Here is why we should close schools now.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Frankly there should never have been the problem of parents missing out on their paychecks to take care of kids in an emergency. There always should have been mandated paid leave for emergencies and now it should be expanded.

How are small business owners (who will see a MASSIVE decrease in business, if not have to completely shut down) absorb this cost? I asked this earlier in the thread and was given a completely irrelevant response.

PP, do YOU own a business?

Yep, this sucks and it's why it's going to throw us into a recession. But do we want a recession and a health crisis, or do we want to slow the spread and drop the curve as the graphic above shows.

FWIW, two-parent working family.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Frankly there should never have been the problem of parents missing out on their paychecks to take care of kids in an emergency. There always should have been mandated paid leave for emergencies and now it should be expanded.

How are small business owners (who will see a MASSIVE decrease in business, if not have to completely shut down) absorb this cost? I asked this earlier in the thread and was given a completely irrelevant response.

PP, do YOU own a business?

They don’t absorb the cost, they fold. Along with many larger companies.

PP you quoted here

Exactly--and since that business folds, that employee still won't be getting that "mandated paid leave" the previous pp demands.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Frankly there should never have been the problem of parents missing out on their paychecks to take care of kids in an emergency. There always should have been mandated paid leave for emergencies and now it should be expanded.

How are small business owners (who will see a MASSIVE decrease in business, if not have to completely shut down) absorb this cost? I asked this earlier in the thread and was given a completely irrelevant response.

PP, do YOU own a business?

Yep, this sucks and it's why it's going to throw us into a recession. But do we want a recession and a health crisis, or do we want to slow the spread and drop the curve as the graphic above shows.

FWIW, two-parent working family.

I agree the goal should be to invert the curve as fast as possible- not just flat but going back down the other side to zero. This is what S Korea has done successfully and we should be following their lead.

I see that DC is closing for a day next week cleaning?

[Anonymous]

DC schools are closing Monday for teacher development, to figure out how to provide tele instruction.

On a different note, Denmark appears to be the next European country to close all schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Frankly there should never have been the problem of parents missing out on their paychecks to take care of kids in an emergency. There always should have been mandated paid leave for emergencies and now it should be expanded.

How are small business owners (who will see a MASSIVE decrease in business, if not have to completely shut down) absorb this cost? I asked this earlier in the thread and was given a completely irrelevant response.

PP, do YOU own a business?

They don’t absorb the cost, they fold. Along with many larger companies.

PP you quoted here

Exactly--and since that business folds, that employee still won't be getting that "mandated paid leave" the previous pp demands.

employers are mandated to do all sorts of things, if they are over a certain size. Benefits, breaks, time off, physical safety, etc. It's part and parcel of running a business. I get that this is hard for small business owners (which is why I think the government isn't nearly as small business owner friendly as they should be).

Anyway, proposals are being put forward:

https://thehill.com/homenews/house/486325-democrats-introduce-bill-to-guarantee-paid-sick-leave-in-response-to?fbclid=IwAR1ytrDdB9V37Lr_2o34MbuhlOvTE3fxyFdg2hyCNOFK5prR4aC9A_Xb6B0

[Anonymous]

Also bad for small businesses: 70% of employees being unable to work due to a terrible illness.

This is just bad either way.

I think small business owners who give PTO should get tax breaks.

[Anonymous]

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/global-deaths-top-4-000-000319020.html

Seattle is the first major public school district to close for two weeks. It has over 50,000 students.

[Anonymous]

Closing school is inconvenient for many parents, as the schools are a place for kids to get foods and spend their days. However, the schools are no longer safe in a situation such as coronavirus just like any other social gathering.


In this interview from Science, Nicholas Christakis, a social scientist and physician at Yale University, explains

https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2020/03/does-closing-schools-slow-spread-novel-coronavirus

Q: How about proactive school closures, before there are any infections associated with a school? Are they helpful?

A: Proactive school closures—closing schools before there’s a case there—have been shown to be one of the most powerful nonpharmaceutical interventions that we can deploy. Proactive school closures work like reactive school closures not just because they get the children, the little vectors, removed from circulation. It’s not just about keeping the kids safe. It’s keeping the whole community safe. When you close the schools, you reduce the mixing of the adults—parents dropping off at the school, the teachers being present. When you close the schools, you effectively require the parents to stay home.

There was a wonderful paper published that analyzed data regarding the Spanish flu in 1918, examining proactive versus reactive school closures. When did [regional] authorities close the schools relative to when the epidemic was spiking? What they found was that proactive school closing saved substantial numbers of lives. St. Louis closed the schools about a day in advance of the epidemic spiking, for 143 days. Pittsburgh closed 7 days after the peak and only for 53 days. And the death rate for the epidemic in St. Louis was roughly one-third as high as in Pittsburgh. These things work.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Closing school is inconvenient for many parents, as the schools are a place for kids to get foods and spend their days. However, the schools are no longer safe in a situation such as coronavirus just like any other social gathering.


In this interview from Science, Nicholas Christakis, a social scientist and physician at Yale University, explains

https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2020/03/does-closing-schools-slow-spread-novel-coronavirus

Q: How about proactive school closures, before there are any infections associated with a school? Are they helpful?

A: Proactive school closures—closing schools before there’s a case there—have been shown to be one of the most powerful nonpharmaceutical interventions that we can deploy. Proactive school closures work like reactive school closures not just because they get the children, the little vectors, removed from circulation. It’s not just about keeping the kids safe. It’s keeping the whole community safe. When you close the schools, you reduce the mixing of the adults—parents dropping off at the school, the teachers being present. When you close the schools, you effectively require the parents to stay home.

There was a wonderful paper published that analyzed data regarding the Spanish flu in 1918, examining proactive versus reactive school closures. When did [regional] authorities close the schools relative to when the epidemic was spiking? What they found was that proactive school closing saved substantial numbers of lives. St. Louis closed the schools about a day in advance of the epidemic spiking, for 143 days. Pittsburgh closed 7 days after the peak and only for 53 days. And the death rate for the epidemic in St. Louis was roughly one-third as high as in Pittsburgh. These things work.

TOTALLY AGREE WITH THIS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Closing school is inconvenient for many parents, as the schools are a place for kids to get foods and spend their days. However, the schools are no longer safe in a situation such as coronavirus just like any other social gathering.


In this interview from Science, Nicholas Christakis, a social scientist and physician at Yale University, explains

https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2020/03/does-closing-schools-slow-spread-novel-coronavirus

Q: How about proactive school closures, before there are any infections associated with a school? Are they helpful?

A: Proactive school closures—closing schools before there’s a case there—have been shown to be one of the most powerful nonpharmaceutical interventions that we can deploy. Proactive school closures work like reactive school closures not just because they get the children, the little vectors, removed from circulation. It’s not just about keeping the kids safe. It’s keeping the whole community safe. When you close the schools, you reduce the mixing of the adults—parents dropping off at the school, the teachers being present. When you close the schools, you effectively require the parents to stay home.

There was a wonderful paper published that analyzed data regarding the Spanish flu in 1918, examining proactive versus reactive school closures. When did [regional] authorities close the schools relative to when the epidemic was spiking? What they found was that proactive school closing saved substantial numbers of lives. St. Louis closed the schools about a day in advance of the epidemic spiking, for 143 days. Pittsburgh closed 7 days after the peak and only for 53 days. And the death rate for the epidemic in St. Louis was roughly one-third as high as in Pittsburgh. These things work.

I’m going to copy this to the MCPS thread. Thanks!

[Anonymous]

Need to declare snow days for the rest of the week and Monday.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Need to declare snow days for the rest of the week and Monday.

No no rest of semester. Three days will do nothing! Need to take this seriously NOW. Before it’s too late and we end up like Wuhan or Italy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:https://finance.yahoo.com/news/global-deaths-top-4-000-000319020.html

Seattle is the first major public school district to close for two weeks. It has over 50,000 students.

The rest of the nation is going to close. It is just a matter of time. In the next 1-3 weeks, every school, everywhere is going to be shut down.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:https://finance.yahoo.com/news/global-deaths-top-4-000-000319020.html

Seattle is the first major public school district to close for two weeks. It has over 50,000 students.

The rest of the nation is going to close. It is just a matter of time. In the next 1-3 weeks, every school, everywhere is going to be shut down.

Yup. It’s time to close them all.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Also bad for small businesses: 70% of employees being unable to work due to a terrible illness.

This is just bad either way.

I think small business owners who give PTO should get tax breaks.

This isn’t going to be a terrible illness for 70% of anybody. Come on.