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Covid and School This Fall (4 Viewers)
- Thread starter ChiefD
- Start date
Rustoleum
Footballguy
That’s not quite how that went down.
The governor made a mask mandate, got sued by parents from a Catholic school, and the state Supreme Court saw in their favor and stripped that and pretty much all of his ability to issue Covid related mandates. Any further actions are up to the Republican dominated state legislature, which will likely be zero.
The state board of education, in the interim, voted to require masks for all public schools. That falls outside the realm of the court case against the governor, so they are required for us, but optional for private schools which have no oversight from the state board of Ed.
moleculo
Footballguy
moleculo
Footballguy
Not sure I understand the question.
Assume an administration who wants to do the right thing & keep students & faculty safe, but parents dead set against kids wearing masks.
culdeus
Footballguy
moleculo
Footballguy
Nah. We'll manage to thread that needle to maximize COVID *and* disruption. This is how we do it in the New South.
culdeus
Footballguy
I would honestly go pantsless to a meeting to protest this level of cognitive dissonance.
Leeroy Jenkins
Footballguy
It does make me feel weird that it is too risky for me to be back in the office when vaccinated but we are sending unvaxxed kids to school where it already was a petri dish.
AAABatteries
Footballguy
The Z Machine
Footballguy
Wife has more suggested that kids go to school up until lunch time. Then one of the adults (wife, me, MIL) picks them up. They often have the "extra" classes like gym, art, music, tech. Those are likely going to offered via zoom to prevent spread between pods. Kids will sit in their classroom and log in via computers. If we do this, hopefully it kids can log in from home. We would do this until proper testing begins. Speaking of which, do you know what happens to the kids who don't get their opt-in testing permission slips signed in that first 2 weeks? They don't get tested... What should happen is they get booted to virtual instead.
Ilov80s
Footballguy
Logically that makes sense if the decision was coming from a single person or singularly like minded group. However, school boards are elected positions and often communities don't all see things the same way. Sometimes the school board members don't see eye to eye on these issues and compromises have to be made.
The Z Machine
Footballguy
Glad to hear it and I hope it continues. What's the testing protocol? How many kids and in what grades? Any other public health measures in place?
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snellman
Footballguy
Middle school where my son goes has approximately 350 students 6th-8th grade. Email said no cases district wide. No protocols in place. If a student is sick stay home of course. We were told there would be no contact tracing in place this year. In the middle school last year they traveled with their homeroom to all classes, but this year they went back to previous protocol which is you have your homeroom, but each subject will have different students.
The Z Machine
Footballguy
So it's up the parents to tell the school if a child has tested positive? And it's up to the parents to execute said test?
No testing, no contract tracing = no positives, right?
Galileo
Footballguy
The COVID business is booming in NE Ohio right now. Hospitalizations are the highest they have been since the start of the pandemic. A couple weeks ago there was an explosion of cases in the 3-5 grade building in our district. Now the the middle and high school cases are shooting up the charts. I believe there are 40 some students and 5 staff members currently positive as we work to get through exams and stumble to the holiday break. We are currently masked. Our superintendent devised a data tracking plan that would trigger a mask mandate when certain thresholds in the school and community are exceeded. He was trying to find a balance in the heated mask/no mask war that is being waged. Well, it looks like the no mask crowd is starting to win the war as our school board voted last night to lift the mask mandate despite our spiking data. I am starting to fear virtual schooling may be just around the corner again as we start the new year.
Interesting off-shoot of the remote learning during COVID - this year, while all schools have been in-person, with occasional quarantine restrictions with exposure, every student still has their own Chromebook.
And, because of the experience of remote learning last year - the school system has been more willing to "cancel" school for inclement weather. Its not really canceled - its just that assignments are posted on the school portal, and students are required to complete the assignments at home.
During COVID, arrangements were made for kids who did not have internet at home, I don't think that is the case now - but kids are given 3 days from the time school is back in session to complete the assignments.
Today, for example, we are expecting to get our portion of the ice/snow storm later this afternoon, but instead of early dismissal, or waiting for the forecast to firm up, classes were canceled in advance, and the schools won't have to make up the snow day later.
It still creates headaches for parents of young kids - but I think its better than the old days, when you get a 6:00 am call that school is canceled that day. At least now you get a bit of a heads up if you need to make other arrangements.
And, because of the experience of remote learning last year - the school system has been more willing to "cancel" school for inclement weather. Its not really canceled - its just that assignments are posted on the school portal, and students are required to complete the assignments at home.
During COVID, arrangements were made for kids who did not have internet at home, I don't think that is the case now - but kids are given 3 days from the time school is back in session to complete the assignments.
Today, for example, we are expecting to get our portion of the ice/snow storm later this afternoon, but instead of early dismissal, or waiting for the forecast to firm up, classes were canceled in advance, and the schools won't have to make up the snow day later.
It still creates headaches for parents of young kids - but I think its better than the old days, when you get a 6:00 am call that school is canceled that day. At least now you get a bit of a heads up if you need to make other arrangements.
Van Dyman
Footballguy
There's some truth to that, and it's a good thing. I think there's also the potential for the exact opposite to happen. In places that allow schools a specific "bank" of weather days to use, many school districts had to burn those days for non-weather closures...due to not having enough staff to run the schools (COVID stuff). And (here in TN, at least) there would be a significant backlash if they go over the bank and have to start adding make-up days. So I'm concerned some districts may feel pressure to NOT close during actual inclement weather because they already exhausted their weather days on a combination of previous weather events plus COVID/staffing issues. We'll see. I suspect some districts are approaching that point. I really hope this is the last big storm system to affect the south this winter.
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belljr
Footballguy
I hate to jinx anything but we've been open regularly with masks. They opted out of no remote learning. (There are exceptions but I don't know what they are) we also had a snow day instead of it being remote. Our district did a tremendous job with the remote learning hybrid last year and I was bummed that they didnt make it part of their strategy for whatever but it is nice to be close to normal again
The Commish
Footballguy
This year has been an absolute ####show for our kids, their school and the teachers. It's been FAR more disruptive to the "normalcy" of their weekly routines. It's been a fiasco since about mid Nov. Every week there's something...every single week.
Just to follow up a little - we have had similar staffing issues - but because assignments can be posted on the portal, schools stayed open, even with a teacher/Sub shortage - students were effectively doing remote learning - in school. teachers would post assignments and content for the kids.
Starting in January, the schools even did away with quarantines if you tested negative (and the schools provided testing). If you were positive for covid, you still had to quarantine at home, but if you were only exposed, you did not have to quarantine if you were vaccinated, and willing to submit to testing.
Wow thats crazy. My son's school here in NYC has been pretty normal other than the mask wearing. His school hasnt closed once. His class has never quarantined. He was a close contact once and he was given a take home test but he never got sick.
The Commish
Footballguy
We've had an entire grade told to stay home because none of the teachers or assistants or "parent volunteers" were healthy...one week. My daughter's class has been lumped in with another class 4 different weeks because of teacher shortages. Fortunately, the outbreaks have been minimal, but all three of my kids have had to stay at home at least a week because of enough positive tests in kids in their classes. My oldest son in 8th grade has had several days where he could count on one hand the number of kids in classes that are normally 20+ in number. It's been unreal.
Nick Vermeil
Footballguy
My kids are in the Hudson Valley. The school, the teachers, the superintendent have all been awesome. We have had no shutdowns and they are proactive about testing and offering easy access to vaccinatios. I think class size matters a lot and we benefit from small numbers. I couldn't be happier with how they have operated with safety being the focus.
Todem
Footballguy
Down here in South Florida.
Stoneman Douglas High School 3300 students.
Mask optional for students. My son is fully vaxed and did get Omicron right before Christmas....was a 4 day head cold and some fatigue but was totally over it within 1 week. Then 3 weeks after getting over it...got his booster. We are averaging anywhere from 30-50 cases a week in January.....and now it has died down to around 10-20.
My son never....ever ever ever wants to go back to remote learning. And I agree with him. He has had a great year. 2020 and 2021 were awful. His grades did not suffer at all......but I noticed some nervousness and anxiety which he never ever had in his life as we ended 2020/2021 school year.
When Fall 2021 school started.....and he was back in school....it was like the greatest thing since sliced bread for him. Invigorated is the best word I can use. He is baseball player and even though he had daily interaction at practice and games.....the 8 hour remote learning was like being locked up in a dungeon. He hated it with a passion.
So glad this is behind us. I understand we needed to do it until we had the vaccines wildly available for teenager high school kids.....but man it was really hard on so many kids.
My son still wears a mask inside the classroom. (and all his teachers do). But I will take vaxed and masked that over remote learning anyday.
Again.....glad we are finally getting this behind us. It has been hard on everyone around the country. But the light is shining pretty bright for vaccinated people. If your not.....and that’s your right and I believe in freewill......good luck. You are taking chances that I simply would never take with this virus. It has become a far more dangerous virus for the unvaccinated and more and more it is becoming another strain of flu for the vaccinated.
I am curious what school is like in other major metropolitan cities in California and NY. Down here in Florida.....I can’t complain at all. We are living normal.
Stoneman Douglas High School 3300 students.
Mask optional for students. My son is fully vaxed and did get Omicron right before Christmas....was a 4 day head cold and some fatigue but was totally over it within 1 week. Then 3 weeks after getting over it...got his booster. We are averaging anywhere from 30-50 cases a week in January.....and now it has died down to around 10-20.
My son never....ever ever ever wants to go back to remote learning. And I agree with him. He has had a great year. 2020 and 2021 were awful. His grades did not suffer at all......but I noticed some nervousness and anxiety which he never ever had in his life as we ended 2020/2021 school year.
When Fall 2021 school started.....and he was back in school....it was like the greatest thing since sliced bread for him. Invigorated is the best word I can use. He is baseball player and even though he had daily interaction at practice and games.....the 8 hour remote learning was like being locked up in a dungeon. He hated it with a passion.
So glad this is behind us. I understand we needed to do it until we had the vaccines wildly available for teenager high school kids.....but man it was really hard on so many kids.
My son still wears a mask inside the classroom. (and all his teachers do). But I will take vaxed and masked that over remote learning anyday.
Again.....glad we are finally getting this behind us. It has been hard on everyone around the country. But the light is shining pretty bright for vaccinated people. If your not.....and that’s your right and I believe in freewill......good luck. You are taking chances that I simply would never take with this virus. It has become a far more dangerous virus for the unvaccinated and more and more it is becoming another strain of flu for the vaccinated.
I am curious what school is like in other major metropolitan cities in California and NY. Down here in Florida.....I can’t complain at all. We are living normal.
MAC_32
Footballguy
Yep. Not to this level, but I expect this to be the new normal. Lean staffing and lack of subs leaves little room at the margins. No reason to expect it to change either given the teaching environment too. If anything it'll probably get worse.
Manster
Footballguy
Our school district in OR is very reactive, so nothing would surprise me. Remote learning was a horrible failure, especially for our grade schooler. Even now, with back in-person learning, it feels like everything's been dumbed down so no one gets left behind......lots of catching kids up.....lots of bad behavior. We are looking at other options for our kids, but they are mostly cost prohibitive......if we go remote again, we will be very motivated to pursue other avenues.
To be honest, we haven't been happy with our school district even pre-covid.......covid has just exacerbated the problems. Large schools....large class sizes.....lack of discipline......we may end up moving to a smaller town for multiple reasons, not least of which for schools.
To be honest, we haven't been happy with our school district even pre-covid.......covid has just exacerbated the problems. Large schools....large class sizes.....lack of discipline......we may end up moving to a smaller town for multiple reasons, not least of which for schools.
fatguyinalittlecoat
Footballguy
I thought this was kinda interesting.
Right now I’m getting my Masters to be certified as a high school social studies teacher. I’m doing my student teaching at a high school that’s like 99% minority with a very large population of recent immigrants, primarily from Central America.
Today I had class discussions about school mask mandates in all three of my periods of 10th grade government. The overwhelming majority of kids said they think we should keep the mandates longer. Most of the kids also said that even if the mandates were lifted they would keep wearing masks. Not what I expected at all, so weird.
Right now I’m getting my Masters to be certified as a high school social studies teacher. I’m doing my student teaching at a high school that’s like 99% minority with a very large population of recent immigrants, primarily from Central America.
Today I had class discussions about school mask mandates in all three of my periods of 10th grade government. The overwhelming majority of kids said they think we should keep the mandates longer. Most of the kids also said that even if the mandates were lifted they would keep wearing masks. Not what I expected at all, so weird.
IvanKaramazov
Footballguy
I'd be interested in hearing more about your decision to redirect your career in this way, if you don't mind sharing sometime. Maybe you already did and I just totally missed it. Either way, this sounds pretty cool. Hope you're enjoying it.
fatguyinalittlecoat
Footballguy
I haven’t really written about it a lot here, this was my main “look at me” post:
https://forums.footballguys.com/topic/704890-the-lawyer-thread-where-we-stop-ruining-other-threads/?do=findComment&comment=23619553
Happy to answer any questions about it, but the basics are that I think I should have been a teacher all along but I made a bad career choice. Then I stayed a miserable lawyer for 20 years because I felt like I was trapped financially.
I am in a terrible dysfunctional school during one of the worst years ever for teachers and I still absolutely love it. I really feel so much more comfortable in my skin.
In NYC, schools are pretty much back to normal and have been since September (except for masks). Schools even stayed open during Omicron (with lower attendance of course).
My son has anxiety about removing the mask in school and it has nothing to do with a fear of being sick. Hes been in school for 2 years with a mask. Kids dont even know what each other look like.
fatguyinalittlecoat
Footballguy
Yeah, before we had the class discussion, I had all the kids write a few sentences about why or why not we should get rid of the masks. Some of the kids wrote stuff like "it would be weird to go to school without a mask."
ETA: I could post some of their responses if anyone cares but it seemed like too much.
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FairWarning
Footballguy
Congrats on the e switch. My brother has been a HS history/Social Studies teacher for 25 years, loves it.
glvsav37
Footballguy
my sister was telling me this weekend that her daughter thought this boy in her class was sooooooo cute. Would talk about him non-stop...his hair, his eyes, etc. There was one day here where the mask mandate was dropped so many parents sent their kids in maskless. Well that night my niece comes home and told my sister how she is done with (this boy) b/c he has a really funky smile.
its equal parts funny and sad at the same time
MAC_32
Footballguy
I've not expended much time nor energy thinking about it, but from what I've observed mask wearing has been normalized at all grade levels. I'd be curious to learn what your students are specifically saying though. Only so much can be gleaned non-verbally but regardless of whether it's work (college), anything with our kids school (K-8), or high school (BIL coaches HS basketball) the only group with a higher mask:no mask ratio is the elderly.
