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

[tshile]

Predictably (if you live here) parents are going ape **** about the switch to 100% virtual. 
 

now don’t get me wrong, there’s valid criticism in there for making this decision 2 weeks before school starts instead of 2 months ago, but even then an element of it is the school board placating the majority-held view of the people here. 
 

Somewhere around 5/7 or 6/7 of the counties children’s parents opted for the hybrid model where kids attend school. 
 

but there’s also just a lot of nasty people saying nasty things because their heads up their ass and they want to rant about their worldview instead of just accepting decisions they can’t make and doing the best with it. 
 

the head of the school board doesn’t get into specifics but it’s not hard to read into the tone when he gets off the bullet point items and starts talking about how important it is to work together. 
 

He ended the last video post, the first one post-announcement, with “it is what it is” and I cracked up laughing 

[tshile]

On 8/11/2020 at 4:04 PM, techboy said:

This Google Site is created by the professor in charge of what used to be called the Blended and Online Learning in Schools program at George Mason (it's called something else now): 

I had a class with the professor who helped write the software GMU used for that program (may have been the lead guy I can’t remember)

 

at the time his class was the only undergrad class allowed to use it (we met in class half the time and online the other half I think)

 

 

Edited August 13, 2020 by tshile

[LD0506]

There may be times when there’s really no need for the public to know,” said Dr. Karyl Rattay, 

 

Tells you all you need to know 

Trust me,  Delaweenians weren't thrilled with that comment 

[China]

Schools can stay open until coronavirus positivity rate hits 25%, Shelby County health department says

 

Shelby County health officials say they won’t recommend closing schools or returning to a stay-at-home order until 25% of coronavirus tests in the community come back positive — a threshold dramatically higher than other cities across the nation.

 

By contrast, New York City’s mayor has said school buildings must shutter if the positivity rate exceeds 3%, and other school districts have vowed to limit in-person learning when the rate hits 5%.

 

While Shelby County’s guidelines mean that coronavirus infection rates would have to get a lot worse before the health department urges school buildings shut, the majority of students in the county won’t be returning to campuses just yet. That’s because Shelby County Schools is scheduled to begin online Aug. 31 and remain virtual until further notice. The district has not yet indicated what coronavirus case numbers would signal a safe return to school buildings or what would prompt recurring closures.

 

Click on the link for the full article

[China]

DeSantis Likens School Reopenings In His COVID-Ravaged State To Killing Bin Laden

 

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) on Wednesday drew yet another outlandish comparison as he continues pushing for schools to reopen amid skyrocketing COVID-19 fatalities in the state.

Last month, DeSantis likened school openings to shopping at Home Depot and Walmart.

 

“I’m confident if you can do Home Depot, if you can do Walmart, if you can do these things, we absolutely can do the schools,” DeSantis said during a press conference last month.

 

DeSantis similarly drew another baffling comparison during a press conference on Wednesday after bringing up a conversation he recently had with Martin County Superintendent Laurie Gaylord.

 

“She viewed reopening her schools as a mission akin to a Navy SEAL operation,” DeSantis said. “Just as the SEALs surmounted obstacles to bring Osama bin Laden to justice, so too would the Martin County School system find a way to provide parents with a meaningful choice of in-person instruction or continued distance learning.”

 

DeSantis’ latest push for schools to reopen comes amid President Trump and Education Secretary Betsy DeVos demanding that in-person instruction resume at schools despite surging COVID-19 cases nationwide.

 

Click on the link for the full article

[Kosher Ham]

Hmm. Not sure if that is as bad as it could be. 

 

Control access and exit. 

Control bus travel to some extent. 

Classroom limits...

 

Yeah. No. Stop being so silly. 

I had a full ride to college, my father said to me at one point, " You will like it". My response was simply, "I don't listen to you, why would I listen to a stranger"? 

 

Fear the Turtle. 

Sarcasm intended. 

[visionary]

 

[purbeast]

Just picked up a Chrome Book for my son for the fall semester in Montgomery County.

 

He's going into kindergarten.

 

Pretty whack that a 5 year old is going to be learning on a laptop virtually.  

 

But it's gotta be done.  I just feel bad for him and kids his age.  

[Renegade7]

The "I had to walk 10 miles to get to school when I was your age" story is getting replaced with "I couldnt even go to school when I was your age."

 

20th vs 21st century "I got through it, but damn"...

[China]

A Brookfield mom called mask wearing and social distancing 'pagan rituals' at an Elmbrook School Board meeting

 

As the Elmbrook School Board debated its reopening plans Tuesday night, a Brookfield mother said her children, whom she identified as Christian, should be exempt from the "pagan ritual" of wearing face coverings.

 

After being told by school board president Scott Wheeler that defamatory comments should be avoided, Heidi Anderson directly addressed board member Mushir Hassan, who is Muslim.

 

“This is not defamatory,” Anderson said. “I’m stating facts. You’re a leader of the Islamic community are you not? My kids are Christians. They are not subject to face coverings. Christian children should not be forced to wear face coverings any more than children who are Islamic or Muslim should be forced to — as you’ve put it — be subject to the American style of sexualization of children that have to wear less clothing than you’re comfortable with your children wearing.” 

 

"We will not condone speech designed to create chasms between those in our community and as such, have removed the video segment from our recorded meeting," the Elmbrook School District said in a statement on its website.

 

The post also said the board should have asked Anderson to leave the room following her remarks.

 

"As leaders of the board, we are deeply sorry for not taking stronger action to limit this resident’s deplorable remarks and ask her to leave the board room," the post said.

 

Click on the link for the full article

[China]

CDC blindsided by Trump's statement it could deploy teams to schools this fall

 

Leaders at the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention were blindsided this week when President Donald Trump announced that the agency could deploy teams to assist schools with safely reopening in the fall, a senior CDC official told CNN.

 

"My administration also stands ready to deploy CDC teams to support schools that are opening and schools that need help in safety and in order to safely reopen," Trump said on Tuesday during a briefing.

The announcement left CDC officials scrambling this week to train-up staff to be able to deploy if they are called upon, the senior official said.

Trumps comments are the latest example of a breakdown in communication between the public health agency and the White House.

Early on in the coronavirus pandemic, the CDC Task Force regularly learned about assignments during presidential briefings, finding out in real time along with the public, a senior official said.

The CDC official added that the agency is expected to come up with a vaccine plan for schools in at least four states by October, even though there is no realistic expectation that a vaccine would be ready by then.

Trump's comments were made on Thursday amid the White House's release of eight new recommendations for US schools as they prepare to reopen.

 

Click on the link for the full article

[visionary]

 

[Cooked Crack]

 

[visionary]

 

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[visionary]

 

 

 

NSFW:

https://twitter.com/ASlavitt/status/1295486410288496640

 

[China]

My son gets his first COVID test tomorrow.  Then Saturday I take him back to school.  After which he already has another COVID test scheduled.  Since NY is now restricting travel to the state, I hope I don't get stopped on the way.  My son however, is tiring of his quarantine life at home and is looking forward to being back with people his own age.  Can't blame him.

[China]

So per my post above my fear is this:

 

‘We’ve got to do better than this’: College students raise alarm by packing bars, avoiding masks

 

Music blared outside a row of off-campus houses on Saturday near the University of North Georgia as hundreds of students packed the streets and front yards. Virtually no one wore a mask.

 

The huge party in Dahlonega, Ga., captured in a viral Twitter video, was one of a number of mass gatherings around the country this weekend as tens of thousands of students returned to college towns already on edge amid the novel coronavirus pandemic.

 

Local officials from Georgia to Alabama to Oklahoma reacted with horror and anger on Sunday, warning that unless students take social distancing and mask rules seriously, the fall semester could come to a swift end.

 

“Why?” tweeted Walt Maddox, mayor of Tuscaloosa, Ala., above a photo of hundreds of mostly mask-free University of Alabama students outside downtown restaurants. “We are desperately trying to protect @tuscaloosacity.”

 

Some universities are already battling coronavirus outbreaks, including the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill — where four viral clusters have emerged one week after in-person classes started — and Oklahoma State University, where a single sorority house has 23 confirmed cases.

 

Click on the link for the full article

[Elessar78]

On 8/16/2020 at 5:57 PM, China said:

 

"My administration also stands ready to deploy CDC teams to support schools that are opening and schools that need help in safety and in order to safely reopen," Trump said on Tuesday during a briefing.

 

When you deploy CDC teams that means things are safe to begin with, right?

[Xameil]

18 hours ago, China said:

My son gets his first COVID test tomorrow.  Then Saturday I take him back to school.  After which he already has another COVID test scheduled.  Since NY is now restricting travel to the state, I hope I don't get stopped on the way.  My son however, is tiring of his quarantine life at home and is looking forward to being back with people his own age.  Can't blame him.

NY has been restricting travel here for awhile now...i haven't heard or seen anyone with out of state plates stopped for covid testing...

[China]

“This is exactly what we’ve been warning about”: Why some school reopenings have backfired

 

Many schools across the US gambled on offering in-person classes in early August, even as their states were still battling uncontrolled spread of Covid-19.

 

In some of those schools, it hasn’t gone well.

 

In Georgia’s Cherokee County School District, for example, there have been at least 80 positive cases since August 3, and more than 1,100 students, teachers, and staff have had to quarantine. At the high school in Paulding County School District, which came to national attention after photos of halls crowded with mostly maskless students went viral, several students and staff have tested positive, forcing the school to adopt a hybrid model of in-person and virtual learning. In Atlanta, one second-grader tested positive the day after classes started; the same week, a 7-year-old with no underlying conditions died from the virus.

 

Scientists have found clear evidence that children, especially those over 12, can and do transmit the virus, though the disease is generally more mild than in adults. This means school outbreaks can be a risk for students, teachers, and the wider community.

 

While many school districts that reopened are reporting infected students, these initial cases may not have originated in the classroom. “For most of these cases in Georgia, schools weren’t open long enough for the transmission to be coming from within the schools,” says Megan Ranney, an emergency physician and the director for the Center for Digital Health at Brown University, who researches pediatric mental health.

 

Nevertheless, infected students and staff arriving in the first week of school have already prompted shutdowns and quarantines around the country; in Mississippi, over half of counties have reported Covid-19 cases in teachers, staff, or students.

 

What’s remarkable is that health experts predicted that cases among young people would surge if schools reopened before community transmission was under control — yet many school districts went ahead anyway. “This is exactly what we’ve been warning about — when you have high levels of Covid in the community, you will have cases showing up in schools, just because people are catching it out in the community,” says Ranney.

 

And it’s not just kids, teachers, and parents who are then at risk — school outbreaks can fan wider outbreaks in communities. A recent superspreading event in Ohio, for example, found that children between ages 6 and 16 were part of the chain of transmission, passing the virus on to other children and adults.

 

The World Health Organization recommends that schools open only if fewer than five percent of those tested for the virus over a two-week period are positive. In the US, the cutoff for what is considered “safe” for reopening schools currently varies by state, but they all tend to look at similar factors: Oregon, for example, has said counties must have fewer than 10 cases per 100,000 people for three weeks before in-person classes resume. Arizona calls for less than 100 cases per 100,000, or a two-week decline in cases, as well as meeting other standards like hospital capacity.

 

Click on the link for the full article

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[Cooked Crack]

 

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