How could a school the size of Blair reopen?

[Anonymous]

How will kids get to school? My kids’ buses are packed. That’s not happening.
How will they get into the school? There’s one entrance, that’s absolutely packed. It will take an hour for them to just get through the door. That’s not happening.
Cafeteria. Totally canceled.
Gym class. Totally canceled.
Each class has 20-30 kids packed into a small space.
The hallways are worse.
It’s laughable to think even cutting the school in half would be enough. And where is the money to hire for two shifts?

Kids will be coming to school at most, once a month in Sep-Nov, and then this thing will roar back in the winter and it’ll be shut for good. More likely, the entire year will be online.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

You want to talk about nursing home deaths at a time when everything else was closed. Nursing homes couldn't close and didn't. They were open, everything else was closed. They got hit the hardest. Nothing else was open.
Except meat packing plants. They were open. They got hit hard.
Places that were open, got hit hard.
Get it?

Lots and lots and lots of things are open. And people (non-employees) are out at them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Everyone will have to wear masks in school.

How's that going to work for lunch?

You might be able to get HS students to wear masks effectively other times, but what about elementary students? Pre-K?

I think it's likely that we're going to see very different solutions for elementary vs. high school.

There's evidence, but not yet proof, that kids under 10 aren't spreading the virus, or doing so in smaller numbers. So, it may be that there's a decision that masks start at a certain age.

It's also more realistic to set up routines so that elementary students are only exposed to others in their own class. Whether that's specials being done virtually (e.g. teacher projected on whiteboard), eating in the classroom, staggered arrivals and dismissals, assigned seats on the bus so kids are next to others in their class etc . . .

On the other hand, from an economic point of view, reopening elementary schools is key. Right now, if schools are closed, 12.5 percent of the workforce can't work. So, getting those parents back to work means getting care for their kids.

On the other hand, I think we're more likely to see some kind of blended solution for high schoolers. I can imagine, for example, going to a block schedule (4 classes that last a semester, rather than 8 that last all year, or even 2 classes that last a quarter). So, a student might have 4 classes, 2 of which meet on campus, and come to school every other day.

But we're months away from reopening, and hopefully we'll have a lot more information by the end of that period, about whether and how kids spread the virus, and what kind of interventions have the most power to slow down spread.

Man, most teachers did not sign up for putting their lives at risk to teach school. It'll be interesting to see how they react, especially those who are older and close to retirement eligiblity.

Neither did grocery store employees or meat processors.

1. Notice that food workers are fighting for PPE and threatening to strike. Don’t think teachers won’t do the same.
2. Most teachers have more economic/alternative career options than grocery store employees and food processors. How many feds do know you married to a cashier at Safeway or a chicken processor?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

1. Notice that food workers are fighting for PPE and threatening to strike. Don’t think teachers won’t do the same.
2. Most teachers have more economic/alternative career options than grocery store employees and food processors. How many feds do know you married to a cashier at Safeway or a chicken processor?

I'm a fed, and my colleague is married to a person who works at Giant.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The only real way to spread out kids is to go to a shift model. Alternating days or mornings/evenings could cut numbers in half. In secondary, some courses could be switched to a lecture (online modules) & discussion group (assessments and labs in school) model. Seniors can take reduced #courses. Students could enroll in fully online college courses. It’s going to take a lot of different ideas to reduce student and staff load in the buildings.

It would also cut education in half.

No it wouldn't. Course content would still be online. But it would add accountability back to what is happening now. You also don't have to stick to 45 min periods. Rethink the entire schedule process. And not that this would necessarily work for teachers, but my HS kids currently sleep late, game with friends early afternoon, and will finally start schoolwork later around 4 or 5pm, work until 8 or 9pm, and then game with friends until midnight. Some older kids might prefer a night school arrangement that allows them to work during the day.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The only real way to spread out kids is to go to a shift model. Alternating days or mornings/evenings could cut numbers in half. In secondary, some courses could be switched to a lecture (online modules) & discussion group (assessments and labs in school) model. Seniors can take reduced #courses. Students could enroll in fully online college courses. It’s going to take a lot of different ideas to reduce student and staff load in the buildings.

It would also cut education in half.

No it wouldn't. Course content would still be online. But it would add accountability back to what is happening now. You also don't have to stick to 45 min periods. Rethink the entire schedule process. And not that this would necessarily work for teachers, but my HS kids currently sleep late, game with friends early afternoon, and will finally start schoolwork later around 4 or 5pm, work until 8 or 9pm, and then game with friends until midnight. Some older kids might prefer a night school arrangement that allows them to work during the day.

How's that working out for your HS kids?

My academically-minded HS kid hates it and reports that all of their friends hate it too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

You want to talk about nursing home deaths at a time when everything else was closed. Nursing homes couldn't close and didn't. They were open, everything else was closed. They got hit the hardest. Nothing else was open.
Except meat packing plants. They were open. They got hit hard.
Places that were open, got hit hard.
Get it?

Lots and lots and lots of things are open. And people (non-employees) are out at them.

This forum is for Montgomery County, Maryland.
Schools are closed.
Malls are closed.
Churches are closed,
Businesses are closed.
Government is closed.
Restaurants are closed.

Those things were all closed to limit human interaction. Nursing homes require constant human interaction and have not been closed. They have remained open and the virus has spread in those locations because they were still open.

Add up the total number of things closed times the number of people that would have participated in those places and you will get the number of human interactions that are not happening today. It's basic math.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Presumably, Silver Spring won't still be a hot spot in the Fall. The numbers for 20906, for example, while high are only slowly going up (ie: 10-25 new cases per day for past week).

That's because we're shut down. If things are going up a little with things shut down, I certainly wouldn't expect them to go down when we stop social distancing.

My kids went to Blair. I can tell you that while you can't feasibly keep kids 6 feet apart in the classroom, that's still a lot better than the spacing in the cafeteria, on buses, or in the halls between class periods.

Honest question. We know Blair has a ton of kids, but it is also one of the largest high schools in terms of square footage. Is it actually more crowded than any other MCPS HS?

If we go by at a glance, Blair is at 117% capacity, on 30 acres, with 10 portables.

Walter Johnson (chosen literally at random) is at 124% capacity, on 31 acres, with 6 portables.

I'm not trying to play "gotcha." I just don't think Blair is alone here.

I'm the poster you quoted, and I agree with you. I too don't think that Blair is alone in being crowded. It is quite possible that other schools may be more crowded, but I don't have direct experience with them. Regardless of relative population densities, I find it highly doubtful that any MCPS school (including elementary and middle schools) can
provide adequate social distancing. I referenced Blair, because that was the subject of OP's original question.

WJ students do not come from roughly 1/2 of the county. That greatly reduces the likely of WJ becoming a place that spreads coronavirus across households in different parts of MoCo.

WJ students can eat off campus, reducing density in the cafeteria.

This makes no sense. You are assuming WJ kids don't live with people who are coming and going from all over, including DC, which will continue to be a hotspot for many months. Not to mention you are assuming that all staff in WJ live right near the school and aren't commuting. And staff's family....

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:How will kids get to school? My kids’ buses are packed. That’s not happening.
How will they get into the school? There’s one entrance, that’s absolutely packed. It will take an hour for them to just get through the door. That’s not happening.
Cafeteria. Totally canceled.
Gym class. Totally canceled.
Each class has 20-30 kids packed into a small space.
The hallways are worse.
It’s laughable to think even cutting the school in half would be enough. And where is the money to hire for two shifts?

Kids will be coming to school at most, once a month in Sep-Nov, and then this thing will roar back in the winter and it’ll be shut for good. More likely, the entire year will be online.

Where are the school administrators? Board of Education? County officials? They should all be talking about this right now. Creative solutions, robust public discussion about how to move forward during a pandemic.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

You want to talk about nursing home deaths at a time when everything else was closed. Nursing homes couldn't close and didn't. They were open, everything else was closed. They got hit the hardest. Nothing else was open.
Except meat packing plants. They were open. They got hit hard.
Places that were open, got hit hard.
Get it?

Lots and lots and lots of things are open. And people (non-employees) are out at them.

This forum is for Montgomery County, Maryland.
Schools are closed.
Malls are closed.
Churches are closed,
Businesses are closed.
Government is closed.
Restaurants are closed.

Those things were all closed to limit human interaction. Nursing homes require constant human interaction and have not been closed. They have remained open and the virus has spread in those locations because they were still open.

Add up the total number of things closed times the number of people that would have participated in those places and you will get the number of human interactions that are not happening today. It's basic math.

You haven't been out lately, have you?

Schools are closed.
Malls are closed, but there aren't a lot of malls anyway.
Churches are closed.
LOTS OF BUSINESSES ARE OPEN.
Government is open.
Restaurants are open for take-out.

If everything really were closed, the numbers would be going down. But they're not going down, they're plateauing. That's because lots of things are open, and lots of people are out and about.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

You want to talk about nursing home deaths at a time when everything else was closed. Nursing homes couldn't close and didn't. They were open, everything else was closed. They got hit the hardest. Nothing else was open.
Except meat packing plants. They were open. They got hit hard.
Places that were open, got hit hard.
Get it?

Lots and lots and lots of things are open. And people (non-employees) are out at them.

This forum is for Montgomery County, Maryland.
Schools are closed.
Malls are closed.
Churches are closed,
Businesses are closed.
Government is closed.
Restaurants are closed.

Those things were all closed to limit human interaction. Nursing homes require constant human interaction and have not been closed. They have remained open and the virus has spread in those locations because they were still open.

Add up the total number of things closed times the number of people that would have participated in those places and you will get the number of human interactions that are not happening today. It's basic math.

You haven't been out lately, have you?

Schools are closed.
Malls are closed, but there aren't a lot of malls anyway.
Churches are closed.
LOTS OF BUSINESSES ARE OPEN.
Government is open.
Restaurants are open for take-out.

If everything really were closed, the numbers would be going down. But they're not going down, they're plateauing. That's because lots of things are open, and lots of people are out and about.

What government is open, in what building with crowds of people?
What businesses are open that the public can freely enter in large numbers at one time?
You seriously think take out is the equivalent of a crowded sit down restaurant?
The thread was about nursing homes being the only source of infection. The point was that they are the place that is still open with large groups of people.
Numbers are up because some, very small numbers of people are out and if all of the above were open the numbers would be much, much higher and nursing homes would no longer stand out. Read the thread.

[Anonymous]

The number of people out is not small.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How will kids get to school? My kids’ buses are packed. That’s not happening.
How will they get into the school? There’s one entrance, that’s absolutely packed. It will take an hour for them to just get through the door. That’s not happening.
Cafeteria. Totally canceled.
Gym class. Totally canceled.
Each class has 20-30 kids packed into a small space.
The hallways are worse.
It’s laughable to think even cutting the school in half would be enough. And where is the money to hire for two shifts?

Kids will be coming to school at most, once a month in Sep-Nov, and then this thing will roar back in the winter and it’ll be shut for good. More likely, the entire year will be online.

Where are the school administrators? Board of Education? County officials? They should all be talking about this right now. Creative solutions, robust public discussion about how to move forward during a pandemic.

What makes you think they aren't?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The number of people out is not small.

Yup. I live near a major road. 6 weeks ago, it was silent and stayed relatively quiet for about 3 weeks. In the last 3 weeks, traffic has increased steadily. Today, it is nearly as loud as it ever gets. This is just my observation, but I'm sure other areas have increasing traffic and activity.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:How will kids get to school? My kids’ buses are packed. That’s not happening.
How will they get into the school? There’s one entrance, that’s absolutely packed. It will take an hour for them to just get through the door. That’s not happening.
Cafeteria. Totally canceled.
Gym class. Totally canceled.
Each class has 20-30 kids packed into a small space.
The hallways are worse.
It’s laughable to think even cutting the school in half would be enough. And where is the money to hire for two shifts?

Kids will be coming to school at most, once a month in Sep-Nov, and then this thing will roar back in the winter and it’ll be shut for good. More likely, the entire year will be online.

Exactly!