schools closed for end of academic year

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:Yeah, fall is not likely. The whole country is opening too soon. People cannot follow basic mask protocol or distancing. We are gonna have a huge, overwhelming surge in cases in June that we won't be able to manage because all the kids who couldn't do group work in high school became adults who can't do group work. When they try to shut back down with the surge, people will rebel because we are a nation of teenagers and it will be longer and more drawn out than it ever needed to be, add in the flu and it is really gonna be a mess.

As much as you hope for overwhelming craziness and deaths, there is no indication that that will happen.

No one is hoping for this but I didn’t think you needed to be a rocket scientist to see the reality of the situation but apparently one does need some kind of advanced degree to understand it. No one would be happier than me to be wrong but life doesn’t run on hopes and wishes.

Actually it does seem like some are hoping for this. And as I much as I have tried I can't understand why. I think some people just thrive on being negative and miserable. I can't wait for things to be normal again. Yet it seems there are all those being like "nothing will be normal for 5 years". "The kids won't get back until 2022" etc... it's concerning.

The difference in thought process is that some people are scientific thinkers who rely on data and expert projections/opinions and then other people are you.

NP- But please, I am in public health and you just cannot say that you are right because you are relying on expert projections. Expert projections and opinions have been contradictory through this entire thing. All of these experts have good reasons to back up conflicting opinions and to give conflicting advice because everyone was making educated guesses with no experience. The "experts" you are citing have had to backpedal and reverse course numerous times during the last four months because none of them had enough "data". You are just choosing which expert and advice that you want to listen to to validate your opinion.

Luckily, we are learning more everyday about both the disease and the impact of various control policies that have been implemented around the world. We have four months to continue observing and learning. Please don't pretend that all "scientific thinkers" have only one opinion and that you are qualified to dismiss other people as being less scientific than you.

Well said.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:just announced

And not coming back fully until Maryland reaches Stage 3. That's not going to be by the fall.

I really hope we are there by Fall. These kids, especially the elem ones, need to be in school (and no, I don't use school for childcare).

I don’t use school for childcare either but kids being in school for a portion of the day is a construct that allows parents, especially women, to work and earn a living. This is such a strange thing to even have to clarify.

Also agree, kids need school. Academically and socially.

I posted that (about school and childcare) because there are several rabid posters on the school boards who scream about "school not being childcare" whenever people post about having to work. I can't figure out why they care so much, but maybe it's just their thing.

I agree that the construct of school is good for kids, and allows parents, especially women, to work. I work PT around my kid's schedule because he has SN, and part of that "schedule" is school for most of the day.

"Good for kids?" How about necessary and critical? I can't believe so many of you think that our children's' education is dispensable.

Education can occur safely in your living rooms and bedrooms. Plus, DCUM parents like to tell us that school attendance doesn’t matter and kids “learn so much more” from that trip to Disney when it’s not crowded or a mid-October week at the lake house than they ever learn in a classroom.

Babysitting can also occur in your home. It just won’t be free.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

"Good for kids?" How about necessary and critical? I can't believe so many of you think that our children's' education is dispensable.

For years (because I've been around here way too long) I've read on DCUM that DCUM-demographic parents prioritize their children's education, unlike those other parents over there who only use school for free food and childcare.

So imagine my surprise to read on DCUM, now, that actually school is merely something that's nice to have, and if schools stay closed for months or even years while everything else goes back to being un-closed - well, that's how it is.

I think there’s a contingent of posters on this forum who are genuinely frightened of COVID. But also sense that there’s a large contingent of posters who live in the DMV and are federal employees who really like working from home and they don’t want things to reopen; it means they’ll likely have to go back to work at an office. For many it may mean a return to a more normal pace of work, too.

Depending on the agency, some of my fed friends are working long hours. But others are barely working as aspects of their jobs aren’t applicable either because aspects of the economy or offices closed. Teacher / academic friends, particularly at the college level, loving it too. As one said to me, she’s been a teacher for 10 years and this is the first time she can truly work from home.

In sum, the longer this goes on, the longer those in COVID-proof jobs can coast. They don’t want schools to reopen for the obvious reasons.

[phone]

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

"Good for kids?" How about necessary and critical? I can't believe so many of you think that our children's' education is dispensable.

For years (because I've been around here way too long) I've read on DCUM that DCUM-demographic parents prioritize their children's education, unlike those other parents over there who only use school for free food and childcare.

So imagine my surprise to read on DCUM, now, that actually school is merely something that's nice to have, and if schools stay closed for months or even years while everything else goes back to being un-closed - well, that's how it is.

I think there’s a contingent of posters on this forum who are genuinely frightened of COVID. But also sense that there’s a large contingent of posters who live in the DMV and are federal employees who really like working from home and they don’t want things to reopen; it means they’ll likely have to go back to work at an office. For many it may mean a return to a more normal pace of work, too.

Depending on the agency, some of my fed friends are working long hours. But others are barely working as aspects of their jobs aren’t applicable either because aspects of the economy or offices closed. Teacher / academic friends, particularly at the college level, loving it too. As one said to me, she’s been a teacher for 10 years and this is the first time she can truly work from home.

In sum, the longer this goes on, the longer those in COVID-proof jobs can coast. They don’t want schools to reopen for the obvious reasons.

Maybe it's different because I work in early childhood education but I can't wait to get back. I'm used to moving around and seeing lots of kids and now I'm lonely and bored. My colleagues are saying the same thing

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Education can occur safely in your living rooms and bedrooms. Plus, DCUM parents like to tell us that school attendance doesn’t matter and kids “learn so much more” from that trip to Disney when it’s not crowded or a mid-October week at the lake house than they ever learn in a classroom.

Babysitting can also occur in your home. It just won’t be free.

If you have a child who is learning well in your living room/bedrooms, good for you. Also good for you if you're working well in your living room/bedrooms!

Meanwhile, for the rest of the kids, the schools need to open. It would be unacceptable if people started working again at all of the workplaces where people are not currently working, but schools stayed closed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

"Good for kids?" How about necessary and critical? I can't believe so many of you think that our children's' education is dispensable.

For years (because I've been around here way too long) I've read on DCUM that DCUM-demographic parents prioritize their children's education, unlike those other parents over there who only use school for free food and childcare.

So imagine my surprise to read on DCUM, now, that actually school is merely something that's nice to have, and if schools stay closed for months or even years while everything else goes back to being un-closed - well, that's how it is.

I think there’s a contingent of posters on this forum who are genuinely frightened of COVID. But also sense that there’s a large contingent of posters who live in the DMV and are federal employees who really like working from home and they don’t want things to reopen; it means they’ll likely have to go back to work at an office. For many it may mean a return to a more normal pace of work, too.

Depending on the agency, some of my fed friends are working long hours. But others are barely working as aspects of their jobs aren’t applicable either because aspects of the economy or offices closed. Teacher / academic friends, particularly at the college level, loving it too. As one said to me, she’s been a teacher for 10 years and this is the first time she can truly work from home.

In sum, the longer this goes on, the longer those in COVID-proof jobs can coast. They don’t want schools to reopen for the obvious reasons.

I’m a teacher. I can’t “truly work from home” because my job is so much harder to do right now than it is in a classroom with the kids there. Yesterday, a student couldn’t find the answer. Normally, I would walk over and read the passage aloud while using tone and strategic pausing for emphasis. Then reason the question. A quick, but effective intervention. Instead, I had to fire up my school-issued computer, log in to three different programs, hook up the document camera, and then read the passage to the student. Then, because I had a “private Zoom” with the student, I had to document it in the communication log to protect myself and the school district against false allegations.

[Anonymous]

Folks, this is hard on everyone. Thanks to the Teacher that just posted, thanks from the bottom of my heart.

A Mom

[Anonymous]

List of countries that have decided to reopen schools this spring - or never closed - at least for certain grades (usually primary level and oldest students taking leaving exams):

Sweden
Iceland
Denmark
Germany
Austria
Norway
Finland
Netherlands
Belgium
France
Israel
Australia
Singapore

[Anonymous]

The question really is HOW did they open, and what are doing nationwide to control the spread. And most of these societies have free of close to free medical care available to all citizens which can lead to very different health outcomes, tracking and mitigation

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:List of countries that have decided to reopen schools this spring - or never closed - at least for certain grades (usually primary level and oldest students taking leaving exams):

Sweden
Iceland
Denmark
Germany
Austria
Norway
Finland
Netherlands
Belgium
France
Israel
Australia
Singapore

Meaningless. Every single one of these countries has different prevalence, health system resources, testing, contact tracing. Population and bureaucratic cooperation and student profile. We can and should look at how other countries ate handling pandemuc education and derive best practices but we can’t just follow like sheep.

Also FWIW France has had schools at all levels closed for two months, except for essential workers, where there is a system in place for daycare while they work.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:List of countries that have decided to reopen schools this spring - or never closed - at least for certain grades (usually primary level and oldest students taking leaving exams):

Sweden
Iceland
Denmark
Germany
Austria
Norway
Finland
Netherlands
Belgium
France
Israel
Australia
Singapore

Meaningless. Every single one of these countries has different prevalence, health system resources, testing, contact tracing. Population and bureaucratic cooperation and student profile. We can and should look at how other countries ate handling pandemuc education and derive best practices but we can’t just follow like sheep.

Also FWIW France has had schools at all levels closed for two months, except for essential workers, where there is a system in place for daycare while they work.

^ I should add that while FR has decided to reopen elementary schools next week, a huge # of mayors are criticizing the decision and it will be at least a month until we know whether that decision sparks another increase in cases.

[Anonymous]

I have family in Singapore and their school system did not shut. But they've been prepared for this since SARS. Classrooms have forehead thermometers. Students periodically take weeks off to study from home so they are prepared for online learning when necessary. In the wider context, there is tremendous contact tracing and employers required to comply with government guidelines. Countries like that can pull it off because their realities on the ground are very very different to ours

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The question really is HOW did they open, and what are doing nationwide to control the spread. And most of these societies have free of close to free medical care available to all citizens which can lead to very different health outcomes, tracking and mitigation

I think that is the biggest question.
Check out this NYTimes article for a picture of what "open" looks like for various businesses and some schools from Seoul to Sydney and other cities in Asia and Australia.

No More Jenga, No More ‘Amen’ as Cities Learn to Live With Coronavirus - https://nyti.ms/2SsXCUB

I read another interview with an Ex Pat in Hong Kong who was asked if the processes in place in Hong Kong would work in the US and she said she didn't think so. They are too restrictive.

I think there is a lot we can learn from other countries and hope we do, but also wonder how the US mentality and social norms will fare in this next phase.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

"Good for kids?" How about necessary and critical? I can't believe so many of you think that our children's' education is dispensable.

For years (because I've been around here way too long) I've read on DCUM that DCUM-demographic parents prioritize their children's education, unlike those other parents over there who only use school for free food and childcare.

So imagine my surprise to read on DCUM, now, that actually school is merely something that's nice to have, and if schools stay closed for months or even years while everything else goes back to being un-closed - well, that's how it is.

I think there’s a contingent of posters on this forum who are genuinely frightened of COVID. But also sense that there’s a large contingent of posters who live in the DMV and are federal employees who really like working from home and they don’t want things to reopen; it means they’ll likely have to go back to work at an office. For many it may mean a return to a more normal pace of work, too.

Depending on the agency, some of my fed friends are working long hours. But others are barely working as aspects of their jobs aren’t applicable either because aspects of the economy or offices closed. Teacher / academic friends, particularly at the college level, loving it too. As one said to me, she’s been a teacher for 10 years and this is the first time she can truly work from home.

In sum, the longer this goes on, the longer those in COVID-proof jobs can coast. They don’t want schools to reopen for the obvious reasons.

I’m a teacher. I can’t “truly work from home” because my job is so much harder to do right now than it is in a classroom with the kids there. Yesterday, a student couldn’t find the answer. Normally, I would walk over and read the passage aloud while using tone and strategic pausing for emphasis. Then reason the question. A quick, but effective intervention. Instead, I had to fire up my school-issued computer, log in to three different programs, hook up the document camera, and then read the passage to the student. Then, because I had a “private Zoom” with the student, I had to document it in the communication log to protect myself and the school district against false allegations.

So you are eager for schools to reopen? Return back to normal classroom instruction? Sounds like it would relieve you of all of this extra work.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Folks, this is hard on everyone. Thanks to the Teacher that just posted, thanks from the bottom of my heart.

A Mom

m

Some teachers are riding to the challenge, others aren’t. And the teachers who are doing a good job - yes, thank you. But they are also doing their jobs. Not sure why we’re treating teachers as superheros for jumping on Zoom everyday.