S/O Coronavirus School Closing considered in your area?

[holden]

Facebook rumors, probably.

Could be

 

[NYCgrrl]

Nothing closing here in Chicago. In fact Mayor Lightfoot (love her) discussed how the city is preparing, but also cautioned the public not to stigmatize individuals or businesses based on ethnicity.

“Our residents should continue and enjoy the city, its neighborhoods, particularly Chinatown, and its amenities as they normally do,” she said. “Fear cannot guide us in this moment. Thoughtfulness and preparations are the rule of the day.”

A downturn in business for NYC's Chinatowns too. Started during the Lunar New Year celebrations.

 

[DLgal]

Our district superintendent sent out an email the other day. It is worth noting that our district has a large number of Asian students and in particular, students with close ties and recent travel to/from Mainland China.

Here is where they talked about this situation as it relates to school effects:

IUSD Preparedness
Over the last five years, IUSD has invested nearly $14 million in the safety and security of our campuses and District, which includes emergency preparedness and management planning. As part of this commitment to safety, IUSD is in the assessment phase of continuity planning that began in 2019, so that in the event of an earthquake, wildfire, widespread medical emergency, and other human made or natural disasters, the District will be able to continue instruction and maintain the operations of our school district.

Our planning efforts are geared toward a wide range of options for safely serving students that could include blended and/or online learning in the event of an emergency. IUSD will continue to develop plans, as part of our normal preparedness efforts, and our staff will account for any new developments related to COVID-19. To learn more about IUSD safety resources and investments, visit iusd.org/safety

The whole thing is here, in case anyone cares.

https://iusd.org/article/message-supt-walker-coronavirus-update-and-spring-break-travel

 

[Disneylover99]

I work in a school in a predominately Asian community.

The first case of Coronavirus was confirmed in my city the weekend of the lunar new year. The following two weeks, half my class was missing. Parents kept their children home in fear. We have many students and families who travel regularly back and forth from China throughout the school year. Some parents were in the office demanding to know if anyone had recently returned from China. I had even heard there was an online petition started because some parents wanted the school closed down. Some of the students who did come to school that week came with masks and many people in the community were wearing masks.

So now, a month later, it’s business as usual again. Nobody is wearing a mask and everyone has returned to class.

The schoolboard has now asked that families self quarantine for a two week period upon return from China. However, it is just a request.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

My alma mater, located close enough to me cancelled a summer internship to Shanghai. They've banned travel to China but has expanded that for students for the Spring back when the warning was upped. The University's policy is "no travel to any countries subject to a Level 4 State Department Travel Advisory"

They are monitoring South Korea and Italy at the moment.

As far as local districts they are keeping an eye and putting plans together in advance of anything. The school districts are working with the County health department and the Department of Health and Environment to give guidance to them.

 

[MarkLT1]

I just saw this thread, and within 30 seconds of reading it, got an email from our school district re: COVID.

Essentially it was a "We know about COVID, and also know that there are no known cases nearby. Please keep your kids out of school if they develop flu-like symptoms, etc.." and then a few lines about how the district is working with other school districts and the state health people to develop plans should it start to break out here. Overall it was a pretty level-headed "we are making preparations should it show up here" response.

 

[Luv Bunnies]

My kids are out of school, but I still work in a public elementary school. Our district has been sending out updates to parents at least once a week. It's been a fairly standard statement saying we have no confirmed cases in our area, and the district is closely monitoring the situation. Students or staff who travel to affected areas should remain quarantined for 14 days before returning to a school site. One of the students in my classroom spent three weeks in an Asian country. His family self-quarantined for two weeks after they got back and they all seem to be healthy now.

My son is in college across the country from us. One of his professors just returned from Italy. He has been conducting classes via Skype this week while he stays at home. The professor doesn't have any symptoms, so everyone is hoping he can get back to teaching in the classroom by next week.

We got an email from the university today saying that all students studying abroad in Europe or Asia this semester will be returning home. There are no details yet on how they will continue their courses, but speculation is that they will finish up the semester online. We're halfway through the semester so they can't just join classes already in progress. Plus, they don't have campus housing this semester so they'll have to go home. One of DS's good friends has been studying in Italy this semester, so she'll be affected by the cancellation. I feel badly for all the student and parents who saved and planned for years so they could spend a semester overseas.

 

[firefly_ris]

WNY, haven't heard anything.

 

[rlk]

I live in NYC and son attends a public high school. We received this as part of an email from NYC Dept. of Education:

There are no plans to close schools at this time. This is an extreme measure that can be disruptive to day-to-day life, and the decision to implement will be at the direction of public health experts.

 

[Feberin]

I just saw this thread, and within 30 seconds of reading it, got an email from our school district re: COVID.

Essentially it was a "We know about COVID, and also know that there are no known cases nearby. Please keep your kids out of school if they develop flu-like symptoms, etc.." and then a few lines about how the district is working with other school districts and the state health people to develop plans should it start to break out here. Overall it was a pretty level-headed "we are making preparations should it show up here" response.

We got two emails and a phone call along those lines. Also they set up a number to call with questions that will be staffed with school nurse. They must be getting a lot of phone calls! I hope they hired an extra nurse and the school nurses aren't forced to answer calls between helping students.

 

[Ellie008]

Our school sent out a note saying that there are no local cases, they are monitoring things, wash your hands, stay home if you are sick, and (I suspect the reason behind the email) that the school cannot legally exclude students from attending unless they have been quarantined by a medical professional or are actively showing symptoms of communicable disease, and that recent travel to anywhere (including China) is not legally enough reason for the district to force students to stay home.

 

[ZephyrHawk]

No. Although we did just blow 2 closure days (in my opinion, somewhat unnecessarily) on snow.

My work is beginning to make preparations and send around heads up emails, but we're not preparing to close. I work for a hospital system. Thus far our preparations have consisted of - As soon as there is a vaccine available we need to update all our innoculation policies for employees and roll out our roving team of stabbers to all our work sites. I'm sure the emergency response teams are also taking extra precautions in case of a serious outbreak in the area, but then that's what they're always doing.

 

[mom2rtk]

Our school sent out a note saying that there are no local cases, they are monitoring things, wash your hands, stay home if you are sick, and (I suspect the reason behind the email) that the school cannot legally exclude students from attending unless they have been quarantined by a medical professional or are actively showing symptoms of communicable disease, and that recent travel to anywhere (including China) is not legally enough reason for the district to force students to stay home.

Way to encourage sick kids to come to class.

 

[HopperFan]

This is why schools need plans to close to try to stop the spread. These staff members may be going home to kids. Kids are at higher risk like elderly. They can take to school aka Petri dish and before you know it there’s a problem. The goal is to control the spread.

“At a nursing facility in Kirkland, Wash, approximately 27 of the 108 residents and 25 of the 180 staff have some symptoms, health officials said during a teleconference with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.”

https://www.statnews.com/2020/02/29...concerns-about-virus-spread-in-nursing-homes/

 

[barkley]

This is why schools need plans to close to try to stop the spread. These staff members may be going home to kids. Kids are at higher risk like elderly. They can take to school aka Petri dish and before you know it there’s a problem. The goal is to control the spread.

“At a nursing facility in Kirkland, Wash, approximately 27 of the 108 residents and 25 of the 180 staff have some symptoms, health officials said during a teleconference with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.”

https://www.statnews.com/2020/02/29...concerns-about-virus-spread-in-nursing-homes/

yes the do-there's already some exposure within school districts:

Earlier Friday, Oregon confirmed its first coronavirus case, a person who works at an elementary school in the Portland area. The Lake Oswego School District sent a robocall to parents saying that Forest Hills Elementary will be closed until Wednesday so it can be deep-cleaned by maintenance workers.

Washington state health officials announced two other new coronavirus cases Friday night, including a high school student who attends Jackson High School in Everett, said Dr. Chris Spitters of the Snohomish County Health District.


washington with the first u.s. death today is under a state of emergency so i would hope a master plan would be established quickly and efficiently.

 

[Colleen27]

My daughter attends a very small private school and we already have a distance learning plan in place for excessive snow days. I'm on the school committee and I fully expect how/when to implement our existing plan as a virus response if there are cases identified in our area in the future to be on the agenda for our next monthly meeting. But we're in a small rural community in a state with no identified cases so we've got ample time to work it out without any emergency sessions.

Older daughter is in college in San Francisco, where a state of emergency has already been declared and community transmission cases have been identified just across the Bay, and I have gotten a couple of emails from her university about what their plans are for social distancing and educational continuity should that become necessary. Right now, though, she's working with the general public in a petri dish - waitressing at a restaurant at Fisherman's Wharf that attracts a lot of foreign tour groups - and says everyone is going about life as usual. I have taken a few minutes to talk to her about it, just discussing the symptoms of pneumonia and when to seek medical attention because she's never really been sick in her life and I worry she'd "wait and see" longer than she should, but young, healthy non-smokers appear to be low risk for complications so I'm not too worried.

 

[NYCgrrl]

@rlk An acquaintance's DD attends a charter school here in NYC. As of this morning she has not received any communiques regarding coronavirus. On the other hand, DGD's bestie who attends a charter (same company as the other one but different location) has been inundated with emails. Normal day in the city, LOL.

 

[DisneyOma]

Our school sent out a note saying that there are no local cases, they are monitoring things, wash your hands, stay home if you are sick, and (I suspect the reason behind the email) that the school cannot legally exclude students from attending unless they have been quarantined by a medical professional or are actively showing symptoms of communicable disease, and that recent travel to anywhere (including China) is not legally enough reason for the district to force students to stay home.

Way to encourage sick kids to come to class.

mom2rtk, I guess you missed that part in the post you quoted (copy above) that stated: "stay home if you are sick"?

Anyways, our school system made a big publicity burst (email, newspaper, social media) about the new sanitizing system in use - and yesterday 3 kids were puking in the halls after lunch... Right now we are more worried about the flu than coronavirus around here.

From Johns Hopkins Medicine website:

Infections
COVID-19: Approximately 84,119 cases worldwide; 62 cases in the U.S. as of Feb. 28, 2020.

Flu: Estimated 1 billion cases worldwide; 9.3 million to 45 million cases in the U.S. per year.

Deaths
COVID-19: Approximately 2,871 deaths reported worldwide; 0 deaths in the U.S., as of Feb. 28, 2020.

Flu: 291,000 to 646,000 deaths worldwide; 12,000 to 61,000 deaths in the U.S. per year.

 

[dreamin_disney]

So what happens if a school is shut down? Do staff still get paid? Do the kids need to make up the time during summer? I am a staff member at a school and haven’t heard anything at the school I work at.

I see eating hot Cheetos/chips/food and licking their fingers. They don’t wash their hands and get on the class laptops or computers( 5 other classes have to use the same laptops). Plus they touch the desk, pencils, their work they turn in , door knobs/ handles. I get on the kids about it and tell them they are spreading germs. The teachers don’t say anything because sending the kids to wash their hands waste class time(middle school). Sometimes I’ll pull out a hand wipe and have the kid clean their hands.

Then there are the kids that come to school sick. Parents get annoyed when nurse calls them to pick up their sick kid. I’ve also had to work with teachers that come to work sick.

I carry wipes, take vitamins and drink Emergen-C . I need to buy a small keychain bottle of hand sanitizer to clip to my purse.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

My alma mater, located close enough to me cancelled a summer internship to Shanghai. They've banned travel to China but has expanded that for students for the Spring back when the warning was upped. The University's policy is "no travel to any countries subject to a Level 4 State Department Travel Advisory"

They are monitoring South Korea and Italy at the moment.

As far as local districts they are keeping an eye and putting plans together in advance of anything. The school districts are working with the County health department and the Department of Health and Environment to give guidance to them.

Update to my post.

Students from my alma mater are now being sent home from Italy, a place they were monitoring, due to increase in travel advisory stating non-essential travel should not be done. They were told they need to make plans to leave by March 6th.

As far as what happens when they get home "(the state) Department of Health and Environment has requested everyone returning from Italy be screened by a health practitioner and be placed in self-isolation for 14 days.

That quarantine includes avoiding community contact to the extent possible and students taking their temperatures twice daily as they monitor for coronavirus symptoms, specifically, fever, cough and shortness of breath."

It says they are trying to provide as many classes as they can for those students online and they are looking into if there is housing available on-campus for the returning students from Italy. No word on reimbursement or how to go about doing the classes that aren't available or similar enough on campus here in our state. I am wondering about the self isolation aspect because of the housing situation...not entirely certain where they will be self isolating at. The University couldn't have planned for this so they are kinda scrambling it seems like. I'm kinda suspecting this might be more common as time goes on for places around the U.S. Easy to cancel future study abroad programs for a semester not so easy to handle it when they are actively abroad already.