Back to School during the pandemic ...a discussion thread

[ilovetotravel1977]

Are any of your schools allowing the use of lockers? DD12's junior high said no to them. That should be interesting when a bunch of kids can't be bothered to lug every since textbook and expect to share with someone LOL
DD is lucky since my sister's/nephew's house is across the street from their school. Many have to walk a good distance.

 

[vegs1]

I am not a teacher. I try very hard to always have respect for others, especially in hard times such as through this pandemic. So many people from grocery store clerks to nurses to the disabled man down my street who delivers newspapers have stepped up to do what is needed. I think Teachers are having a hard time right now....same as the people above.

The only ask I have is that these conversations not be had out loud in front of children, no matter their age. My neighbour, whom I adore, is a teacher. As much as I love her, we have had to ask her to not discuss how “unsafe” it is when kids are around. Starting school is scary enough but when an actual teacher is telling them on a daily basis they’re going to get sick and that it isn’t safe, and that she is putting herself and the kids in danger, it just seems like too much.

My friend is a mental health counsellor. She said everyone needs to take a big, deep breath, try very hard to not over-worry (and we all know it is difficult to not do that) and to have compassion and empathy for everyone whether it is teachers, the government, the school board but especially the children. All of this negative talk is hurting everyone. Our local school had this on their Facebook page. Sometimes, lemons do make lemonade!!!!

Wishing everyone well with the decision that is right for their family.

 

[vegs1]

Are any of your schools allowing the use of lockers? DD12's junior high said no to them. That should be interesting when a bunch of kids can't be bothered to lug every since textbook and expect to share with someone LOL
DD is lucky since my sister's/nephew's house is across the street from their school. Many have to walk a good distance.

My daughter had to carry all of her heavy chemistry, algebra, English texts with her in grade 12. The school was being renovated and lockers were pulled away from the wall. She managed with it and she is a very tiny person. They won’t be allowed to share this year I imagine and without their texts, they will fall behind. Aren’t most kids on a revamped schedule so they don’t have every class every day? Maybe they won’t need every single textbook with them.

 

[ilovetotravel1977]

There hasn't been any announcement about modified course loads. Just that everyone is back 100% for now.

I was thinking they might make the teachers be the ones to change classrooms and keep the students in the same one versus moving to a different one for each course. Won't know until next week.

 

[BLAZEY]

Are any of your schools allowing the use of lockers? DD12's junior high said no to them. That should be interesting when a bunch of kids can't be bothered to lug every since textbook and expect to share with someone LOL
DD is lucky since my sister's/nephew's house is across the street from their school. Many have to walk a good distance.

From my understanding, yes as they want as few personal belongings in the classroom as possible. so you coat backpack and lunch need to go somewhere.

 

[star72232]

Are any of your schools allowing the use of lockers? DD12's junior high said no to them. That should be interesting when a bunch of kids can't be bothered to lug every since textbook and expect to share with someone LOL
DD is lucky since my sister's/nephew's house is across the street from their school. Many have to walk a good distance.

Our kids won't be able to use lockers in HS in WRDSB.

They also only have 1 class a day, so it's less of an issue - they only have the books they need for that class with them. I'm not sure what the middle school is doing (my older 2 are out of it, my younger 2 aren't in it yet).

There are no indoor/outdoor shoes for the elementary kids in September in our board. One less thing to buy!

 

[mshanson3121]

So a few more updates in NB: band isn't allowed, but music class is. K-8 are allowed to "sing quietly" inside the class, but high school students can only sing outside Apparently the NB government missed the science that says children 5 & under spread Covid worse than old kids/adults, and otherwise, and over that age they spread it just as much as adults. And apparently administration is clueless to the fact that young kids have a harder time regulating volume when singing than older kids. Yet again showing our provincial government to be clueless, LOL.

Busing schedules are starting to come out today. Going to be hard for people in rural areas. A friend of mine, her grade 2 student is going to be getting on the bus at 7:30 am, and won't be getting home until 4:00. That's a mighty long day for a 7 year old. Another friend of mine lives within a km of school so technically are walking distance, but have always been able to use the bus. They just received notice today that they aren't going to be allowed to use the bus this year. This leaves her completely incapable of getting her kids to school since she runs a daycare, her husband is a long haul trucker, and her daughter will not walk due to severe anxiety. Just crazy to me that we are one week out from the return to school and they are JUST giving parents - the vast majority of whom work, this information now.

 

[Disneylover99]

Are any of your schools allowing the use of lockers? DD12's junior high said no to them. That should be interesting when a bunch of kids can't be bothered to lug every since textbook and expect to share with someone LOL
DD is lucky since my sister's/nephew's house is across the street from their school. Many have to walk a good distance.

No lockers in TDSB. I think students are only in one class for the morning, every other day, then they head home for lunch. So, no need.

 

[pigletto]

DSBN ( Niagara) is not allowing lockers. They are in one classroom for the four hours they are there and need to bring their things to class. That could be a challenge when we are back to winter coats and boots etc. But we also may not be in school by then so we will cross that bridge when we get there.

My high schooler will get to school 15 minutes early and his bus comes 15 minutes after school lets out . For those times they have to report to “Study Hall” . I‘m not sure what that is tbh. I imagine they would be smart enough to not stick them all in one large group to wait . We shall see.

 

[FigmentSpark]

It's also possible that some of the texts will be available as online copies. If so, that will help with the load of books.

 

[pigletto]

It's also possible that some of the texts will be available as online copies. If so, that will help with the load of books.

My ds16 doesn’t bring home a lot of textbooks. Just one here and there . Much of his work was online already. And last year his locker was near his one class on the third floor and the rest of his classes were on first so he carried around his bag most of the time anyway. I think they will be fine without the lockers.

 

[DiaryofaDisneyKid]

No lockers this year but they still need to bring inside shoes. I think they will probably have to line shoes up outside their classroom door like they do in the winter with their boots. Each class will start the day outside in their community (cohort) and will enter at staggered times with some teachers choosing to remain outside for awhile doing outdoor learning. We are supposed to find out this week who the teachers are for our kids as well as the approximate outside area for their class.

 

[star72232]

My ds16 doesn’t bring home a lot of textbooks. Just one here and there . Much of his work was online already. And last year his locker was near his one class on the third floor and the rest of his classes were on first so he carried around his bag most of the time anyway. I think they will be fine without the lockers.

Especially in boards where they are doing early dismissals. My ODS will be home by 1pm. He’ll just take a snack and eat lunch at home. That reduces what he’s carrying even more.
DDs school hasn’t posted times, schedules, etc, so I’m not sure what time she’ll be home. I’m hoping it’s similar, and she can bypass the lunch issue as well.

 

[AngelDisney]

No lockers in TDSB. I think students are only in one class for the morning, every other day, then they head home for lunch. So, no need.

The updated schedule as of now is one class in-school in the morning and one class virtually in the afternoon with two classes per quadmester on a class1/class2 alternating in-school schedule with alternating cohorts. I think the students would be more confusing with the alternating cohort/class schedule. I will have to remind them when they will see me again daily to make sure they don’t come in for the wrong class. It happened when our school was on a simple day1/day2 schedule years ago. Then we changed to semestered school.

This is for TDSB high schools.

 

[damo]

So a few more updates in NB: band isn't allowed, but music class is. K-8 are allowed to "sing quietly" inside the class, but high school students can only sing outside Apparently the NB government missed the science that says children 5 & under spread Covid worse than old kids/adults, and otherwise, and over that age they spread it just as much as adults. And apparently administration is clueless to the fact that young kids have a harder time regulating volume when singing than older kids. Yet again showing our provincial government to be clueless, LOL.

Busing schedules are starting to come out today. Going to be hard for people in rural areas. A friend of mine, her grade 2 student is going to be getting on the bus at 7:30 am, and won't be getting home until 4:00. That's a mighty long day for a 7 year old. Another friend of mine lives within a km of school so technically are walking distance, but have always been able to use the bus. They just received notice today that they aren't going to be allowed to use the bus this year. This leaves her completely incapable of getting her kids to school since she runs a daycare, her husband is a long haul trucker, and her daughter will not walk due to severe anxiety. Just crazy to me that we are one week out from the return to school and they are JUST giving parents - the vast majority of whom work, this information now.

I am still hearing that kids 5 and under do not transmit the disease as much. Do you have a link to something? I've got a 3 year old grand-daughter going back to nursery school and I'd be really interested in reading that information. I've read in a small study of symptomatic youngsters that they may carry more covid load but there is no evidence that they are super spreaders.

https://healthblog.uofmhealth.org/c...ween-kids-and-spread-of-covid-remains-unclear
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/ar...uper-spreaders-Covid-19-scientists-claim.html

 

[Disneylover99]

The updated schedule as of now is one class in-school in the morning and one class virtually in the afternoon with two classes per quadmester on a class1/class2 alternating in-school schedule with alternating cohorts. I think the students would be more confusing with the alternating cohort/class schedule. I will have to remind them when they will see me again daily to make sure they don’t come in for the wrong class. It happened when our school was on a simple day1/day2 schedule years ago. Then we changed to semestered school.

This is for TDSB high schools.

My kids are in high school and I teach elementary and we continue to be confused. Lol.

I will feel better once they get a schedule and I get a confirmed teaching assignment.

 

[pigletto]

I am still hearing that kids 5 and under do not transmit the disease as much. Do you have a link to something? I've got a 3 year old grand-daughter going back to nursery school and I'd be really interested in reading that information. I've read in a small study of symptomatic youngsters that they may carry more covid load but there is no evidence that they are super spreaders.

https://healthblog.uofmhealth.org/c...ween-kids-and-spread-of-covid-remains-unclear
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/ar...uper-spreaders-Covid-19-scientists-claim.html

https://thehill.com/homenews/state-...Nq0YWL1HIqJ-TSdmLekx23xlETloM_vdnRTViHHTgeqTw
This article ( from a politically neutral and fact checked media source ) was shared on the last page. It shares the breakdown of child numbers in Florida. At the time of the article there were 17,311 child cases recorded to date. 7616 of which were in the 1-4 age group.
My personal opinion is that not enough children were studied to make any solid claims on their ability to spread the virus. They were at home and socially isolated for the first 5 months of the pandemic.

 

[MoreTravels]

Another friend of mine lives within a km of school so technically are walking distance, but have always been able to use the bus. They just received notice today that they aren't going to be allowed to use the bus this year. This leaves her completely incapable of getting her kids to school since she runs a daycare, her husband is a long haul trucker, and her daughter will not walk due to severe anxiety. Just crazy to me that we are one week out from the return to school and they are JUST giving parents - the vast majority of whom work, this information now.

I believe there are private school bus companies, similar to Uber on contract, that can pick up your kids for a door-to-door drop off. The drivers are insured and bonded. This will allow consistency and reduced contacts. The downside is obviously the cost.

 

[MoreTravels]

I am still hearing that kids 5 and under do not transmit the disease as much. Do you have a link to something? I've got a 3 year old grand-daughter going back to nursery school and I'd be really interested in reading that information. I've read in a small study of symptomatic youngsters that they may carry more covid load but there is no evidence that they are super spreaders.

Well, medical evidence is based on different levels of research such as randomized control trials (RCT), cohort studies, and observational studies. Since it would not be ethical to do RCT on transmission rate of a contagious disease, the only way to do some scientific analysis is from observation studies. This is done by observing cases that have occurred and draw epidemiological conclusion from them. This is how medical doctors study transmissible diseases such as HIV.

The only problem is, COVID-19 is a new disease. When it first started as a pandemic in March 2020, the whole world practically shuts down. Only the adults and essential workers are still outside. All the children have stayed home full-time until very recently. This means there has not been any experience on how kids would transmit when they are exposed in a crowd. The schools, libraries, sports, all have been canceled. Most of our children are simply quarantined from the outside world during this pandemic.

So when people say "there has been no case of kids with COVID this and that", I think it is not fair. It is almost the same as saying "there has been no COVID reported on the moon".

We have to remember, as many lawyers with logic training would know.... ABSENCE OF EVIDENCE IS NOT THE SAME AS EVIDENCE OF ABSENCE. Right now, with children's cohort transmission rate, we have an "absence of evidence" Think about it, is that what you are really inquiring about? I think most people want "evidence of absence".

 

[damo]

Well, medical evidence is based on different levels of research such as randomized control trials (RCT), cohort studies, and observational studies. Since it would not be ethical to do RCT on transmission rate of a contagious disease, the only way to do some scientific analysis is from observation studies. This is done by observing cases that have occurred and draw epidemiological conclusion from them. This is how medical doctors study transmissible diseases such as HIV.

The only problem is, COVID-19 is a new disease. When it first started as a pandemic in March 2020, the whole world practically shuts down. Only the adults and essential workers are still outside. All the children have stayed home full-time until very recently. This means there has not been any experience on how kids would transmit when they are exposed in a crowd. The schools, libraries, sports, all have been canceled. Most of our children are simply quarantined from the outside world during this pandemic.

So when people say "there has been no case of kids with COVID this and that", I think it is not fair. It is almost the same as saying "there has been no COVID reported on the moon".

We have to remember, as many lawyers with logic training would know.... ABSENCE OF EVIDENCE IS NOT THE SAME AS EVIDENCE OF ABSENCE. Right now, with children's cohort transmission rate, we have an "absence of evidence" Think about it, is that what you are really inquiring about? I think most people want "evidence of absence".

What I'm inquiring about is "the science that says children 5 & under spread Covid worse than old kids/adults, and otherwise, and over that age they spread it just as much as adults." as posted by a previous poster. That is all.