Are you sending your kids to school next month?

[Mango7100]

I saw a lot of posts about masks being a method of mind control, part of a Communist take over, and so on. The absolute worst though was a post about how most covid sufferers are overweight and out of shape, so "don't ask me to wear a mask just because you're a glutton who can't control your impulses". I will never, ever look at that person the same way again. Very physically attractive person with an ugly soul

You are so right. I can’t unsee her posts and now can’t look at her the same...

 

[SaintsManiac]

I live in a college town and as a community we were not thrilled when the college opted for in person. 30k more people coming into town this week.. If we have huge outbreaks, I’d rather they all be sent home then stay here and spread it in our community. It’s a lose lose situation. Colleges should not be trying to open to begin with, IMO.

And I agree that the classes aren’t the problem, it’s the partying and social gatherings off campus. We’ve been avoiding all recreational areas of town all week because the influx of students was so overwhelming. We live by a lake that’s popular to kayak and all weekend college students were having big beach parties and it’s just like

Unfortunately, that age demographic is just more prone to risk taking behaviors. I was an idiot at that age, I wouldn’t have listened to all these lame grown ups either and gotten my party on.

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/15/opinion/coronavirus-college-safe.html

I also live in a college town (LSU). Now that we are going ahead with football season there will be parties galore. I know they will try to limit tailgating, but it's impossible. I'm staying far away.

 

[TikiTikiFan]

I also live in a college town (LSU). Now that we are going ahead with football season there will be parties galore. I know they will try to limit tailgating, but it's impossible. I'm staying far away.

They canceled football here, thank goodness. Interesting timing, the decision was made right after our football team had a big outbreak in the summer and then students on the team came forward saying that the coaches tried to cover it up. They’re under investigation now.

 

[kymom99]

They canceled football here, thank goodness. Interesting timing, the decision was made right after our football team had a big outbreak in the summer and then students on the team came forward saying that the coaches tried to cover it up. They’re under investigation now.

We live 5 minutes from a state university but they have no football team. My husband works there. He said yesterday there were a lot of people on campus but he saw almost all wearing masks. My son is away at school. He will not go to parties. As long as the students follow social distancing on campus he should be ok. He’s a senior and only has to make it till November. Also the bars in our state can only serve till 10 so hopefully that helps.

 

[mjkacmom]

I’m happy to hear the police are taking gatherings seriously, $300 fines and court dates, and the students can get disciplined by the university. Hopefully my daughter will make good choices.

 

[ArielRae]

Wanted to share my son’s elementary school just posted their A/B schedule thru the end of the year. DS is autistic and they have him listed as going full time in his special needs classroom. There are only 5 kids in his class including him so they are not participating in the schools hybrid schedule.

 

[TikiTikiFan]

We live 5 minutes from a state university but they have no football team. My husband works there. He said yesterday there were a lot of people on campus but he saw almost all wearing masks. My son is away at school. He will not go to parties. As long as the students follow social distancing on campus he should be ok. He’s a senior and only has to make it till November. Also the bars in our state can only serve till 10 so hopefully that helps.

Our bars are only open until 10 here but unfortunately they all just went out earlier. Was the first weekend back though so maybe they’ll simmer down.

Don’t get me wrong, I teach at the university and am consistently inspired by how amazing my students are. But peer socialization is going to be so hard for them to resist- especially for those from out of state with no nearby relatives. I get it, even if I’m frustrated when I see them having big gatherings across town. Hopefully the desire to keep classes in person will outweigh the social impulses.

 

[Mango7100]

I also live in a college town (LSU). Now that we are going ahead with football season there will be parties galore. I know they will try to limit tailgating, but it's impossible. I'm staying far away.

I also live in a college town (Univ of TN). They haven’t announced the home game procedures yet, but our stadium holds 100,000+ . I love football, but people are losing their minds here about football and what will happen. We aren’t even that good, but this was “our year” Kids moved back into dorms this weekend, so waiting for a spike here in about 2-3 weeks.

 

[donac]

IN class only works if everyone tries to stay as safe as possible both in and out of school.

 

[jaybirdsmommy]

Our schools have been back in for a week. My oldest (senior) told me that there were 7 kids missing out of his first class yesterday. I'm assuming that these kids are either sick (hopefully not with covid) or quarantined due to exposure in another class. The news is reporting 9 cases so far in the 8-12 grades (2 separate schools).

I know the schools can't give out personal information and I really don't want them to but it seems like they could do a better job keeping us informed about what's going on.

 

[SaintsManiac]

I also live in a college town (Univ of TN). They haven’t announced the home game procedures yet, but our stadium holds 100,000+ . I love football, but people are losing their minds here about football and what will happen. We aren’t even that good, but this was “our year” Kids moved back into dorms this weekend, so waiting for a spike here in about 2-3 weeks.

The SEC just released guidelines for fans. I still don't know what LSU is doing about attendance. We requested a full refund on our tickets this year.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

Our schools have been back in for a week. My oldest (senior) told me that there were 7 kids missing out of his first class yesterday. I'm assuming that these kids are either sick (hopefully not with covid) or quarantined due to exposure in another class. The news is reporting 9 cases so far in the 8-12 grades (2 separate schools).

I know the schools can't give out personal information and I really don't want them to but it seems like they could do a better job keeping us informed about what's going on.

Or they could be out for appointments, or they came back from a trip/outing and are self-isolating, or they faked being sick, or they woke up late, or they had car issues, any number of other things and in combination of each other including the possible reasons you mentioned. We'll probably want to be careful in assuming someone out=they have covid or are staying home because of exposure. It's just added reasons into a mix of other reasons unfortunately. The rumor mill will go haywire if every time a person is out people make the automatic assumption it's because of COVID.

My husband had a guy at his work whose reputation has been maligned already because of this and a game of telephone..

 

[HeatherC]

So my daughter teaches sixth grade math at a public charter school here in MA. which is doing remote only until mid November. Teachers start Monday. They are STILL waiting on 667 chrome books for the kids that they put a rush order on in the middle of March! Then they have to have make sure each families connection is good or hook up the ones who need hot spots, etc.. The state is trying to expedite things but no luck as of yet.

Teachers goes back Monday for training and kids are scheduled for Sept. 14. In addition, teachers STILL have not received the curriculum materials for the year so they can’t even begin planning lessons to send home work packets if the computers don’t arrive by the time school starts. This is not boding well for the school year.

 

[Minnesota!]

Oh my gosh, yes. Same story here. I was appalled at some of the things I was reading on Facebook from the parents at my kids' schools, a lot of comments about "sheeple" and how masks don't work at all, and survival of the fittest, and all that. I do know for a fact that there are many, many other Catholics like you and I who believe the science and want to take whatever steps necessary to protect others, but there were enough of the other group that I didn't feel safe having my kids go to school there

Right? We had considered pulling him prior to the mess of the parents, but it is a fine line since it is his last year (8th grade), and he has been there since preschool, my older son went through it, and I went through the school, too. I have had a falling out with the Catholic religion, and there are a lot of hard feelings (on my end) to start. Then, add in these parents - back to school info night was a MESS and I left angrier than I have been in years.

We told our son he will be home until we feel comfortable with how the school is being run. They are live streaming all classes, so he will be going to school in real time. Plus, all live streams are being recorded, so he can go back over it all if needed. He has some learning disabilities, so that, in and of itself, will be extremely helpful. But, his BFF had to leave HIS school because they are offering NO DL (another Catholic school in town), and they are all high risk. So, his BFF is coming to OUR school and my son would be CRUSHED if I took him out now when his friend is FINALLY there with him. "With him"... I mean, at least on Google Classroom. My hope is that the parents get their poop in a pile and I am ok with sending him to finish his elementary career there.

Some of the things the parents were saying were VILE! I wanted to scream "YEAH, BUT SCIENCE.....".

 

[quandrea]

You made the right choice.

Schools are not going to be able to remain open. Parents need to plan for their children being in and out of school frequently this year.

This is why we chose to homeschool dd this year in her final year of high school. At least I know she will have a stable, uninterrupted year of school. The education system can’t offer that this year (not their fault).

 

[jaybirdsmommy]

Or they could be out for appointments, or they came back from a trip/outing and are self-isolating, or they faked being sick, or they woke up late, or they had car issues, any number of other things and in combination of each other including the possible reasons you mentioned. We'll probably want to be careful in assuming someone out=they have covid or are staying home because of exposure. It's just added reasons into a mix of other reasons unfortunately. The rumor mill will go haywire if every time a person is out people make the automatic assumption it's because of COVID.

My husband had a guy at his work whose reputation has been maligned already because of this and a game of telephone..

That was my point. We aren't getting any info from the school so all we can do is make assumptions. There are 9 positive tests between 2 schools. We don't know how many positives are from the high school, if they shared a class or a bus or what so it's pretty easy to assume things. It could also be the yearly beginning of school year stomach bug. 7 kids missing from 1 class a week into school gives pause in this situation, though and it would be nice if the school was actually communicating with the parents.

I'm not even sure how they are determining exposure for quarantining. The official policy is as clear as mud as to how they are defining close contact. If they are quarantining entire classrooms 9 students could potentially have a significant impact on a population of approximately 3000.

I'm not sure why anyone would be maligned over COVID unless maybe there was an assumption that he should have been quarantining when he wasn't?

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

That was my point. We aren't getting any info from the school so all we can do is make assumptions. There are 9 positive tests between 2 schools. We don't know how many positives are from the high school, if they shared a class or a bus or what so it's pretty easy to assume things. It could also be the yearly beginning of school year stomach bug. 7 kids missing from 1 class a week into school gives pause in this situation, though and it would be nice if the school was actually communicating with the parents.

I'm not even sure how they are determining exposure for quarantining. The official policy is as clear as mud as to how they are defining close contact. If they are quarantining entire classrooms 9 students could potentially have a significant impact on a population of approximately 3000.

I'm not sure why anyone would be maligned over COVID unless maybe there was an assumption that he should have been quarantining when he wasn't?

I'm saying don't make the assumption in the first place. I can understand wanting to know when a student tests positive though there are reasons people have privacy concerns.

Hopefully anyone positive is working with the health department with the health department notifying the school and then the school adopting their protocol laid out when a student tests positive. Or if there are clauses in the school's reopening plan where parents need to notify if the student is self-isolating at home due to a potential exposure (I would not expect the school to give this particular information out).

Your comment was "7 kids missing out of his first class yesterday. I'm assuming that these kids are either sick (hopefully not with covid) or quarantined due to exposure in another class." I'm saying that's possible and so are all the other normal mundane reasons too. It's a sensitive time right now. Maybe this time it turns out that way but a different time it's just those mundane things. No school is going to give you notification for a kid being late to school or having an appointment.

The issue with the guy at my husband's work was he mowed grass the night before, came to work and was coughing a teensy bit before his boss came over concerned (he was there I believe about 30-45mins total and didn't go to anywhere but his desk). That triggered the work's protocol where he had to get tested. He's negative and with the medium to high or high pollen alerts now for well over a week in the area (grass being a main pollen) his cough was likely due to that. He should have tried to stay home with a cough these days (especially because he is able to) but the game of telephone was all of a sudden it was that he was coughing all over the building, coughing in people's faces, and this got back to his prior project he just finished on...one worth nearly 1 billion and now people have this image of this guy that is so far from the truth. This in turn triggered HR to send out a memo to remind adults, of all people, to be careful what you say.

I'm just saying we need to be careful when you assume things. Rumor mills and games of telephone can get out of control quick. I'm not saying it's not a cause for anxiety for us all though

 

[Kestryl]

How on earth do they think they will keep the schools staffed? Wow, let us know how it goes! My kids all chose to learn at home this year, but they are in the very small minority, almost all of their classmates chose to go in person. Two of my kids' schools didn't even have an option for remote (the other is in college), so I had to research virtual schools and homeschool programs. However the public schools are starting remote, so all of those kids are "in it together" so to speak, whereas my two that are staying home are among only a handful from their private schools who chose the same. I am pretty sure most people think we are "living in fear", one of my girls has already had comments to that effect. Which makes us feel even lonelier on the one hand, while also feeling glad they don't have to be around a lot of kids who lack compassion for other people's choices

There’s no way they can stay open. They still have around 50 teaching positions open, and their sub pool has dropped to a third of what it was last year. So it’s not a matter of if they shut down- it’s when.

 

[daisy2013]

Yes. Our town only has two active cases. My district is using a hybrid model where the kids are in cohort and max capacity of 25% in each class. They go in one day each week (unless they have an iep) and the rest of the week is live streaming from home. If they have an IEP they may go up to four days each week depending on their needs.

 

[Kestryl]

That was my point. We aren't getting any info from the school so all we can do is make assumptions. There are 9 positive tests between 2 schools. We don't know how many positives are from the high school, if they shared a class or a bus or what so it's pretty easy to assume things. It could also be the yearly beginning of school year stomach bug. 7 kids missing from 1 class a week into school gives pause in this situation, though and it would be nice if the school was actually communicating with the parents.

I'm not even sure how they are determining exposure for quarantining. The official policy is as clear as mud as to how they are defining close contact. If they are quarantining entire classrooms 9 students could potentially have a significant impact on a population of approximately 3000.

I'm not sure why anyone would be maligned over COVID unless maybe there was an assumption that he should have been quarantining when he wasn't?

Honestly, I would fully assume that if someone is out it’s due to Covid issues, if only because so many places are trying to actively cover up cases. There’s a high school football team near here that canceled the first two games. No reason was given. If it wasn’t Covid, they would absolutely have said something like personnel issue or maintenance problem or whatever. Of course it quickly got out that two people “associated” with the football team had Covid (via an email sent to parents). A parent reported it was two coaches, and since then their own kid was sick and tested positive. But the school is refusing to “admit” its Covid. Weird, cause when the schools shut down every year for flu issues, they have no problem saying why...