So, how do you reopen schools? (Preschool to High School & even College)

[Elessar78]

1 hour ago, Xameil said:

Other changes to protect from the pandemic include pre-packaged lunches, one-way hall traffic, no field trips and upgraded filtration and ventilation.

Our interscholastic athletics are proceeding. On some level, outdoor sports (not football, not wrestling) seem safe: tennis, baseball. Maybe lacrosse, soccer, track, etc.

 

I quoted the above, is that to say that they will upgrade filtration or ventilation? or that there will be no field trips, no upgraded filtration and ventilation?

 

 

[Xameil]

8 minutes ago, Elessar78 said:

Our interscholastic athletics are proceeding. On some level, outdoor sports (not football, not wrestling) seem safe: tennis, baseball. Maybe lacrosse, soccer, track, etc.

 

I quoted the above, is that to say that they will upgrade filtration or ventilation? or that there will be no field trips, no upgraded filtration and ventilation?

 

 

They already did upgrade the filtration and ventilation if I understand what I've been told by people who work there.

[tshile]

Following the school board discussions in my area, now that I have a kid (supposedly) in school, I find it interesting how many parents seem to only care about sports 

 

they don’t even ask questions about the classroom and teacher and curriculum .  They seem to only be concerned about whether their particular sport will be played, and angry at any suggestion it won’t be. 
 

 

[Xameil]

5 minutes ago, tshile said:

Following the school board discussions in my area, now that I have a kid (supposedly) in school, I find it interesting how many parents seem to only care about sports 

 

they don’t even ask questions about the classroom and teacher and curriculum .  They seem to only be concerned about whether their particular sport will be played, and angry at any suggestion it won’t be. 
 

 

Lol yup.....thats about right....what's been missed by most around here as well is that my daughters school is most likely cancelling chorus and band. Which she and I aren't very happy with....

 

Just wanted to add...its understandable why they canceled it....

Edited July 27, 2020 by Xameil

[China]

Child hospitalizations from Covid-19 surge 23% in Florida as schools statewide must reopen

 

Just weeks before schools must open across Florida, the numbers of new cases and hospitalizations due to Covid-19 have surged.

 

On July 16, the state had a total of 23,170 children ages 17 and under who had tested positive since the beginning of the pandemic, according to the Florida Department of Health. By July 24, that number jumped to 31,150.

That's a 34% increase in new cases among children in eight days.

And more children in Florida are requiring hospitalization. As of July 16, 246 children had been hospitalized with coronavirus. By July 24, that number had jumped to 303.

That's a 23% increase in child Covid-19 hospitalizations in eight days.

 

Click on the link for the full article

[EmirOfShmo]

^^are these numbers in line with other states (especially states with high case counts)?

[China]

9 minutes ago, EmirOfShmo said:

^^are these numbers in line with other states (especially states with high case counts)?

 

Much higher than Texas:

 

Quote

Dallas County officials announced Friday that 29 children have been hospitalized for COVID-19 during the first three weeks of July.

 

Over 1,450 children under 18 years old have been diagnosed with confirmed COVID-19 during that same time frame, officials announced.

 

Link

 

Edit:  that was specifically Dallas County, full Texas numbers can be found here:

 

https://txdshs.maps.arcgis.com/apps/opsdashboard/index.html#/ed483ecd702b4298ab01e8b9cafc8b83

Edited July 28, 2020 by China

[visionary]

 

[China]

Sick Schoolkids Could Send Florida Off a Coronavirus Cliff

 

The Stone family’s brush with COVID-19 was just one of a growing number of pediatric cases that—when coupled with state data indicating coronavirus-related hospitalizations among children are on a rapid ascent—suggest Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ campaign to reopen schools in one of the nation’s pandemic epicenters could backfire spectacularly.

 

On Tuesday, Florida reported 9,240 new COVID-19 cases, after routinely surpassing 10,000 cases a day earlier this month. The state also logged a record 186 deaths, bringing the total to at least 6,117. 

 

“Every parent needs to weigh on their own if it is feasible to send their kids back to school,” Stone said. “I’ve opted to pull my oldest daughter from public school because I don’t have enough confidence in what public schools would do to minimize exposure.” 

 

Still, last week, DeSantis urged parents like Stone to cast aside their coronavirus-induced anxiety during a televised address. The governor argued children have less of a risk of getting sick than adults—which studies and experts have generally agreed is the case. “The choice before us is whether we face our challenges with determination and resolve, guided by evidence, or whether we allow ourselves to become paralyzed by fear,” DeSantis said. “Fear doesn’t help us combat the virus.”

 

But there’s growing evidence COVID-19 can affect children just as severely as adults—even if the rate of infection is significantly lower among kids. 

 

Click on the link for the full article

[LD0506]

[China]

Quote

We also found the highest COVID-19 rate (18.6% [95% CI 14.0%–24.0%]) for household contacts of school-aged children and the lowest (5.3% [95% CI 1.3%–13.7%]) for household contacts of children 0–9 years in the middle of school closure. Despite closure of their schools, these children might have interacted with each other, although we do not have data to support that hypothesis. A contact survey in Wuhan and Shanghai, China, showed that school closure and social distancing significantly reduced the rate of COVID-19 among contacts of school-aged children (8). In the case of seasonal influenza epidemics, the highest secondary attack rate occurs among young children (9). Children who attend day care or school also are at high risk for transmitting respiratory viruses to household members (10). The low detection rate for household contacts of preschool-aged children in South Korea might be attributable to social distancing during these periods. Yet, a recent report from Shenzhen, China, showed that the proportion of infected children increased during the outbreak from 2% to 13%, suggesting the importance of school closure (11). Further evidence, including serologic studies, is needed to evaluate the public health benefit of school closure as part of mitigation strategies.

 

Link

[China]

Greenfield student tests positive for COVID-19 after attending first day of class

 

A Greenfield-Central Junior High School student has tested positive for the coronavirus after the first day of class, according to an email sent to families Thursday evening. 

 

The student attended part of the first day of classes, which began for Greenfield-Central Community Schools Thursday. It was the first time students had been back in the school buildings since the coronavirus closed schools statewide in March. 

 

The district told families that its "Positive COVID-19 Test Protocol" was enacted as soon the school was alerted by the Han**** County Health Department about the positive test. The student was immediately isolated and all close contacts were determined. 

 

Click on the link for the full article

[tshile]

If you’re interested in what a few experts think about the school situation, this is worth reading. 
 

https://www.advisory.com/daily-briefing/2020/07/10/school-reopen?wt.mc_id=email|dailybriefing+headline|ahlstory|dbsecondcta|dbecpost2|dba|db|2020jul31|finaldb2020jul31||||

 

 

[The Evil Genius]

Something that probably isn't talked about much as it should be (especially in light of this current pandemic) is how woefully inadequate school ventilation systems are. 

Edited July 31, 2020 by The Evil Genius
Typos

[visionary]

 

[Sacks 'n' Stuff]

On 7/31/2020 at 1:38 PM, tshile said:

If you’re interested in what a few experts think about...

Pass

[visionary]

 

[purbeast]

That is not breaking.  That has been known for weeks.

[Renegade7]

An Arizona superintendent on safely reopening schools: 'It's a fantasy' - The Washington Post

https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2020/08/01/schools-reopening-coronavirus-arizona-superintendent/

 

Quote

The governor has told us we have to open our schools to students on August 17th, or else we miss out on five percent of our funding. I run a high-needs district in middle-of-nowhere Arizona. We’re 90 percent Hispanic and more than 90 percent free-and-reduced lunch. These kids need every dollar we can get. But covid is spreading all over this area and hitting my staff, and now it feels like there’s a gun to my head. I already lost one teacher to this virus. Do I risk opening back up even if it’s going to cost us more lives? Or do we run school remotely and end up depriving these kids?

 

This is your classic one-horse town. Picture John Wayne riding through cactuses and all that. I’m superintendent, high school principal and sometimes the basketball referee during recess. This is a skeleton staff, and we pay an average salary of about 40,000 a year. I’ve got nothing to cut. We’re buying new programs for virtual learning and trying to get hotspots and iPads for all our kids. Five percent of our budget is hundreds of thousands of dollars. Where’s that going to come from? I might lose teaching positions or basic curriculum unless we somehow get up and running.

 

[visionary]

 

[dfitzo53]

No surprise to me. Schools have trouble keeping hygiene supplies properly stocked even without a pandemic.

[Renegade7]

[Springfield]

Wife and I have basically decided that for Kindergarten we are going to homeschool our kid. The distance learning thing just doesn't work for us for a number of reasons. Primarily, we won't be there to guide him through it, which he will likely need. It's easier to work that in with both of our work schedules. If schools start to open back up to in person learning then we can enroll him in public school to finish the school year.

 

It's a very stressful situation and we're hoping that this all won't be too overwhelming for us.

[Elessar78]

25 minutes ago, Springfield said:

Wife and I have basically decided that for Kindergarten we are going to homeschool our kid. The distance learning thing just doesn't work for us for a number of reasons. Primarily, we won't be there to guide him through it, which he will likely need. It's easier to work that in with both of our work schedules. If schools start to open back up to in person learning then we can enroll him in public school to finish the school year.

 

It's a very stressful situation and we're hoping that this all won't be too overwhelming for us.

Good choice. Last year, my teacher friends were saying that it was so stressful on families that several just opted not to teach at home—and that was the right thing to do in that case. No reason to damage your relationship with your kid for a short term solution. Other countries whose students rank very high in international comparisons their formal school starts much later than ours, like age 7. With how young your kid is, I wouldn't sweat it too much. Read to him regularly and play—that's how kids learn. Biggest thing is to NOT create negative associations with learning.

[dchogs]

my daughter's college just shifted from a hybrid opening to fully online.  getting room and board refund, but tuition itself is staying the same.  financial aid is staying the same too, at least.  i seriously want her to take a gap year and do something cool, but she wants to keep moving forward towards graduation.  sucks.

 

i work at a private school that will (for now) be opening in the fall under a hybrid model.  the school is resourced well enough to be dumping a TON of money into making this happen, including all the fancy upgrades to HVAC in the buildings.  we'll see how it goes... i wouldn't be surprised if we start up and then have to pivot to fully online as COVID starts ripping through the community.