only place she and her sister go as their guardians were high risk.

Trust me I get that remote learning is not the best. I am just sick and tired of the poster blaming the schools when this is not within their control. We have done everything from we can and we still get dumped on. We still feed them. We got those who didn't have internet service hot spots. We take materials to their houses and leave them on their doorsteps. What else are we supposed to do?

 

[Lilsia]

This is what our schools are doing but our teachers keep getting sick so we open for a week than cant keep a full staff on and have to close. We are now closed and full remote till jan 8th

You know what, it's not even just the teachers getting sick because of the spread from school. I work part time in a grocery store and a teen that works there also, got Covid from someone from school. He then came to work not knowing he was sick and got a few co-workers sick. It all snowballs. It's not worth it. Keep your kids home, do remote learning and help them out for a few more months. I would rather my kids stay healthy and put more effort into their learning.

 

[Colleen27]

What do you want them to do? The metrics are there for a reason. This whole thing will be over by this time next year.

I think that is a really optimistic take. We aren't even likely to have a vaccine for children by the start of the next school year, so unless we're very close to 100% adult vaccine compliance, I don't see how the 2021-22 school year doesn't start still under the shadow of the virus.

One school district in Ohio , kept K-6 in person all fall with option for remote. They did great. A few quarantine groups from school bus or one classroom, not all the 4 th grade rooms, they kept them separate in the building for lunch areas, walkways, etc. 7-12 was remote for a month, there for a month, week off after thanksgiving , back , and now remote early January. More due to staff being sick and high schools exposed then other students.
Yes, some areas really need the younger kids in school to learn, but it is also scary for the teachers too. Prayers all around

My daughter's small private school has been open in-person (with a remote option for families that wanted it, but that's a very small group thus far) all year and so far, so good. We've had a couple of teachers who had to quarantine because of exposure at home - one's spouse was a confirmed positive, the other's son was exposed but no one in their household ended up getting it - but no student or staff cases so far. Our big worry has been sub availability, because the quarantine protocols are disruptive even when no one is sick, but we've been able to manage so far. The affiliated high school started out in person and closed when the governor ordered all secondary schools to do so; they've had a handful of isolated cases but no apparent in-school transmission. Just kids who were exposed at home and didn't pass it to their peers, except in one case of two girls who carpool together. Both schools did fairly well with remote learning in the spring too, largely because of a small and more affluent/stable student body than public schools in our area are serving, but even so I know quite a few high schoolers who are describing their grades right now as the worst they've ever been. Not many high schoolers are self-directed enough to wake up and log into class each and every day and get the work done without direction, and not many families have someone available to supervise a teenager all day long.

 

[Kestryl]

This is what my DDs private schools did. Only day off was Labor Day and one scheduled at home learning day a month. Classes finished before Thanksgiving and we are supposed to go back Jan 5. However, our county is a hot mess right now, everyone of our 5 metrics is red (worst level), and we have 14 ICU beds available over 16 counties (our urban area takes care of the surrounding rural areas). The public school system switched to all virtual this last week because of numbers. We will see if they go back in person or if we elect to send her in person. Her school did not have to close this semester, but she has had 2 separate cases In her individual class (the only ones in the whole elementary school). One happened the last week of school and we had already pulled her to do at home learning the last week because local cases were getting bad and we got spooked.

Ha, we must be in the same region. My husband is a teacher for a county public high school. He’s currently on quarantine due to exposure to a student. I’m not allowed to go into work until his quarantine is up (assuming he doesn’t get sick) because my employer is actually trying to prevent spread (thankfully I can work remote).

I’m starting to get really angry with some of the parents demanding kids be in school. I know teachers who got sick after students in their class tested positive. At least two of them live alone and were completely distancing from everyone except the students, so the options of getting it were either directly from the students or from contaminated surfaces.

As a picture-perfect moment of how messed up the area is: Our health department head attended an in-person school board meeting Wednesday. She tested positive over the weekend.

 

[Mango7100]

Ha, we must be in the same region. My husband is a teacher for a county public high school. He’s currently on quarantine due to exposure to a student. I’m not allowed to go into work until his quarantine is up (assuming he doesn’t get sick) because my employer is actually trying to prevent spread (thankfully I can work remote).

I’m starting to get really angry with some of the parents demanding kids be in school. I know teachers who got sick after students in their class tested positive. At least two of them live alone and were completely distancing from everyone except the students, so the options of getting it were either directly from the students or from contaminated surfaces.

As a picture-perfect moment of how messed up the area is: Our health department head attended an in-person school board meeting Wednesday. She tested positive over the weekend.

Oh we are in the same region then! Our area is messed up. Don’t ever read the comments from local news online—it is absolutely bonkers how many people still think this is all a hoax as well as having a complete meltdown over wearing a mask. I feel so bad for the teachers and healthcare workers...

 

[we"reofftoneverland]

Until you are like ours and so many teachers got it and got sick and got hospitalized, they had to go to remote. UGG. Makes me so mad. Who cares about teachers. Just let em die. Makes me so so mad

Until you are like ours and so many teachers got it and got sick and got hospitalized, they had to go to remote. UGG. Makes me so mad. Who cares about teachers. Just let em die. Makes me so so mad

Do you actually know teachers who were hospitalized? I mean seriously hospitalized, not just in and out? All of our teachers are fine. And we’ve been open all year. The thing is, if you look at overall deaths, statistically they are not up this year. They are actually lower than they were in 2018. Despite what the media says, people are not dying like flies. And ICUs? They run at high capacity on purpose. Otherwise they wouldn’t make any money. I do not mean to be brusque, and every life is precious, but a certain amount of people do die every year. I have pre existing conditions. I am not a very healthy person, I think quite a lot about what it would be like for my kids if I drop dead (not from Covid, frankly, covid doesn’t worry me at all. I have actually had it, and even with pre existing conditions, my doctor said it was like bronchitis for me. No one else in my family caught it, or at least did not develop symptoms, but this was before testing was readily available—3 kids and dh, but they do not have pre existing conditions. We will all get exposed eventually. Most people have probably already been exposed, despite the best efforts of Costco, Kroger, and Disney, a corporation I really respect for standing tall and opening up.). But I fully anticipate that I will not live to a ripe old age. So, I am aware that sickness and death are real and are the end for all of us. But Covid is hardly the worst thing out there. If people would do their own research, and it gets harder and harder to find the information, instead of listening to the insane media and many government officials who are trying to scare the lights out of people (I think so that they eventually get bailed out by the federal government for running their cities into the ground long before Covid), they would be comforted by the actual information. But, I am not trying to change anyone’s mind on this. To get to the point, I appreciate your fear, and that is why it is good for people to have a choice, freedom to assemble, freedom to live with like minded people. And we do live among like minded people. Where I live, people are not worried about Covid. They are annoyed (to put it lightly) by it being used as a mechanism of control by the powers that be. I am assuming that you live among like minded people, people who think Covid is scary enough that it is worth changing our way of life. And that is a good thing. There is a place for each of us, or hopefully several places for each of us. We don’t all have to think the same way about things.

 

[mrs. magoo]

So while my district has been fully remote since September my son attends a hybrid model. There are other districts with kids in class 4 days a week. The majority of kids who are not in person are falling behind and my son who is a senior will not be able to catch up since he will be graduating in June. My district is bringing students in specialized programs back on January 4th so I will be returning to work. Our kids are not getting Covid in school they are getting it from the community. The schools are very strict on the masking policy and to date the contact tracing can not document a case from school. I will be teaching both remote students and in person students at the same time should be fun.

 

[choirfarm]

nm

 

[randumb0]

Move to Florida. With schools you have in person or virtual as an option and that will not be changing regardless what the virus does.

 

[anniemae]

So while my district has been fully remote since September my son attends a hybrid model. There are other districts with kids in class 4 days a week. The majority of kids who are not in person are falling behind and my son who is a senior will not be able to catch up since he will be graduating in June. My district is bringing students in specialized programs back on January 4th so I will be returning to work. Our kids are not getting Covid in school they are getting it from the community. The schools are very strict on the masking policy and to date the contact tracing can not document a case from school. I will be teaching both remote students and in person students at the same time should be fun.

I noticed the same in our district. People refuse to change their habits (parties, gatherings, play dates etc.) Then the virus spreads and the parents go bananas when we go remote. Can't have it both ways. If we want kids in school adjust the behavior out of school.