Thanks, that is helpful. May I ask what district you are in?
Of course I want my kid back in school full time, but also need it to be done safely for everyone involved. Whatever our district decides will directly affect us in many ways. My ex-wife works for the district that my kid goes too. She does have an underlying condition so even if they do open they may not allow her back. She got paid to stay home the last few months of last school year which made it easy for our kid to do virtual school. And my ex MIL is a lunch lady as well. Gives her something to do since she retired.
I'm in Orange Unified. I'll have one in elementary school, one in middle school (which is a charter school, so it appears they are slightly playing by their own rules a bit) and one in high school.
The district board has their meeting on the 24th. I know the high school principals had a meeting today - I've yet had a chance to get some insight into what was discussed, etc.
We've received multiple surveys about what we would like to see as far as return to school, but thus far I would say that the surveys have been poorly designed at best, intentionally misleading at worst. I'd like to think it is the former to keep a positive perspective, but I'm not naive enough to believe that there were not at least elements of the latter.
Regarding the charter school, earlier in June we received some surveys from the school (not the district), and essentially they presented families with two options for their kids - either all online, or a hybrid model, with the hybrid model either being going to class Monday/Tuesday or Wednesday/Thursday, all students remote Friday. You would attend half your classes on one day (say 1st-3rd period) and the other half the second day. This would encompass a full school day, so about 8:15 to 3:00 when in attendance.
Essentially we were asked to choose the preferred option for our kids, along with what days if you opted for the hybrid model. There were of course no details on how the hybrid would work (ie are remote days still calling in to the class or is it basically work from home days, is there any crossover between all online and hybrid, etc.) Basically the only guideline was that if you chose online only, you couldn't take certain electives that require in person attendance (specifically woodshop, but there were probably a couple other classes that fell into this). Also no details on if each class would be roughly 2 hours each in the class room, or would they be broken up a bit to lessen the amount of time of being indoors. Knowing that the most likely cause of spread is prolonged indoor exposure, I'm not thrilled with the idea of 2 hours in the same classroom when they have not yet clarified how they would maintain social distancing and what mask protocol would be.
Much like you, my preference would be for the kids to be back in school full time, if I feel it is being done safely for not just the kids but also the staff. My kids would prefer to be at school, but (and I know I've shared this before a few times), that is more for social reasons (my middle one being the slight exception) - if it can't be at least close to full time and safe, then my oldest and youngest absolutely prefer the all online approach, as do I and I'm fully prepared to put in the extra effort to help with that. My middle son very much likes the interaction with the teacher and would prefer to at least have some time at school to be with the teachers (though I think a more structured online program with a bit more "classroom" time would suffice, something that did not happen consistently for all classes at the end of last year, though I feel that was to be expected under the circumstances).
Since we have been a bit more liberal than some (yet a lot more strict than many) in allowing them to see some friends (for all it's a smaller group of friends with families we know have been fairly cautious as well, almost all outdoors - biking, beach, etc.), they are not having any of the ill effects I hear some complain about with the "isolation" of not being able to see their friends. But that is a parenting decision some are making as far as what levels of interaction they are willing to allow for their children, it is a decision that I will not question any parent making for the safety of their own children, but by the same token I think it is something that, with reasonable precautions, can be mitigated in a much safer manner than full blown school by setting up smaller social interactions on their own for their kids. Obviously that is a completely different topic and I don't mean it to sound like I am lessening or dismissing anyone who is (or has kids) dealing with issues from the isolation, I just think that using socialization as a major justification for opening schools is a poor reason.