We are doing the public DL this year but will be applying this fall to private schools for 2021-22. We have three kids and private will be a significant financial struggle, but we will make it work for a few years if the privates manage to open successfully (will keep a close eye on how things turn out for them this school year). Several private schools in our area in VA have the funds and resources to acquire new buildings, hire additional teachers, spread students out and adhere to distancing protocols, etc. This is what we’re planning for the time being.

Anonymous wrote:OP, I would consider mental health treatment for yourself

haha seconded!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
But then as soon as states open, the rates go back up. The only way to keep it at 2 per hundred thousand is to keep everything at spring closure levels indefinitely, or be isolated like Hawaii. I think we need to accept a slightly higher rate- I don't know what that it is, but policymakers need to have this debate.

Before someone shouts "Europe!" there are reasons to suspect some of the numbers coming out of certain countries right now.

No. Apparently keeping spread to less than 1 per 100,000 per day means you can control with testing, quarantine, and contact tracing. You need to stay vigilant, though, and you really can't have a lot of travel from the out of control states or countries.

You don't need to have stay at home orders as much. You might need to keep wearing masks indoors.

PP doesn’t understand you just can’t go a ‘little bit higher’ bc exponential growth gets out of control real fast and our tools can’t maintain at that level.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
But then as soon as states open, the rates go back up. The only way to keep it at 2 per hundred thousand is to keep everything at spring closure levels indefinitely, or be isolated like Hawaii. I think we need to accept a slightly higher rate- I don't know what that it is, but policymakers need to have this debate.

Before someone shouts "Europe!" there are reasons to suspect some of the numbers coming out of certain countries right now.

No. Apparently keeping spread to less than 1 per 100,000 per day means you can control with testing, quarantine, and contact tracing. You need to stay vigilant, though, and you really can't have a lot of travel from the out of control states or countries.

You don't need to have stay at home orders as much. You might need to keep wearing masks indoors.

I was just checking out the numbers on the WaPo website and currently only Maine and Vermont are at that threshold. I know Maine is severely restricting out of state visitors (and I wish MD would do the same!) but do these states have robust testing and contact tracing programs? Or is is more that they are rural and keeping people out?

Doesn't MD supposedly have contact tracers? Is it making a difference?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, I would consider mental health treatment for yourself

Barring an unexpectedly fast scientific breakthrough (which could happen, but is not the most likely outcome), years of DL is realistic. Those who think otherwise are delusional. There may be a few half-hearted attempts to go back next fall, but they won't stick.

NP. Unfortunately, I agree with this. I'd estimate that DL will be in place for about three years. Pretty much any credible medical expert does not think this will blow over in a year. We very well might have a vaccine in a few months, but by the time it is distributed, I think initial outbreak of the pandemic will likely be over. https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2020/07/covid-19-vaccine-reality-check/614566/

I was laughed at in March when I said that there wouldn't be school next year, and here we are.

Yes, I do believe that teacher unions and school districts will be broken up across the country, but that isn't going to happen in a year. It is going to take some time, and local school board elections will need to cycle through.

Years of distance learning yet I can go to a mall? My teenage neighbor can work at Target right now?
Why the hell can't teachers just do their jobs like the rest of us are. In masks if needed. This is getting crazy.

Classroom 20 hrs/week with 15 people versus strolling through an abandoned mall are very different things.

Anonymous wrote:I'm thinking of sending my kids to live with grandparents in upstate New York. They will quarantine at home first, I'll drive them up there, and let them do another quarantine officially with grandma and grandpa. They are old enough to be a help to my folks (who asked for them to come). If Maryland doesn't get it together and turn our state around, it's going to be a long, hard winter stuck mostly indoors on our screens.

Is the district your parents live in reopening fulltime? I grew up in upstate NY and the school district I attended proposed a hybrid model- two days in school, three days DL. ESOL and SN students would get to attend in-person 4 days. This is in an area with very low infection rates currently- they have opened up indoor dining, etc., but haven't seen the jump like in other places.

Guess I'm just pointing out that even the places who are doing well and plan to open schools will still be limited- will the grandparents support DL if needed? Hard to see how many places will get to fulltime this year.

Here's news from the sports world. This was with lots of precautions, and testing and "podding"

Now imagine this repeated over and over again in the schools.

Anonymous wrote:
But then as soon as states open, the rates go back up. The only way to keep it at 2 per hundred thousand is to keep everything at spring closure levels indefinitely, or be isolated like Hawaii. I think we need to accept a slightly higher rate- I don't know what that it is, but policymakers need to have this debate.

Before someone shouts "Europe!" there are reasons to suspect some of the numbers coming out of certain countries right now.

No. Apparently keeping spread to less than 1 per 100,000 per day means you can control with testing, quarantine, and contact tracing. You need to stay vigilant, though, and you really can't have a lot of travel from the out of control states or countries.

You don't need to have stay at home orders as much. You might need to keep wearing masks indoors.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Years of distance learning yet I can go to a mall? My teenage neighbor can work at Target right now?
Why the hell can't teachers just do their jobs like the rest of us are. In masks if needed. This is getting crazy.

Malls should absolutely not be open any place where spread is high. If it isn't safe for schools to open, malls, indoor dining, bars, etc should all be closed.

Target should only be open for curbside pick up, for essential items, as it was during the shutdown, and the people who do work there should be protected from interaction with customers and paid highly; work should be on a voluntary basis.

Teachers are no more special than mall workers or Target employees. They just happen to have more clout politically which is why they have been able to bring this issue to a head.

We cannot reopen anything until we get spread under control. We need to have fewer than 2 new cases per 100,000 people, per day as one measure. States that get it, get it and are working on it.

States that don't get it are going to crater, catastrophically and economically and health wise and socially. It is happening in slow motion in the South right now.

But then as soon as states open, the rates go back up. The only way to keep it at 2 per hundred thousand is to keep everything at spring closure levels indefinitely, or be isolated like Hawaii. I think we need to accept a slightly higher rate- I don't know what that it is, but policymakers need to have this debate.

Before someone shouts "Europe!" there are reasons to suspect some of the numbers coming out of certain countries right now.

Anonymous wrote:Why do teachers think they are so much more special than the rest of us. I did not sign up to have people coming into my work with no masks or that are sick but you know what it's called life.

It's called failure of government, actually.

I am very sorry for your individual situation, and for the fact that it is playing out all over the country right now.

I want you to know that it did NOT have to be this way. We had ample warning that COVID was out there and how to handle it. Some states have finally figured out what to do. You apparently live in a state or county that has failed you. Please know, it is not the fault of teachers that this happened. It is a failure of your politicians at the highest level, to control COVID spread.

I am very sorry that your government thinks so poorly of you and your fellow workers, that they are allowing people who are sick to come into your workplace with no masks. I urge you to contact public health authorities, and your elected officials, and make it known to them that this is not happening in civilized, functioning countries around the world, and in many states in the US (in the North East mostly)

Anonymous wrote:
Years of distance learning yet I can go to a mall? My teenage neighbor can work at Target right now?
Why the hell can't teachers just do their jobs like the rest of us are. In masks if needed. This is getting crazy.

Malls should absolutely not be open any place where spread is high. If it isn't safe for schools to open, malls, indoor dining, bars, etc should all be closed.

Target should only be open for curbside pick up, for essential items, as it was during the shutdown, and the people who do work there should be protected from interaction with customers and paid highly; work should be on a voluntary basis.

Teachers are no more special than mall workers or Target employees. They just happen to have more clout politically which is why they have been able to bring this issue to a head.

We cannot reopen anything until we get spread under control. We need to have fewer than 2 new cases per 100,000 people, per day as one measure. States that get it, get it and are working on it.

States that don't get it are going to crater, catastrophically and economically and health wise and socially. It is happening in slow motion in the South right now.

Anonymous wrote:why do teachers think they are so much more special than the rest of us. I did not sign up to have people coming into my work with no masks or that are sick but you know what it's called life. I wear a mask I did stay home and quarantine but at some point this is the life we have and you need to get on with it. what about the millions of children who need the education and the meals and the support from schools. I guess teachers matter more than them.

We have been teaching the whole time, as well as providing breakfast and lunch for any family, free of charge. Spare me-we are not responsible for solving every single societal ill. We don't even have the funding to purchase pencils for every student, but you want us to solve child abuse, mental illness, poverty, food insecurity, etc. Do you not see how this is wrong? This country is in such a sorry state.

Anonymous wrote:Oh come on like Target and Walmart employees are getting paid millions of dollars to go to their jobs. All teachers do is complain about low pay but it's a profession they chose.

Target and Walmart employees have gotten raises-https://corporate.target.com/press/releases/2020/06/target-increases-starting-wage-to-15-thanks-frontl#:~:text=Target%20set%20its%202020%20goal,in%20June%202019%20to%20%2413. -whereas teachers have taken paycuts. These employees also don't purchase materials for their jobs to the tune of hundreds of dollars a year or take any work home. They have limited interactions with customers, who are all required to wear masks (or they are kicked out of the store). We are being asked to go back to work in small, unventilated classrooms for seven hours a day without a break, with a group of children who we cannot force to wear a mask. That's not the same thing. They are not responsible for blowing noses, helping customers in the bathroom, tying shoes, wiping tears, or touching customers in any capacity.

Frankly, they also didn't take on student loans or work through six years of school to work there. Sorry, not the same job, not the same risks. If you want us to go to work, then give us hazard pay. Pay me for the prep periods and lunches you want to take away. Otherwise, I don't think so. I am not a servant.

why do teachers think they are so much more special than the rest of us. I did not sign up to have people coming into my work with no masks or that are sick but you know what it's called life. I wear a mask I did stay home and quarantine but at some point this is the life we have and you need to get on with it. what about the millions of children who need the education and the meals and the support from schools. I guess teachers matter more than them.

Oh come on like Target and Walmart employees are getting paid millions of dollars to go to their jobs. All teachers do is complain about low pay but it's a profession they chose.