How much do you want schools to open in the fall?

[Anonymous]

This is what we need to do: "Schools this fall, or bars now"

close the bars
close indoor dining
close indoor gyms
keep church attendance very low

We need to be aggressive about reducing spread everywhere.

[Anonymous]

Yeah people apparently must really like homeschooling their kids, because they certainly aren’t doing much to help open schools! I’m a nanny so this is great news for me. Overtime!!

[Anonymous]

https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/2020/7/1/21306816/coronavirus-pandemic-reopen-schools-economy-social-distancing?fbclid=IwAR1qGQGGCIqkjugy8HGyk_I3tQmF_wjA_ikAY6OzsTxnccp46Ea8K4vAITE

Reopening is a community-wide project. Whether a school can reopen safely, for example, doesn’t just depend on capacity, personal protective equipment, or individual actions. It depends on how widespread the coronavirus is in the community outside the school’s walls.

Coronavirus outbreaks play out in similar terms. Getting people to stay 6 feet from each other, wear masks, wash their hands, and stagger groups to keep overall numbers down helps. But if a community is flooded with infections, the chances are much higher that those infections will creep in no matter how many protective steps are embraced. The school or restaurant in question will become yet another place where people can meet and transmit the virus, and that will make the epidemic worse.

It’s this rationale that’s led some experts to frame reopening in more zero-sum terms — to argue that the most important thing we could do to reopen any particular place or venue is reduce community transmission.

In other words: If you want to reopen schools this fall, then you need to get the spread of Covid-19 down, as close to zero as possible, this summer. And that means opting not to reopen — possibly at all and definitely not at full capacity — restaurants, bars, nightclubs, or other places that will lead to significantly more coronavirus spread but have less value to society than schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is what we need to do: "Schools this fall, or bars now"

close the bars
close indoor dining
close indoor gyms
keep church attendance very low

We need to be aggressive about reducing spread everywhere.

CNN is your source oh boy 😂

[Anonymous]

The source is a professor of public health at Harvard.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The source is a professor of public health at Harvard.

And the study had 23 subjects up to age 16.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The source is a professor of public health at Harvard.

And the study had 23 subjects up to age 16.

Ok, so you don't care about the study. The main point is that the only way to reopen schools is to keep the rate of transmission in the community (not the schools) low. We do this by scaling back higher risk activities. The choice is bars or schools. We are not going to be able to have both. Instead of stomping your feet and demanding in person school, why are you not stomping your feet and demanding more sensible actions to reduce the spread of the virus in the community? I just don't understand.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The source is a professor of public health at Harvard.

And the study had 23 subjects up to age 16.

Ok, so you don't care about the study. The main point is that the only way to reopen schools is to keep the rate of transmission in the community (not the schools) low. We do this by scaling back higher risk activities. The choice is bars or schools. We are not going to be able to have both. Instead of stomping your feet and demanding in person school, why are you not stomping your feet and demanding more sensible actions to reduce the spread of the virus in the community? I just don't understand.

We are. The government prioritizes businesses over school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The source is a professor of public health at Harvard.

And the study had 23 subjects up to age 16.

Ok, so you don't care about the study. The main point is that the only way to reopen schools is to keep the rate of transmission in the community (not the schools) low. We do this by scaling back higher risk activities. The choice is bars or schools. We are not going to be able to have both. Instead of stomping your feet and demanding in person school, why are you not stomping your feet and demanding more sensible actions to reduce the spread of the virus in the community? I just don't understand.

How do you know I'm not "stomping my feet" about bars being open rather than schools? Or people not wearing masks in public? Or the federal government being MIA when it comes to testing and tracing?

[Anonymous]

They should close bars, any large gatherings other than day care/preschool/k-12 moving forward.

They should also close colleges and universities. They should reopen businesses with strict SD.

Hopefully this would limit community spread to only occurring at schools. And with good protocols, they could trace and quarantine folks who get it.

Right now people are socializing and moving around which means containing school outbreaks will be challenging. But if you close down the other stuff, you could open schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:They should close bars, any large gatherings other than day care/preschool/k-12 moving forward.

They should also close colleges and universities. They should reopen businesses with strict SD.

Hopefully this would limit community spread to only occurring at schools. And with good protocols, they could trace and quarantine folks who get it.

Right now people are socializing and moving around which means containing school outbreaks will be challenging. But if you close down the other stuff, you could open schools.

Amen. This is what we need to do. I suggest also moving high schools to distance learning only. Use the high school buildings to provide more room for younger grades.

[Anonymous]

I'd rather schools don't open in the fall because it will be another catastrophic failure. The other thread about the principals who came down with COVID after meeting to discuss reopening is just the prelude to this disaster.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'd rather schools don't open in the fall because it will be another catastrophic failure. The other thread about the principals who came down with COVID after meeting to discuss reopening is just the prelude to this disaster.

One came down with COVID. The others are quarantining.

[Anonymous]

Yup. My son and I walked up to CVS last night, had to buy more bandaids and sunscreen. Saw a local restaurant operating an outside dining tent. Tables weren’t spaced six feet apart at all. Here in MA, one of the better states, indoor can resume on Monday.

If we really wanted schools, we’d prioritize keeping the case numbers low. We are making choices right now to have DL.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'd rather schools don't open in the fall because it will be another catastrophic failure. The other thread about the principals who came down with COVID after meeting to discuss reopening is just the prelude to this disaster.

I am in this camp too. Going to school for 2-3 days a week just doesn't seem worth it and it presents all sorts of impossible challenges for the schools and parents. I also think that when we know for sure what school will look like, with no sports, extracurriculars, or other activities, this will be even clearer. My kids are athletes, miss their friends, and need the social interaction of school. Even so, I favor all DL for the fall.

Even before COVID, the education system was stretched too thin trying to be too many things to address too many different problems in our society. We weren't doing all that well before, so I have little confidence that any district has the budget and wherewithal to concurrently operate a DL only system plus hybrid learning.