School

[89 MJ]

If you are in high school currently, or have kids/grandkids/nieces/nephews, etc. that are school age, are you/they currently in school?

 

Here in Holmen, WI, we are not going to school. The elementary schools were going to school 5 days a week starting this week, the middle school was going to be hybrid, and the high school was going to be hybrid starting 11/9/2020. We are switching back to virtual though because there have been like 2 cases in our district. We have 4 elementary schools, and 1 middle school, and only something like 2 cases. I am not thrilled, especially considering that there is a strictly virtual school option that already exists for the kids that have parents that want them to stay home. So, the kids that want to go to school cannot.

[Pete M]

this new virus is incredibly contagious and kids are notorious germ spreaders.  if a school district wants to go full virtual for a while, I can't blame them for erring on the side of caution.  I know my old school district in Michigan is doing testing and contact tracing and a friends elementary age kid was sent home along with the entire class for 2 weeks of virtual classes after one of the kids in it turned up positive.  after that they went back to regular classes again. 

 

no one alive has ever had to deal with a pandemic on this scale and so different people have different ideas of how best to stay safe but keep regular life going.  be patient and keep your learning the priority.  

[Minuit]

Remember that this all probably started with one guy getting bitten by a bat. An outbreak is only possible to contain when there are a very small number of confirmed cases and you have enough manpower to trace them. Considering that kids of pretty much all ages are snot-nosed virus cannons packed tightly together who will then spread it on to their parents (who may or may not be diligent about their own safety and the safety of others), it's absolute madness to open up in-person schooling right now.

 

This thing is not to be underestimated. It's what everyone thought SARS was going to be back in the early 2000s. It can @#$% your body up for the rest of your life even if you recover. If you're old or have a weak immune system, it has a pretty good chance of killing you slowly and painfully. It's killed nearly a quarter of a million people in the US alone that we know of. The real answer is probably considerably higher.

 

The current scientific consensus is that, on average, each case of this virus will cause between 5 and 6 new cases if no precautions are taken. Who will then each cause 5-6 new cases, and so on. This thing can get out of hand very quickly, and the people in charge are (for once) doing the right thing by keeping schools closed. We had a chance at containing this virus in this country. That window closed months ago. Now all we can do is prevent as many people from getting it as possible.

 

I'm not an epidemiologist, but this is not a laughing matter.

[JMO413]

I have two kids in school at the moment. Our school district is virtual if you choose and most kids are going to regular school. They are required to wear masks at school. There have been 2-3 cases in the district that we have heard about. We started school back in August. I am considered an essential worker and so is my wife. Both of us work at a car dealership and there is no possible way to work from home. I say that just because we have a 5 year old who started kindergarten this year. We need him to go to school if we're going to both go to work. IMHO

[89 MJ]

3 hours ago, Pete M said:

this new virus is incredibly contagious and kids are notorious germ spreaders.  if a school district wants to go full virtual for a while, I can't blame them for erring on the side of caution.  I know my old school district in Michigan is doing testing and contact tracing and a friends elementary age kid was sent home along with the entire class for 2 weeks of virtual classes after one of the kids in it turned up positive.  after that they went back to regular classes again. 

 

no one alive has ever had to deal with a pandemic on this scale and so different people have different ideas of how best to stay safe but keep regular life going.  be patient and keep your learning the priority.  

 

58 minutes ago, Minuit said:

Remember that this all probably started with one guy getting bitten by a bat. An outbreak is only possible to contain when there are a very small number of confirmed cases and you have enough manpower to trace them. Considering that kids of pretty much all ages are snot-nosed virus cannons packed tightly together who will then spread it on to their parents (who may or may not be diligent about their own safety and the safety of others), it's absolute madness to open up in-person schooling right now.

 

This thing is not to be underestimated. It's what everyone thought SARS was going to be back in the early 2000s. It can @#$% your body up for the rest of your life even if you recover. If you're old or have a weak immune system, it has a pretty good chance of killing you slowly and painfully. It's killed nearly a quarter of a million people in the US alone that we know of. The real answer is probably considerably higher.

 

The current scientific consensus is that, on average, each case of this virus will cause between 5 and 6 new cases if no precautions are taken. Who will then each cause 5-6 new cases, and so on. This thing can get out of hand very quickly, and the people in charge are (for once) doing the right thing by keeping schools closed. We had a chance at containing this virus in this country. That window closed months ago. Now all we can do is prevent as many people from getting it as possible.

 

I'm not an epidemiologist, but this is not a laughing matter.

I should have elaborated more in my original post. I agree 100% that this is a nasty virus. There’s no denying that. 

 

What ticks me off is that, even though there is no school, our school district is still doing almost all, if not all, of its regularly scheduled sports. They are even doing wrestling this winter. They also have a child care option at the elementary school levels that they are having kids IN THE SCHOOL, but they can’t learn in the classroom. You can also drive around town and see a bunch of kids all walking around or playing in yards. Heck, we live up the road from 2 teachers. They have the volleyball team at there house every few weekends (20+ cars) and they have volleyball games. It’s people like them that are the problem. 

 

28 minutes ago, JMO413 said:

I have two kids in school at the moment. Our school district is virtual if you choose and most kids are going to regular school. They are required to wear masks at school. There have been 2-3 cases in the district that we have heard about. We started school back in August. I am considered an essential worker and so is my wife. Both of us work at a car dealership and there is no possible way to work from home. I say that just because we have a 5 year old who started kindergarten this year. We need him to go to school if we're going to both go to work. IMHO

Wow! That’s pretty good. Is the district taking any other precautions?

 

Also, our district has sent out surveys asking parents if they want their kids in school. They also released the fact that 92% of parents want their kids in school. 

[mnkyboy]

My son has been doing his senior year online, our school district didn't even try to have regular classes.

My brothers kids started school just like any other year, they are just wearing masks.

[89 MJ]

1 minute ago, mnkyboy said:

My son has been doing his senior year online, our school district didn't even try to have regular classes.

My brothers kids started school just like any other year, they are just wearing masks.

The first part has pretty much been our district. 

 

[Swampy]

I am a college student and the online classes are hard for us and I can only imagine for the younger kids. In Florida most schools are open and have students. My mom is a teacher and she has said that if one kid in the class has covid, the whole class gets sent home for quarantine. 

[89 MJ]

1 hour ago, Swampy said:

I am a college student and the online classes are hard for us and I can only imagine for the younger kids. In Florida most schools are open and have students. My mom is a teacher and she has said that if one kid in the class has covid, the whole class gets sent home for quarantine. 

Even for my grade, online is hard. 

[Manche757]

Have been student and college professor.  Tell us why it is hard.

[89 MJ]

3 hours ago, Manche757 said:

Have been student and college professor.  Tell us why it is hard.

Being a teacher would really suck through this, but our neighbors that are teachers are not taking it seriously at all. 

[BeatCJ]

I have granddaughter in my house that is entering kindergarten. Watching her parents try to help her with schooling has been painful. Her attention span is so short that by the time she is done with assignments everyone is frazzled. She can handle the Virtual Classroom herself, but the school work, reading directions, making letters on a touch screen is very difficult.

 

I believe we will have a significant number of kids that are behind next school year.

[89 MJ]

46 minutes ago, BeatCJ said:

I have granddaughter in my house that is entering kindergarten. Watching her parents try to help her with schooling has been painful. Her attention span is so short that by the time she is done with assignments everyone is frazzled. She can handle the Virtual Classroom herself, but the school work, reading directions, making letters on a touch screen is very difficult.

 

I believe we will have a significant number of kids that are behind next school year.

I don’t doubt it either. Last spring, our school year was shortened by a month because of this. 

[Jesse J]

I am going to school full time with no shutdowns or anything, although about 1/3 of the school right now chose to be online through the district. I am very impressed with the amount of mask wearing and social distancing in place.the most cases we had school wide was a total of 14 cases over 2 weeks at the highest point. I am nervous for this weekend because I don't trust highschoolers to not go to partys or anything.

(for context I go to Hillcrest High in midvale utah)

[89 MJ]

9 hours ago, Jessemj said:

I am going to school full time with no shutdowns or anything, although about 1/3 of the school right now chose to be online through the district. I am very impressed with the amount of mask wearing and social distancing in place.the most cases we had school wide was a total of 14 cases over 2 weeks at the highest point. I am nervous for this weekend because I don't trust highschoolers to not go to partys or anything.

(for context I go to Hillcrest High in midvale utah)

Those concerns do make sense. I suppose we will see higher numbers this week.