"Safe" class at preschool
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Anonymous
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I got an email today from a parent whose child is entering the same year as mine at our preschool. They were reaching out as they are trying to find other families entering this grade (preschool year) who are being "very conservative with regards to COVID safety" and are interested in making a "social pact" to continue those practices through the year and be "transparent with each other about changes". They say that they have gotten agreement from the preschool's director to put this group of kids in a class together if the parents request it.
I really feel like this isn't right on the part of the preschool. The school has protocols (which seem great, including full time masking and no mixing of classrooms); presumably everyone enrolling for this fall is aware of inherent risks of preschool and agreeing to those protocols as part of sending our kids back, but to facilitate the formation of a class that is somehow claiming to be "safer" than the others at the same grade level doesn't seem right. The organizing family described high level safety measures that they are engaging in and presumably expect other to as part of their pact (working from home, limiting exposure, wearing masks, not going to gyms/restaurants, etc.). Nothing crazy, and our family are doing all of those and being careful on our side, but I don't think I need to be justifying our family's activities with 7 other families if we decide to visit with grandparents or outside friends, or discuss why/how we have two kids in different preschool/daycare rooms, etc. In the end, I'm likely to ignore the email and therefore I suppose my kid will end up in the "unsafe" class where we have not signed onto the "pact". I also think this is building in a structural bias - e.g. towards families where both parents can work from home, towards families of only children where another sibiling is not in the mix, towards families who are housed as nuclear units without other relatives under the same roof, etc. Given that there are only 2-3 classes for this particular age group, I see no way that this doesn't have impacts on the other classes as a result of self-selection in/out of the "safe" class. And which teachers are signing up teach the "safe" vs. "unsafe" class? Does this seem crazy to anyone else? I don't really want to stir up trouble and I'm terrified of our director, so chances are I just go with this. But this feels like the school is facilitating some social engineering based on circumstances. It's one thing to set up a "pod" with agreed upon rules when your school is distance learning (as I've seen with many elementary schoolers). But this is like buliding a "pod" within a preschool, which feels explicitly exclusive and outside of bounds for things the school should be facilitating. |
Anonymous
| I don’t think it’s that crazy. I would feel better if other parents at our school had a common understanding. For example, “can we all agree that If your older kid/husband/wife/babysitter is exposed to covid or is sick, that you keep everyone home until you test. |
Anonymous
| The family that sent the letter sounds like they have uncontrolled anxiety issues, and perhaps THEY should keep their child home. I would not sign or respond to the letter. |
Anonymous
+1 These "pacts" mean nothing, and only make people more secretive IMO. |
Anonymous
I agree and I would raise with the school that you think there are inequity issues with them agreeing to this. If they took this step now imagine what hell your next year will be like if you agree to this. Do you have to ask permission from the other parents before you want to take your kids on a hike or on walk around the block? Everyone social distances in slightly different ways- one family might think weekly grocery deliveries are OK and another family might say they want everyone to wipe down everything and only get deliveries once a month. You would end up having the take the most extreme version of everything. That, OR the family that sent this will basically make the rules about what is safe and what is not. |
Anonymous
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Our preschool made us sign a contract that we agree to social distance outside of school, notify school if we travel out of state, notify school if any member of household was exposed to someone covid positive.
I feel like they covered all the bases. Plus a bunch of protocols in class now in place |
Anonymous
That's different than some random family sending around a pact. |
Anonymous
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Just ignore it
We are social distancing, but I wouldn't sign their stupid letter on principle and legal grounds. |
Anonymous
| I wouldn’t do it, they sound nutty. This will be the first family to say that their (out of state wedding/graduation/family reunion/whatever) didn’t count because reasons. |
Anonymous
| It seems crazy and I would completely ignore. |
Anonymous
| I think it's nice. After reading here, some people dgaf about covid-19 and take no precautions. Take their kids to the park, the zoo, have playdates with neighbors, have get togethers with friends, go to restaurants. I don't want my kid near those people. If definitely jump at the opportunity to be in a class with people who are serious about distancing. |
Anonymous
| The fact that you may still see friends and family make you not a good fit for this class because you are taking riskier behaviors. |
Anonymous
| I bet other people jumped on this and there's no more room in the class |
Anonymous
OP here - I'm totally sure that this is the case. I just don't feel like the school should be facilitating it. I do intend to ignore the letter and invitation, as I don't think our family is a fit and don't see how this works without a lot of drama. |
Anonymous
Shrug. It's a private preschool. It's not like there are equity issues. Pretty sure I know which preschool you're talking about and there is literally no way that this separate class is going to lead to any inequity. |