The prospect of kids not going back to school until 2021

[Anonymous]

Somehow they can manage to open up schools, in some form, in various countires in Europe:

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/10/world/europe/reopen-schools-germany.html

Why can't we do it here? I'm sure there are enough smart people at MCPS to handle this challenge.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Schools are the only consistent forum in this country where hundreds to thousands of people crowd together in small boxes, thin hallways, and tight stairwells. You're practically begging the infection rates to skyrocket by opening them up again.

Governments have to think of the well-being of the community. Not just the desires of fed-up parents.

Good grief. If SCHOOL isn't part of the well-being of the community, what is?!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
This. I really hope public pressure is going to become so intense that the safetyists won't be able to implement their indefinite school reduction plan for more than a few months.

I've been fully compliant will stay-at-home orders, I diligently wear a mask when I go among people and I think everyone should (except young kids), but keeping kids in very part-time school for the foreseeable future is a crazy plan and really discredits the whole lockdown approach, to goal of which was ostensibly to flatten the curve and prevent hospitals from getting overwhelmed. Covid will be with us for a while and life has never been risk-free. We have to weigh costs and benefits, as we do in all areas of life. It's not like Covid is such an outsized threat compared to all the other things one could die of on any given day that we should just completely stop forever living normal lives with reasonable precautions. I hardly ever agree with Republicans on anything, but on this matter, they have a point.

I know everyone is counting on a vaccine within the next year but that is far from certain.

You're being way too reasonable for this crowd.

+100. First it was to flatten the curve, then it just continued. And now it seems like the new goal is 0% risk. 0% risk is not logical or attainable. Yet, here we are with no end date. I mean, we can't just keep the school situation all messed up for an undisclosed period of time. It's ridiculous.

Schools are the only consistent forum in this country where hundreds to thousands of people crowd together in small boxes, thin hallways, and tight stairwells. You're practically begging the infection rates to skyrocket by opening them up again.

Governments have to think of the well-being of the community. Not just the desires of fed-up parents.

Except that data from countries that never locked down their schools don't show them to be the cause of skyrocketing infection rates. How does that information fit into your worldview?

We've all seen the articles and the pictures of schools around the world opening up. None of them are crowded-there are a few masked kids sitting well-spaced out in a classroom, kids sitting in a marked off circle in the grass, kids lining up for temperature checks and tests. We can't even afford to supply our classrooms with pencils with our current budgets. Parents demand their kids back full time, so there's no way to reduce crowding.
How do YOU not understand the difference?

[Anonymous]

Personal Income Tax Rate in Denmark: 55%

This is why we can't do what they're doing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

This. I really hope public pressure is going to become so intense that the safetyists won't be able to implement their indefinite school reduction plan for more than a few months.

I've been fully compliant will stay-at-home orders, I diligently wear a mask when I go among people and I think everyone should (except young kids), but keeping kids in very part-time school for the foreseeable future is a crazy plan and really discredits the whole lockdown approach, to goal of which was ostensibly to flatten the curve and prevent hospitals from getting overwhelmed. Covid will be with us for a while and life has never been risk-free. We have to weigh costs and benefits, as we do in all areas of life. It's not like Covid is such an outsized threat compared to all the other things one could die of on any given day that we should just completely stop forever living normal lives with reasonable precautions. I hardly ever agree with Republicans on anything, but on this matter, they have a point.

I know everyone is counting on a vaccine within the next year but that is far from certain.

So you want schools to open up full time at full capacity, without masks. Simply, you are not going to get your way. Public pressure doesn't trump safety, and doesn't magically fund our schools or any of the incredibly expensive measures we'd need to implement in order to open them.

Did PP say that? No, PP did not. In fact, PP explicitly said the opposite.

Also, masks are not incredibly expensive measures.

She literally said everyone should wear masks "except young kids"-so just adults then? I'm not working closely with unmasked children. I teach elementary school. I should just accept that she doesn't think they should wear masks and everything is cool? Not happening.

That's literally the CDC guidance. "Who should NOT use cloth face coverings: children under age 2, or anyone who has trouble breathing, is unconscious, incapacitated or otherwise unable to remove the mask without assistance"

https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/prevent-getting-sick/how-to-wear-cloth-face-coverings.html

[Anonymous]

Maryland income tax rate: 1.1%

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
She literally said everyone should wear masks "except young kids"-so just adults then? I'm not working closely with unmasked children. I teach elementary school. I should just accept that she doesn't think they should wear masks and everything is cool? Not happening.

OK. Kids will wear masks, you will teach. All good now?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
This. I really hope public pressure is going to become so intense that the safetyists won't be able to implement their indefinite school reduction plan for more than a few months.

I've been fully compliant will stay-at-home orders, I diligently wear a mask when I go among people and I think everyone should (except young kids), but keeping kids in very part-time school for the foreseeable future is a crazy plan and really discredits the whole lockdown approach, to goal of which was ostensibly to flatten the curve and prevent hospitals from getting overwhelmed. Covid will be with us for a while and life has never been risk-free. We have to weigh costs and benefits, as we do in all areas of life. It's not like Covid is such an outsized threat compared to all the other things one could die of on any given day that we should just completely stop forever living normal lives with reasonable precautions. I hardly ever agree with Republicans on anything, but on this matter, they have a point.

I know everyone is counting on a vaccine within the next year but that is far from certain.

You're being way too reasonable for this crowd.

+100. First it was to flatten the curve, then it just continued. And now it seems like the new goal is 0% risk. 0% risk is not logical or attainable. Yet, here we are with no end date. I mean, we can't just keep the school situation all messed up for an undisclosed period of time. It's ridiculous.

Schools are the only consistent forum in this country where hundreds to thousands of people crowd together in small boxes, thin hallways, and tight stairwells. You're practically begging the infection rates to skyrocket by opening them up again.

Governments have to think of the well-being of the community. Not just the desires of fed-up parents.

There are 55 million school children in the US. They are part of the community, and their well-being is at stake. If you keep claiming all day long that DL is just as good as in-person school (although that would be a strange belief to hold for an elementary school teacher), but that doesn't make it true. You are in denial if you think kids aren't being significantly harmed by offering them only two days a week of proper schooling. Own the fact that you don't really care about them if you think this is a long-term solution.

[Anonymous]

*You can keep claiming all day long...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
This. I really hope public pressure is going to become so intense that the safetyists won't be able to implement their indefinite school reduction plan for more than a few months.

I've been fully compliant will stay-at-home orders, I diligently wear a mask when I go among people and I think everyone should (except young kids), but keeping kids in very part-time school for the foreseeable future is a crazy plan and really discredits the whole lockdown approach, to goal of which was ostensibly to flatten the curve and prevent hospitals from getting overwhelmed. Covid will be with us for a while and life has never been risk-free. We have to weigh costs and benefits, as we do in all areas of life. It's not like Covid is such an outsized threat compared to all the other things one could die of on any given day that we should just completely stop forever living normal lives with reasonable precautions. I hardly ever agree with Republicans on anything, but on this matter, they have a point.

I know everyone is counting on a vaccine within the next year but that is far from certain.

You're being way too reasonable for this crowd.

+100. First it was to flatten the curve, then it just continued. And now it seems like the new goal is 0% risk. 0% risk is not logical or attainable. Yet, here we are with no end date. I mean, we can't just keep the school situation all messed up for an undisclosed period of time. It's ridiculous.

I don't think it will be for an undisclosed period of time. I think after the vaccine comes out the kids will go back. I wish I could believe that it was coming sooner rather than later but it doesn't seem to be realistic.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
She literally said everyone should wear masks "except young kids"-so just adults then? I'm not working closely with unmasked children. I teach elementary school. I should just accept that she doesn't think they should wear masks and everything is cool? Not happening.

OK. Kids will wear masks, you will teach. All good now?

Necessary but not sufficient. I also need cleaning supplies, custodial staff to be paid to work additional hours, and a strict sick child policy. Still, we aren't opening at full capacity. That isn't my choice-it comes from way above me.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

I don't think it will be for an undisclosed period of time. I think after the vaccine comes out the kids will go back. I wish I could believe that it was coming sooner rather than later but it doesn't seem to be realistic.

Then the 2020-2021 school year is shot. Even if the vaccine is aviailable on 1/1/21, it takes months and months to vaccinate 330 million people.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
This. I really hope public pressure is going to become so intense that the safetyists won't be able to implement their indefinite school reduction plan for more than a few months.

I've been fully compliant will stay-at-home orders, I diligently wear a mask when I go among people and I think everyone should (except young kids), but keeping kids in very part-time school for the foreseeable future is a crazy plan and really discredits the whole lockdown approach, to goal of which was ostensibly to flatten the curve and prevent hospitals from getting overwhelmed. Covid will be with us for a while and life has never been risk-free. We have to weigh costs and benefits, as we do in all areas of life. It's not like Covid is such an outsized threat compared to all the other things one could die of on any given day that we should just completely stop forever living normal lives with reasonable precautions. I hardly ever agree with Republicans on anything, but on this matter, they have a point.

I know everyone is counting on a vaccine within the next year but that is far from certain.

You're being way too reasonable for this crowd.

+100. First it was to flatten the curve, then it just continued. And now it seems like the new goal is 0% risk. 0% risk is not logical or attainable. Yet, here we are with no end date. I mean, we can't just keep the school situation all messed up for an undisclosed period of time. It's ridiculous.

Schools are the only consistent forum in this country where hundreds to thousands of people crowd together in small boxes, thin hallways, and tight stairwells. You're practically begging the infection rates to skyrocket by opening them up again.

Governments have to think of the well-being of the community. Not just the desires of fed-up parents.

Except that data from countries that never locked down their schools don't show them to be the cause of skyrocketing infection rates. How does that information fit into your worldview?

We've all seen the articles and the pictures of schools around the world opening up. None of them are crowded-there are a few masked kids sitting well-spaced out in a classroom, kids sitting in a marked off circle in the grass, kids lining up for temperature checks and tests. We can't even afford to supply our classrooms with pencils with our current budgets. Parents demand their kids back full time, so there's no way to reduce crowding.
How do YOU not understand the difference?

I said COUNTRIES THAT NEVER LOCKED DOWN THEIR SCHOOLS. Sweden, for instance, never shut down elementary schools, recognizing that DL was not feasible at that age. They kept operating at full capacity. Learn to read and check the facts.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
This. I really hope public pressure is going to become so intense that the safetyists won't be able to implement their indefinite school reduction plan for more than a few months.

I've been fully compliant will stay-at-home orders, I diligently wear a mask when I go among people and I think everyone should (except young kids), but keeping kids in very part-time school for the foreseeable future is a crazy plan and really discredits the whole lockdown approach, to goal of which was ostensibly to flatten the curve and prevent hospitals from getting overwhelmed. Covid will be with us for a while and life has never been risk-free. We have to weigh costs and benefits, as we do in all areas of life. It's not like Covid is such an outsized threat compared to all the other things one could die of on any given day that we should just completely stop forever living normal lives with reasonable precautions. I hardly ever agree with Republicans on anything, but on this matter, they have a point.

I know everyone is counting on a vaccine within the next year but that is far from certain.

You're being way too reasonable for this crowd.

+100. First it was to flatten the curve, then it just continued. And now it seems like the new goal is 0% risk. 0% risk is not logical or attainable. Yet, here we are with no end date. I mean, we can't just keep the school situation all messed up for an undisclosed period of time. It's ridiculous.

I don't think it will be for an undisclosed period of time. I think after the vaccine comes out the kids will go back. I wish I could believe that it was coming sooner rather than later but it doesn't seem to be realistic.

Aka an undisclosed period of time. We literally have no idea if/when a vaccine will be available. And when it's available how effective it will be. It's not realistic to base a timeline on something coming that does not have a timeline.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
This. I really hope public pressure is going to become so intense that the safetyists won't be able to implement their indefinite school reduction plan for more than a few months.

I've been fully compliant will stay-at-home orders, I diligently wear a mask when I go among people and I think everyone should (except young kids), but keeping kids in very part-time school for the foreseeable future is a crazy plan and really discredits the whole lockdown approach, to goal of which was ostensibly to flatten the curve and prevent hospitals from getting overwhelmed. Covid will be with us for a while and life has never been risk-free. We have to weigh costs and benefits, as we do in all areas of life. It's not like Covid is such an outsized threat compared to all the other things one could die of on any given day that we should just completely stop forever living normal lives with reasonable precautions. I hardly ever agree with Republicans on anything, but on this matter, they have a point.

I know everyone is counting on a vaccine within the next year but that is far from certain.

You're being way too reasonable for this crowd.

+100. First it was to flatten the curve, then it just continued. And now it seems like the new goal is 0% risk. 0% risk is not logical or attainable. Yet, here we are with no end date. I mean, we can't just keep the school situation all messed up for an undisclosed period of time. It's ridiculous.

Schools are the only consistent forum in this country where hundreds to thousands of people crowd together in small boxes, thin hallways, and tight stairwells. You're practically begging the infection rates to skyrocket by opening them up again.

Governments have to think of the well-being of the community. Not just the desires of fed-up parents.

Except that data from countries that never locked down their schools don't show them to be the cause of skyrocketing infection rates. How does that information fit into your worldview?

We've all seen the articles and the pictures of schools around the world opening up. None of them are crowded-there are a few masked kids sitting well-spaced out in a classroom, kids sitting in a marked off circle in the grass, kids lining up for temperature checks and tests. We can't even afford to supply our classrooms with pencils with our current budgets. Parents demand their kids back full time, so there's no way to reduce crowding.
How do YOU not understand the difference?

I said COUNTRIES THAT NEVER LOCKED DOWN THEIR SCHOOLS. Sweden, for instance, never shut down elementary schools, recognizing that DL was not feasible at that age. They kept operating at full capacity. Learn to read and check the facts.

Sweden didn't lockdown and they're suffering for it. I don't think this is the evidence you think it is.

They just became the country with the second-highest infection rate per capita in the WORLD and if you don't understand that children are carriers who took the virus to their family and friends....I don't know how else to explain that to you.

Sweden, Where No Lockdown Was Ordered, Becomes Second Most-Infected Country

https://www.newsweek.com/sweden-where-no-lockdown-was-ordered-becomes-second-most-infected-country-1511885

https://www.wsj.com/articles/coronavirus-is-taking-a-high-toll-on-swedens-elderly-families-blame-the-government-11592479430

https://www.cnbc.com/2020/06/17/swedens-exclusion-from-nordic-travel-area-swedens-foreign-minister.html