Here is why we should close schools now.

[Anonymous]

Keep the schools open, but lots of other risk areas we are simply ignoring , why ? Why just take a reflective action that dissproportionately impacts HS students that are low risk? To make ourselves feel like we are " doing something " when really , we continue to have our big CPAC conventions and our political rallies and fund raising dinners with all these people over 50 mingling across state lines ???

That's really weak on execution and planning and is just knee . jerk if you asked me.


**** as for how to intelligently deal with schools, don't just knee jerk close the schools, but rather have kids attend ( they are VERY low risk) , but have those teachers who are 60+ as well as those teachers who smoke or who underlying heath conditions tele teach to their MS/ HS classrooms ( assembled at school)

All outdoor HS Athletic events go on as planned, but no spectators


Its the 21st Century and technology gives us lots of options better than closing schools. A few of them:

First, all cruise ships bookings and permissions to dock at any port should be banned by Federal order ( these are just floating germ farms and most of the cases in US can be traced to Cruise ships )

1) close movie theatres , play sporting events with no fans in attendance and cancel all indoor conventions, business meetings where adults in high risk group mingle ( across state lines) ie CPAC/ AIPAC
2) ban all political rallies
3) close religious services
4) no adult over 60 should be allowed to visit a school and , if they teach there they should tele teach



5) All outdoor HS Athletic events go on as planned, but no spectators

UBER/ Lyft should be banned in every city in the USA . Go back to taxi companies who's employees have sick pay and health insurance ( people without sick pay, who won't be able to earn a living if they don't take riders who are picking up travelers from airports, out of state and riding with them in a close space

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Keep the schools open, but lots of other risk areas we are simply ignoring , why ? Why just take a reflective action that dissproportionately impacts HS students that are low risk? To make ourselves feel like we are " doing something " when really , we continue to have our big CPAC conventions and our political rallies and fund raising dinners with all these people over 50 mingling across state lines ???

That's really weak on execution and planning and is just knee . jerk if you asked me.


**** as for how to intelligently deal with schools, don't just knee jerk close the schools, but rather have kids attend ( they are VERY low risk) , but have those teachers who are 60+ as well as those teachers who smoke or who underlying heath conditions tele teach to their MS/ HS classrooms ( assembled at school)

All outdoor HS Athletic events go on as planned, but no spectators


Its the 21st Century and technology gives us lots of options better than closing schools. A few of them:

First, all cruise ships bookings and permissions to dock at any port should be banned by Federal order ( these are just floating germ farms and most of the cases in US can be traced to Cruise ships )

1) close movie theatres , play sporting events with no fans in attendance and cancel all indoor conventions, business meetings where adults in high risk group mingle ( across state lines) ie CPAC/ AIPAC
2) ban all political rallies
3) close religious services
4) no adult over 60 should be allowed to visit a school and , if they teach there they should tele teach



5) All outdoor HS Athletic events go on as planned, but no spectators

UBER/ Lyft should be banned in every city in the USA . Go back to taxi companies who's employees have sick pay and health insurance ( people without sick pay, who won't be able to earn a living if they don't take riders who are picking up travelers from airports, out of state and riding with them in a close space

Thank goodness. The Brain Trust is here.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Without an endgame plan, why close them? What is the plan to reopen? They close them, they’re out the rest of the school year.
At this point it would do more to restrict airline and train travel domestically.

BFD
the schools can close for a year and there will be no effect on students knowledge.

That might be true for your kid and my kid, my many of my students experience serious “summer slide”. It’s not just the economically disadvantaged kids either.

[Anonymous]

Better to be hungry and figure out ways to get food, than hungry and sick and infecting family members. Close the schools. Improve social services.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don’t think Fairfax county schools should close now. We need at least some evidence of community spread, and plans for childcare and online learning.

People who can’t work and won’t get paid could lose their jobs, and then their homes. We need something more concrete than a handful of cases to make this decision. It’s too soon. As this week brings us more information, we can reevaluate.

You need evidence of community spread? Over 100,000 infected and thousands dying around the world is not enough for you?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don’t think Fairfax county schools should close now. We need at least some evidence of community spread, and plans for childcare and online learning.

People who can’t work and won’t get paid could lose their jobs, and then their homes. We need something more concrete than a handful of cases to make this decision. It’s too soon. As this week brings us more information, we can reevaluate.

You need evidence of community spread? Over 100,000 infected and thousands dying around the world is not enough for you?

PP must need their patio furniture to be flying before they agree there's a storm.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Agree. So many kids being raised by grandparents or older relatives...they could end up in foster care. Protecting older people is also protecting children.

Excellent point.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Keep the schools open, but lots of other risk areas we are simply ignoring , why ? Why just take a reflective action that dissproportionately impacts HS students that are low risk? To make ourselves feel like we are " doing something " when really , we continue to have our big CPAC conventions and our political rallies and fund raising dinners with all these people over 50 mingling across state lines ???

That's really weak on execution and planning and is just knee . jerk if you asked me.


**** as for how to intelligently deal with schools, don't just knee jerk close the schools, but rather have kids attend ( they are VERY low risk) , but have those teachers who are 60+ as well as those teachers who smoke or who underlying heath conditions tele teach to their MS/ HS classrooms ( assembled at school)

All outdoor HS Athletic events go on as planned, but no spectators


Its the 21st Century and technology gives us lots of options better than closing schools. A few of them:

First, all cruise ships bookings and permissions to dock at any port should be banned by Federal order ( these are just floating germ farms and most of the cases in US can be traced to Cruise ships )

1) close movie theatres , play sporting events with no fans in attendance and cancel all indoor conventions, business meetings where adults in high risk group mingle ( across state lines) ie CPAC/ AIPAC
2) ban all political rallies
3) close religious services
4) no adult over 60 should be allowed to visit a school and , if they teach there they should tele teach



5) All outdoor HS Athletic events go on as planned, but no spectators

UBER/ Lyft should be banned in every city in the USA . Go back to taxi companies who's employees have sick pay and health insurance ( people without sick pay, who won't be able to earn a living if they don't take riders who are picking up travelers from airports, out of state and riding with them in a close space

Imagining a school like DD’s where 1/2 the teaching staff is over 50, who will supervise the classrooms in which the older teacher is teleworking? DD’s PD 1 teacher is at least 70 (she was retirement age when she taught my eldest), the Art Teacher is elderly, the English teacher had a heart transplant and is immunosuppressed at at least 50, and the Spanish teacher is retiring this year. Do you really want 14 year olds unsupervised 4 out of 7 periods?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Imagining a school like DD’s where 1/2 the teaching staff is over 50, who will supervise the classrooms in which the older teacher is teleworking? DD’s PD 1 teacher is at least 70 (she was retirement age when she taught my eldest), the Art Teacher is elderly, the English teacher had a heart transplant and is immunosuppressed at at least 50, and the Spanish teacher is retiring this year. Do you really want 14 year olds unsupervised 4 out of 7 periods?

Lord of the flies

[Anonymous]

This research paper on the Spanish Flu is what many are pointing to as a reason to shut down schools early.

In the 2007 study, researchers looked at the effect of the speed at which different US communities took certain non-pharmaceutical measures on deaths in those communities.

The upshot is that those communities that were quickest to ban public gatherings and shut down schools had the fewest deaths.

https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/208354

The territory that has been quickest to act in the current crisis is the West Bank. It will be interesting to observe how effective it is. Last Thursday morning, 4 cases were confirmed in a town adjacent to Bethlehem, all associated with an Italian tour group.

By noon that day, the Palestine Authority had shut down all schools, all restaurants, and all places of worship in the greater Bethlehem area. By midnight, the PA put the entire area under lockdown and shut down all schools and universities throughout the West Bank.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Keep the schools open, but lots of other risk areas we are simply ignoring , why ? Why just take a reflective action that dissproportionately impacts HS students that are low risk? To make ourselves feel like we are " doing something " when really , we continue to have our big CPAC conventions and our political rallies and fund raising dinners with all these people over 50 mingling across state lines ???

That's really weak on execution and planning and is just knee . jerk if you asked me.


**** as for how to intelligently deal with schools, don't just knee jerk close the schools, but rather have kids attend ( they are VERY low risk) , but have those teachers who are 60+ as well as those teachers who smoke or who underlying heath conditions tele teach to their MS/ HS classrooms ( assembled at school)

All outdoor HS Athletic events go on as planned, but no spectators


Its the 21st Century and technology gives us lots of options better than closing schools. A few of them:

First, all cruise ships bookings and permissions to dock at any port should be banned by Federal order ( these are just floating germ farms and most of the cases in US can be traced to Cruise ships )

1) close movie theatres , play sporting events with no fans in attendance and cancel all indoor conventions, business meetings where adults in high risk group mingle ( across state lines) ie CPAC/ AIPAC
2) ban all political rallies
3) close religious services
4) no adult over 60 should be allowed to visit a school and , if they teach there they should tele teach



5) All outdoor HS Athletic events go on as planned, but no spectators

UBER/ Lyft should be banned in every city in the USA . Go back to taxi companies who's employees have sick pay and health insurance ( people without sick pay, who won't be able to earn a living if they don't take riders who are picking up travelers from airports, out of state and riding with them in a close space

Thank goodness. The Brain Trust is here.

There aren't enough subs to cover the rooms of teachers who are 60+ or with underlying conditions. Many schools and many students don't have the tech to do e-learning. And of course you realize, the reason to close schools is not to protect kids who are likely going to have a very mild case...it is to protect all the people THEY will infect. Their parents, grandparents, the people at the grocery store, their nurses, doctors, etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Imagining a school like DD’s where 1/2 the teaching staff is over 50, who will supervise the classrooms in which the older teacher is teleworking? DD’s PD 1 teacher is at least 70 (she was retirement age when she taught my eldest), the Art Teacher is elderly, the English teacher had a heart transplant and is immunosuppressed at at least 50, and the Spanish teacher is retiring this year. Do you really want 14 year olds unsupervised 4 out of 7 periods?

Lord of the flies

Lord of the flees there is no hope!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Without an endgame plan, why close them? What is the plan to reopen? They close them, they’re out the rest of the school year.
At this point it would do more to restrict airline and train travel domestically.

BFD
the schools can close for a year and there will be no effect on students knowledge.

That might be true for your kid and my kid, my many of my students experience serious “summer slide”. It’s not just the economically disadvantaged kids either.

I have taught for 20+ years in both high and low income schools. Every year, most kids (I'd put it at about 85%+) come back each fall having forgotten 2-4 months of material, dropping in their reading and math levels. We could solve this super easily by having year round schools, but parents won't have it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Without an endgame plan, why close them? What is the plan to reopen? They close them, they’re out the rest of the school year.
At this point it would do more to restrict airline and train travel domestically.

BFD
the schools can close for a year and there will be no effect on students knowledge.

That might be true for your kid and my kid, my many of my students experience serious “summer slide”. It’s not just the economically disadvantaged kids either.

My kids are all over 18. Trust me, summer slide doesn't matter in the long run.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Imagining a school like DD’s where 1/2 the teaching staff is over 50, who will supervise the classrooms in which the older teacher is teleworking? DD’s PD 1 teacher is at least 70 (she was retirement age when she taught my eldest), the Art Teacher is elderly, the English teacher had a heart transplant and is immunosuppressed at at least 50, and the Spanish teacher is retiring this year. Do you really want 14 year olds unsupervised 4 out of 7 periods?

Lord of the flies

Where are all of these old teachers? Our school has 95% under the age of 30.