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IYO, should in-person schools (K through post Ph.D) open now?

IYO, should in-person schools (K through post Ph.D) open now?

  • 1 Absolutely not!

    Votes: 27 50.0%
  • 2

    Votes: 4 7.4%
  • 3

    Votes: 4 7.4%
  • 4

    Votes: 2 3.7%
  • 5 I don't know

    Votes: 3 5.6%
  • 6

    Votes: 1 1.9%
  • 7

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • 8

    Votes: 1 1.9%
  • 9

    Votes: 2 3.7%
  • 10 Yes Absolutely!

    Votes: 10 18.5%

  • Total voters
    54

kenny

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????????
 

Dancing Fire

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Yes!, If my daughters were still in school.
 

Daisys and Diamonds

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remind me where you guys are in the school year ?
 

TooPatient

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remind me where you guys are in the school year ?

Depends on the area. Southern states tend to open sooner. Some places opened a week or two ago. Schools where I am don't start until the first week of September. The college I attend starts mid to late September.
 

lissyflo

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remind me where you guys are in the school year ?

It’s the start of a new school year @Daisys and Diamonds . I think the equivalent of January, after the long Christmas/summer holiday, for you southern hemisphere guys?

The UK government is very gung-ho about schools returning at the start of September, saying that they’ll shut bars and restaurants if necessary to keep the R number as low as needed to open schools. New clusters are popping up all over a Europe though, and the list of countries where quarantine is needed on return to the UK is growing daily so all the people who (foolishly in my opinion) travelled overseas for a holiday will no doubt bring back cases. Who knows what will be manageable a few weeks from now.
 
Last edited:

missy

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Depends where you are located and what is happening with Covid 19 in your area.

However, my opinion is no.
Schools should not be open for in class learning at this time.

In the grand scheme of life what is waiting another 6 months to even a year til we are Covid free or have a successful vaccination. We can not recover life but we can recover education and online learning exists. Not fair to risk teachers and students and parents lives just to have in school learning for a couple of days per week. IMO.
 

missy

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Slickk

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I would prefer remote learning to start this school year. I don’t think it will be possible to social distance safely (bus and class) and wearing the myriad of PPE in an un-air conditioned room with no fans will be quite difficult.
Asking teachers to either take a risk with their life (or their family’s health) versus taking an unpaid leave of absence is truly disheartening.
People that state the kids need socialization don’t realize there will be very little of it (if any) permitted in the in-person school models.
 

1ofakind

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With precautions I am comfortable with open schools. If parents can do remote learning And not comfortable in school then thats fine. But some kids can’t. Some parents won’t do it and no, the kids won’t just easily recover from missing a year of school. Many of these kids already struggle to keep up And need extra support. Schools can be open for Kids who want and NEED to go to school, for education, for safety, for meals, for services their parents neglect, etc. The most at risk teachers can do the remote learning classes.
 

lyra

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Absolutely not. But my kids are grown, so thankfully it's not an issue for us. I can't think of a good solution, since normally both parents are working, where I live. The kids will get the teachers sick, the teachers will end up getting the healthcare workers sick, and it will be an endless cycle THIS YEAR. If we get a vaccine, MAYBE things could be different. It's a hard thing to manage for parents everywhere.
 

YadaYadaYada

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No, keep the schools closed and keep the kids home. Here they are doing A/B groups and only in-school instruction in the morning then the kids are expected to go home and distance learn the rest of the day :lol:

I'm starting to wonder if the people in charge of creating these policies and schedules even have kids :wall:
 

mellowyellowgirl

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No, keep the schools closed and keep the kids home. Here they are doing A/B groups and only in-school instruction in the morning then the kids are expected to go home and distance learn the rest of the day :lol:

I'm starting to wonder if the people in charge of creating these policies and schedules even have kids :wall:

Omg are you serious???

So go in, exposure yourself to a few gems and then go home????

Either in for a penny, in for a pound (like we are here in Sydney; full day, kids all allowed to be typical festy kids) or just keep them at home!!!!!
 

metall

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Absolutely not - I was actually set to go back to school this fall, but I have put my schooling off for another year because of the way things are going. Graduate and post-graduate schools are very much reacting to issues as they crop up, which really doesn't make me feel safe.

Regarding K-12, I've read some of the "precautions" that schools NY are trying to take and not only does it not sound like enough, but some are downright disruptive to learning. I understand that parents are in need of space from their children and they need to work - but the burden of care being pushed upon overworked teachers is going to overwhelm even the best out there.
 

smitcompton

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Hi,

No. However, I think with some planning children could go perhaps half-time or one third time in school, others doing the schoolwork on line . My plan requires shifts, as some schools already do, this. So a half to one third go in the morning from 8-12, the other part of the half to one third go from 12-4.
The other half do work at home. In 4 months the online students go to school and the in-school children do the work on line. The curriculum for each grade should stay the same so students will be learning the same material. School would be open 12 months with a few short vacations.

This way learning can continue. Parents should also consider home schooling. It also works.

Annette
 

YadaYadaYada

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Omg are you serious???

So go in, exposure yourself to a few gems and then go home????

Either in for a penny, in for a pound (like we are here in Sydney; full day, kids all allowed to be typical festy kids) or just keep them at home!!!!!

It doesn't make any sense and if the goal (even if they won't admit it) is to get kids back to school so parents can work, there is no way parents can work in any meaningful way on this schedule. They will be closed again within two months anyways, waste of time and effort on top of needless exposure.
 

nala

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Omg are you serious???

So go in, exposure yourself to a few gems and then go home????

Either in for a penny, in for a pound (like we are here in Sydney; full day, kids all allowed to be typical festy kids) or just keep them at home!!!!!

Omg! This! Outrageous!
 

Slickk

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The most at risk teachers can do the remote learning classes.

This option is not being universally offered. Some would have to take an unpaid leave with a physicians note. We are expected back in the classroom. So some have to chose between their health and their financial security.

ETA We are doing an AA/BB schedule. Students in A come in Mon/Tues, B come in Thur/Fri with Wednesdays being deep cleaning days. Staff is expected to come in on Wednesdays, so not sure how deep cleaning will happen!
I do so feel for the parents who are struggling with this....
 

smitcompton

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Hi,

Wow--you all don't think kids can do social distancing and wear masks? I think it can be done at the school level-grade school, however, I did not think thru what happens at home with the spread.
I will continue to think.

Annette
 

voce

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In most countries in the world, yes. The USA, no.
 

Gussie

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Distancing isn't possible at large, overcrowded schools. Our high school has over 3000 kids and should have closer to 2000. They are currently set to build a new school but until then, there isn't a way to safely open. And a lot of the schools in the district are overcrowded as we live in one of the most rapidly growing areas in the country. Our district is online only indefinitely. No one expects our schools to open until at least 2021, probably not even then. The superintendent maintains that schools won't open until CDC guidelines plus local health guidelines can be met. I think this is best for my family. I am super concerned about the underprivileged, however. This is a sure fire way to further widen the gap between socioeconomic groups. I think the repercussions will be terrible for most everyone. It is so sad for kids that don't have support at home. The district here is really trying to do the best for all kids (health, safety, academically). I just hope it's enough and I definitely don't envy the decision makers.
 

lala646

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As a non-parent, I was told very pointedly by a friend who has a school aged child that my opinion on this topic doesn't matter, and is not welcome. She is adamantly pro 100% reopening, because she has a child with special needs and, as the full time caregiver, she is overwhelmed. I feel for all parents, I can't imagine how difficult the last 5 months have been. But I can't fathom how they will manage to keep masks on kids, or keep them social distancing, especially given how overcrowded most US schools are. I can only say I'm immensely relieved to be neither a parent nor a teacher at this moment.
 

metall

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This option is not being universally offered. Some would have to take an unpaid leave with a physicians note. We are expected back in the classroom. So some have to chose between their health and their financial security.

ETA We are doing an AA/BB schedule. Students in A come in Mon/Tues, B come in Thur/Fri with Wednesdays being deep cleaning days. Staff is expected to come in on Wednesdays, so not sure how deep cleaning will happen!
I do so feel for the parents who are struggling with this....

Is your area also planning on having teachers run between classes, while the kids have to stay in one room for the whole day bit? My friend went into today and took a video of how they set up the classrooms - they had separated all the kids about 4-5 feet (any further and kids will have to sit in the hallway) and her class size is down to about 15 kids from 30.
 

lyra

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They're keeping the class sizes the same here, which doesn't work IMO. It's 25 kids to a room in elementary.
 

YadaYadaYada

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@smitcompton, I don't doubt that some kids can social distance and wear masks at school but I wonder about the psychological effects on younger children. The following scenario keeps running through my head:

Six year old son goes back to school wearing a mask social distancing. He sees his friend that he hasn't seen since March and is so excited and wants to give him a hug, he is told no or he hugs him and gets in trouble. Fiddles with the mask constantly, picks up someone else's mask, swaps with someone because their mask is "cooler". He is suspected of having COVID because he sneezed or coughed and is taken to an isolation room. This is a six year old kid, he has no concept of the possible severe consequences of some of these things.

Now our older son is 13 and could probably get by but I don't see the point of sending him in when he can distance learn at home.

How are the teachers supposed to keep track of all these little kids, keep the masks on, hand washing, social distancing. Lord, I really feel for the teachers.
 

Slickk

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Is your area also planning on having teachers run between classes, while the kids have to stay in one room for the whole day bit?

I teach 7th grade and our 7th/8th graders will be moving throughout the day, staggered to minimize hallway traffic.
 

pearlsngems

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I chose 5-- "I don't know" -- because there was no option for "it depends". Some areas may be able to reopen schools to some degree safely. Others, not at all.

That being said, I am so glad my daughter is out of school.
 

Demon

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In a few places its probably fairly safe. In most states, it is not, and no way would I send my child back to school right now.
 

Tartansparkles

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It depends where you are.

Our schools opened fully on Wednesday. No masks, no social distancing. The kids use hand sanitizer on entry and exit of every class, they have doubled up teaching slots (so 90mins of one subject instead of 45mins of two subjects) and they are keeping each class together as much as they can so no mixing out with their class at lunchtime. There are also measures if you feel unwell, sneeze on a table etc.

It might be that in two weeks time the whole thing gets shut down again but time will tell and i am happy with the way things are.
 

Karl_K

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I think they could open with some children getting mildly sick with a few getting lifetime problems from it and a very small number of deaths among children under 12.
Which is enough for me to say no already.
But the number of teachers, older teens, and parents, getting full blown covid19 resulting in death will be very high.
Just my opinion.

However a nurse friend who worked with covid kids during the peak says open them up and send them all to school.
 

Arcadian

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Its such a double edged sword. You have kids and parents who need the schools to be open, because in many cases you have "Online" schooling which is not sufficient under ADA Law. I think 80% of kids can do online learning, but what about the other 20% do they deserve to be left behind? Does the law at this time get ignored?

Its a conundrum and a sad situation all the way around.
 
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