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

[gbear]

My favorite is the anne Arundel school board voted 5 to 3 last night to reopen elementary schools. All five who voted to open do not have kids in public schools. 

 

But wait, there is more. They agreed on the metric to go back to virtual learning if anne arundel went above 10 cases per 100,000 people.  As of today, we are at 10.1. The real question is whether they will stick with their own vote and leave to all virtual. My texts and emails announcing the imminent return to school for my kids makes me doubt.  😞

 

I want to trust them to do things responsibly, but I think their eyes glaze at the thought of state dollars for opening.

[Elessar78]

As if on cue, since Monday 4 school districts around me have started reporting their first cases. As things go, I imagine there'll be a trickle for a week or two. Then. Firehose.

[China]

Parents fear 'mom code' will keep COVID-19 numbers artificially low in Utah schools

 

More than 1 million COVID-19 tests have now been administered in Utah during the pandemic.

 

With a current 15.5% positivity rate, state health officials are desperate to slow the spread of the virus.

 

Several people who spoke with KATU say there are a groups of parents who are refusing to allow their kids to be tested for COVID-19 in an attempt to keep schools open and avoid quarantines.

 

“Parents are saying, ‘let’s not test’, just so they don’t have to worry about shutting down the sports teams,” said Genevra Prothero, a parent in the Davis School District. “I think that it is absolutely a disgrace.”

 

Screen grabs provided to KATU from several parent Facebook groups in Utah school districts show what Prothero is referencing.

 

“Please STOP getting tested!!! It is 100% unnecessary,” reads one post.

 

If your child shows Covid symptoms, keep them home but DO NOT test ... If everyone would follow that the schools could stay open,” reads another.

 

Click on the link for the full article

[Larry]

Nothing says "concerned parent" like "please let's everybody conspire to conceal the extent of the epidemic, so that I can send my kids to a school that's full of untested kids.  It's better than having them at home."  

[China]

Colleges are slashing tuition to entice students back

 

With enrollment numbers plunging, some colleges and universities are taking an aggressive approach to lure students back.

 

One school is slashing the price for first year students to zero.

 

Amid the coronavirus and economic downturn, financial constraints have finally put a limit on what families can afford to pay, while many also contend that remote learning is just not worth the same as face-to-face instruction — causing some would-be college students to rethink their plans altogether. 

 

As campuses shut down due to Covid-19, a growing list of universities, including Princeton, Georgetown and Johns Hopkins, offered a 10% discount on tuition for students studying remotely to account for changes in the college experience.

 

Williams College in Massachusetts and Hampton University in Virginia reduced tuition and fees by 15% for the current academic year.  

 

Click on the link for the full article

[redskins59]

My 5 year old daughter has been learning remotely this year.  The public school is in Baltimore County.  The teacher appears to be doing a damn good job.  

Of course, she is not able to play with friends, but it is working well.  Classes are full time. 

 

[TD_washingtonredskins]

A quarter into the school year in Loudoun County and I have to say it could have been a lot worse. Once my kids got used to the routine, they seemed to adjust pretty well. I still hope they are able to do hybrid learning after New Years. 

[China]

Fauquier County Students to Return to Class Monday

 

For the first time in eight months, about 7,000 students in Fauquier County will be heading back to school in person on Monday.

 

The school district will be among the first in Northern Virginia to bring all grades back into the buildings at once, instead of phasing them in. In-person learning will resume using a hybrid model, meaning students will attend class two days per week in shifts, so only a small group is in each classroom at a time.

 

Click on the link for the full article

[KDawg]

It’s a hybrid model up here. Cases weren’t going crazy and they have been pretty good with their policies. The kids have 2 days in school, 3 days virtual and the school is closed to students on Wednesdays.

 

The only case spikes have occurred recently, most of which I am under the impression are from Halloween parties. And none of the cases have stemmed from in class learning so far. 
 

Of course, allowing every kid back in school at the same time would probably change that dynamic.

 

It would be nice if people could keep their party vibes in check and not get into huge gatherings so that we can get back to life. 

Edited November 10, 2020 by KDawg

[visionary]

 

[visionary]

 

[China]

21.7% Fewer High School Graduates Enrolled In College This Fall Due To COVID-19

 

Despite steady high school graduate numbers, students going to college immediately after high school this fall fell steeply by 21.7 percent, nearly eight times the pre-pandemic loss rate (-2.8%). The degree of impacts tracks closely high schools’ income, poverty, and minority levels, as well as urbanicity (Figure 1)—a 29.2 percent drop in college enrollment among graduates of low-income high schools versus a 16.9 percent drop at higher-income high schools; -26.4 percent for high-minority versus -18.0 percent for low-minority high schools; -32.6 percent for high-poverty versus -16.4 percent for low-poverty high schools; and -25.1 percent for urban high schools versus -19.8 percent for suburban and -18.1 percent for rural high schools. This fall’s declines are far larger than those of the previous year (pre-pandemic).

 

 

Click on the link for more

[TD_washingtonredskins]

Loudoun County is rolling back to all online as of 12/15 due to the rising cases and positivity rate (those are the two metrics they set with thresholds to make this decision). I understand the decision but am disappointed that my kids won't get to go back at least part-time in January. 

[Xameil]

So far my daughters school district is ok.

The surprising thing is how many cases of students with covid that were strictly virtual...

That amount actually rivals the cases of students learning hybrid.

 

Apparently the parents are too paranoid to send their kids to school, but not paranoid enough to follow the damn rules when out.

[techboy]

48 minutes ago, TD_washingtonredskins said:

Loudoun County is rolling back to all online as of 12/15 due to the rising cases and positivity rate (those are the two metrics they set with thresholds to make this decision). I understand the decision but am disappointed that my kids won't get to go back at least part-time in January. 

 

Fairfax hasn't made any announcement yet about the cohort that was scheduled to return in late January (which is pretty much everybody), and we still have small groups of of particularly high risk (educationally) students in person right now, but I think it's pretty clear we're not going back in January either. FCPS uses the same two CDC recommended metrics, and the tracker on the FCPS website has both in the red (highest risk). 

 

It's only going to get worse as the effect of Thanksgiving kicks in.

 

 

[tshile]

My sons school has had 1 case since it opened to hybrid. Staff member that got it outside of school and didn’t give it to anyone else. 
 

we’re not exactly a large city or county like everywhere else in NOVA, so I don’t want to get too crazy with it, but so far it’s proving to be doable here. 
 

about 2/3 of the county opted for hybrid. So it’s not a full return. But it’s a big chunk. 
 

and without writing a ton on the subject, I can tell you that the difference between virtual and hybrid for my son has been.... dramatic to say the least. He’s grown more in the little time of hybrid, which is 2 days a week and 3 days on your own (compared to 4 days a week virtual with the teacher and 1 day on your own), that I ever imagined was possible. It’s crazy. He’s a completely different kid in so many ways. He needed that. I’m glad we were willing to do it. But that’s easy to say right now when nothing negative has occurred from it. I realize that. 

[purbeast]

We signed up our 5 year old to go into hybrid learning in January in Montgomery County.  You were allowed to sign up for it and bail at any point before or after it starts.  However you could not go the other way so I figure might as well sign him up since we can pull him whenever we want.  

 

But the way things are going right now, I don't think they are going to actually open them up in January.  I really want him to get out of the house and start interacting with kids at school so I'm really hoping they keep on plan.

[bearrock]

I don't have much to add other than I sympathize with all the parents here and in the same boat.  I think it's one of those situations where we need to lend each other empathy and recognition that none of us have all the answers.  We each make the best decision we can with the information we have and under our individual circumstances.  

[tshile]

And we just went all virtual again. 
 

god damnit. 

[tshile]

Paraphrasing email blast from teacher (this all happened like an hour ago and no one was prepared for it):

I will have materials ready to pick up for next week by 4. If you cannot make it by 5 to the pickup let me know, I will drop them off at your house. 
 

this is a teacher in a county that surely doesn’t make much and spends some of her own money on school supplies (side note we’ve joined a fund to contribute to the classroom basic supplies which as a resident I am COMPLETELY APPALLED THIS IS A THING THAT NEEDS TO EXIST CAN YOU TELL IM ANGRY ABOUT IT?) offering to drive all over the county dropping off supplies for parents that couldn’t figure out how to be at the school between 4 and 5 after finding out about it at like 3 (if they’ve even found out yet)

 

there are good people out there. They do exist. Gotta keep reminding myself that. 

[China]

5 hours ago, China said:

21.7% Fewer High School Graduates Enrolled In College This Fall Due To COVID-19

 

 

Click on the link for more

 

They're feeling it financially...

 

Despite Covid cases rising, more colleges plan to reopen in the spring

 

Even as cases of coronavirus surge nationwide, a growing number of colleges are bringing students back for the spring semester.

 

Georgetown University, Morehouse College, Smith College, the University of Florida and Princeton University, are among the schools that are inviting undergraduates to live on campus come January after being largely virtual in the fall.

 

“We know more today than we did over the summer about what actions we can take individually and collectively to keep our community as secure as possible,” Princeton’s President Christopher Eisgruber said in a statement.

 

“If we test the campus population regularly, and if everyone on campus rigorously adheres to public health guidance about masking, social distancing and other practices, we can welcome a far greater number of students back.”

 

However, at Princeton, instruction will remain largely online even for undergraduates who live on campus and parties and most other social gatherings are prohibited — including participation in the university’s off-campus eating clubs.

 

Click on the link for the full article

[tshile]

Oh my god. That poor teacher. She called. She’s calling all the parents to figure out who she needs to drop things off. 
 

she broke down in tears when she got to the part of “tell <sons name> we said merry Christmas. There’s something in the bag from us for him if you don’t mind. Tell him we’ll see him next year”

 

she has to make like 30 of those calls. 
 

😢

[Springfield]

Just hoping that we can go back to regular school next school year at this rate. We are doing a “well enough” job teaching our 5 year old at home. It consists of me or my wife teaching him for about an hour a night, after we get home from work, 4 days a week. He’s good with math and English, the basic stuff he needs to know for kindergarten. He will be fine.

 

Our 4 year old is slated to go back to preschool in person (church) 3 days a week next month. They just released an email stating that they were still on track to resume.

 

 

[Elessar78]

Ive been seeing data that appears to point that spread isnt happening in schools. Whatever is detected in students is being traced to community spread or at home. This echoes hospitals finding that infections aren't happening in the hospital but, again, in the community.

 

Masks, vaccine—makes me optimistic we can be back in school in the fall. 

my kids have been doing cyber school this year. We are about a third of the way through school. If they work hard, they can even finish early, because it's self paced. 
 

K-12 here had a couple isolated Cases but no

clusters. Which says a lot about the masking and other protocols they put in place. But, I dont know if the experience is all that great especially for young Learners. At their desks all day, masked up. No recess, lunch at their desks.

[Fergasun]

I am glad that I wanted to have a family when I was younger.  12 and 15... but they are already in a hybrid program... 1 class day with about 5 kids each class. It is our homeschool community. 

 

All these pre-K and K students get to miss out on the excitement of daily school.... I have a niece doing the virtual learning and it is sad, but necessary.  

 

You parents doing this out in this thread and teachers are heros.