Mmmm…interested to see how difficult it is to get exempted and how soon a lawsuit is filed. Especially if they’re not requiring staff and faculty…seems discriminatory. Not to mention international kids who may not be able to get one or will have one not approved in the US.
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Vaccine exemptions, as a rule, are not difficult to get for the public schools in NJ. There was a legislative ruckus a year or two back…an attempt to remove the religious exemption option. Parents protested pretty vigorously and ultimately, there was no appetite for that fight in the state house.
On a different note, my D20’s school – Simmons University–announced today they intend to be fully-reopened for fall. In-person classes and at-capacity residence halls. Students will be encouraged, but not required, to be vaccinated.
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Apparently, there are very few religions opposed to vaccines: Religious exemption for vaccines: Christian Scientists, Catholics, and Dutch Reform Church. (despite the title, the Catholic church’s distaste for vaccines originally made from fetal cell lines means only that it wants Catholics to choose other vaccines for the same disease that did not use fetal cell lines if available, not to refuse vaccination).
However, this does not mean that there are not religious (or claiming to be religious) people who oppose vaccines and try to use religious arguments in their claims. Religiousness or claiming to be so can also overlap with other demographics who oppose vaccines (or COVID-19 vaccines specifically) for other reasons.
UW-Madison just put out a similar e-mail. Encouraged, and vaccine will be available to students who want it, (but not mandated) with plan for in-person and full residence halls. This seems a much more reasonable approach at this point that allows for personal choice. I don’t see how they can mandate while still under emergency approval only.
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Do you have a source for stating that longer term after effects are “quite common”? Thanks.
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Here is an example study of longer term after effects:
The results section says that “Among participants with COVID-19, persistent symptoms were reported by 17 of 64 patients (26.6%) aged 18 to 39 years, 25 of 83 patients (30.1%) aged 40 to 64 years, and 13 of 30 patients (43.3%) aged 65 years and older.”
If you want anecdotes, @Creekland can probably tell you a story. Of the seven people (none elderly) I know who have had COVID-19, two have had longer term after effects (one quite severe in terms of breathing difficulties making it difficult to do things like walking to another room in the house).
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NJ Department of Health has stated that the employers in NJ can mandate vaccination at workplaces for their employees, with the usual exceptions. Not sure if that is what Rutgers based its decision on.
What Google search did you use? I just did a very quick one and found more than one.
This article is even older being dated Dec 2020:
“Tens of thousands of new coronavirus cases continue to emerge on college campuses. A New York Times survey of more than 1,900 American colleges and universities — including every four-year public institution and every private college that competes in N.C.A.A. sports — has revealed more than 397,000 cases and at least 90 deaths since the pandemic began.”
I’m too busy at the moment to see what current numbers are, but they should be out there somewhere.
Then one has to wonder how many of the survivors (since most survive) will have to live with perhaps lifelong effects.
Bring on the vaccine, then let life return to normal.
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California just announced everyone 16+ will be eligible to receive a vaccine beginning April 15. Hopefully that is good news for both graduation this year and in person classes next year.
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Georgia started 16+ today.
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Interesting about Rutgers. I work at another NJ state university, and I doubt they’ll do that unless they have to.
BUT: they said 100% in person in the fall, everything full capacity. I have not talked to a colleague since the announcement on fully in-person in Fall 2021 who will be maskless in the fall.
Funny thing is, the governor is like NO VIRTUAL OPTION for next K-12 public school year, yet the colleges are talking about REQUIRING an online section of all big courses because so many kids will either go 100% online next year or transfer out.
I think NJ and other states should consider that they MUST have a state-wide (or region-wide in bigger states) virtual HS program at the very least, for kids with cancer or other serious illnesses who can’t get vaccinated. Seasonal flu itself is a big risk for them.
I think that having an online course option should remain permanently at all education levels.
Looking back at my K-12 experience, many of my In person classes where a waste of time. Disruptive classmates could have a particularly bad day and distract the teacher the whole lesson or the teacher could set useless busy work or even choose to have a “ fun” lesson and set something completely uneducational at all like watch American Pie ( I am being serious). Having the option to skip lessons and work from home would have been a better use of my time sometimes .
Also it could be a tool to help remedial students catch up. As someone who struggled with English at school and hit a wall particularly hard around 10th grade with essay writing, it would have been useful for me to take some time out and go back a couple of grades to review writing basics. Having access to say 7th grade video lessons on grammar rules by a teacher I knew to browse through at my own pace would have been amazing .
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I hear that many schools are keeping an all remote option available for those who want it or need it for academic success.
I don’t think it’s realistic that K-12 schools offer permanent online course options…most don’t have the resources and expertise for that.
People do have other options…there are dozens of excellent online K-12 providers, and of course homeschooling and co-ops are options as well.
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My states offered online education before covid and will continue to do so. Florida has Florida Virtual School, but many of the counties/school districts also had options for one or all classes online.
In Colorado there are 5 or 6 free online options that many use for homeschooling but they are complete programs and the parents don’t have to teach at all if they don’t want to. I think there will be a lot more of those programs offered. My sister teaches 4th grade and she was allowed to pick entirely online if she wanted to (she returned to the classroom). Another friend chose to teach online all year and her kids also attend online. As long as the student is registered in the district on October 1 of the school year, the school district gets the funding for that student for the year. It probably costs less to have them online.
My state has also offered a full on-line free public school option for several years prior to covid. This was for all grades & included tons of options for high school including all AP classes. There should be no reason for each school/district to have to take on the cost of doing this themselves as it is much more economical to have it centralized. As previously stated, there are also multiple private on-line options as well.
Are these online provisions completely compatible with the in person school curriculum though? If a kids English class only offers Romeo and Juliet and he prefers Macbeth would he be able to skip just that unit but attend the rest of the year and still get full credit for the online study? Also would a low socioeconomic kid who’s parents don’t have the internet be able to go to his schools library to self study there?
As far as I am aware online programs are usually separate from the in person program, you can’t mix and match how I described at all grade and ability levels. It’s usually an add on for advanced students or remedial for those who failed a class or have behavioural issues.
For Florida Virtual, you can take one or two classes and attend a brick and mortar school for the rest, or do all Virtual, or do some semesters virtual, etc. Anything you want. If you register for a class, you do the entire class and cannot skip units or pick and choose. Some home schoolers use the courses, but they have to complete the course as designed, not use pieces to make their own.
I know a lot of home schoolers in Colorado and some have chosen to do an online program. When they do, they have to do the program and can’t do home schooling like they used to (all PE in the summer, 6 weeks of just one class, no history for 4 years, etc). Some online programs may allow students to take just one class, but most here don’t do that and I don’t think a lot of the public ones do (a student has to be enrolled in a program for the school to get the full funding for that student). The school districts do allow homeschoolers to take some in person classes and also to play sports at the school. There is a lot of controversy about that.
But as to the original question of whether schools will continue remote learning after covid, I think they will. Many have for years, others found it works for some families.
Our high school is currently in a hybrid mode. Most students go to school 2 or 3 days per week and are online the other 2-3 days (weeks vary). Special needs kids are at school 5 days, along with those in danger of graduating.
This morning we received the results of a poll of parents, staff, and students regarding their desire to return to full, everyday, in person education since that is being heavily promoted in our state (and elsewhere) right now. I found the results quite interesting. Note these are only high school (grades 9-12) results.
Are you in favor of returning to full time, in person?
Parents:
57.5% Yes
40.2% No
Hesitancy appears not to have been an option for parents.
Students:
53.1% No
25.8% Yes
21% Yes with hesitancy
Staff:
42.4% Yes with hesitancy
40.2% No
19.6% Yes
About half of the students/families answered the survey making one think that those who didn’t either didn’t care or couldn’t be bothered - aka - no strong opinions for whatever reason. Internet is available at school, so there’s no reason students couldn’t answer the poll.
Time will tell what our school board decides, but there’s definitely no “everyone agrees about this” answer and students seem the most opposed to it making me think the current schedule isn’t exactly ruining them in their eyes.