Once again…the topic is school in the fall…let’s stick to that and stay away from politics.
I am unclear on what exactly has to happen to enable colleges to open in Sept 2021. NJ has very low Covid rates, plenty of PPE and hospital beds available, and not a single college in the state opened. NC has much higher rates and many colleges there opened.
Isn’t NJ still in Phase II out of IV possible phases? Maybe that is why?
Wait, do you mean Sept 2020 or 2021? I hope can reopen for Spring at least!
Yes, until the governor moves N.J. to stage III, in-person classes and indoor dining cannot occur.
NJ has such low numbers, I cannot understand why colleges are not opening.
One advantage for Fall 2021 for colleges over Fall 2020 should be info/data. Right now we don’t have much in the way of info/data to go on in terms of colleges beging open. Next fall, we will have all of the info that colleges will be gathering this fall and Spring 2021 as well. Will have a better sense of what worked and what didn’t. What caused problems and what was relatively safe/low risk. In addition, there should be further progress on testing, therapeutics and vaccines.
None of that is to say Fall 2021 in person college classes is a given. Just that there should be a lot more info/data. Without a vaccine, still likely will be a challenge though.
What are other countries doing? There is actually data available. I am sure that is being considered too by these universities/colleges. Nevertheless, the institutions’ hands are tied by the state government.
If we need to account for cultural issues here in this country, then yes, we will have to wait a year to see what works and doesn’t.
NJ does have low numbers…but there have been events in recent days that caused the numbers to increase a little. I am just happy that he mandated masks in schools. He’s getting a lot of pressure to begin the year virtually.
Daycare centers could open as part of phase 2 but colleges need to wait for stage 3 in NJ?
New Zealand managed to completely eliminate community spread of SARS-CoV-2, so it has been able to end all domestic restrictions, although those arriving from elsewhere are still subject to restrictions to prevent imported cases from spreading in the community.
However, some other countries that thought that they had the virus under control (e.g. Australia, Vietnam) have had to return to lockdowns due to outbreaks.
We need to account for all relevant differences including cultural ones. Why wouldn’t that be the case? How can you expect to get the same results in different situations using the same methods?
Are we that different than some other countries culturally, in the areas that would make a difference in what we are speaking about here? I guess the question is what can be gleaned now since do we have the luxury to wait a year? Not sure 330 million people will keep waiting.
What could be an opportunity? Climbing over the bodies of our dead co-workers? Personally, I have no interest in more permanent positions, but that’s me. I don’t have the most common of positions.
I’m sure a lot of teachers, etc. consider ourselves “essential” but essential does not necessarily mean “cannon fodder”. H does work that some would also consider “essential” (btw, do people have jobs that are considered “useless”?), but he has worked from our dining room for the past 5 months (dear god, please let that end soon). When did we redefine essential to mean only those who are at the most risk of catching a virus on the job site?
We are different culturally. But those are not the only differences that are relevant in terms of colleges. All the differences need to be factored in. Not to mention, the info we have now with respect to Covid is all in the early stages. That which we “know” now may well evolve/change over time as we learn more. Good portion of 330 million people didn’t want to wait more than 2-3 weeks.
It is up to each school to decide if they will open up physically and how. For some schools, it may mean a short life span if they do not open. Same dilemma that many businesses are facing.
Those who are lucky enough to be able to work remotely, whose line of work permits this , can do so, but many will have to make the decision between taking the risk of catching This virus or be out of work. Really the same decision that some businesses and schools have to make. Those with jobs that can find replacement employees will have the choice to yield their positions those willing to take the risk.
Just as hospital employees wear and use PpE, so should teachers. This poses an enormous problem to teachers of younger children, but professors and instructors of college aged students should be able to stay a safe distance and stay protected.
Those schools that can survive with distance learning, have the luxury of taking that route unto, unless, parents and students decide that it’s not worth paying that price for that experience. It also requires the students and those paying to make the decision that the risk of catching the virus and its effects and side effects are worth taking, as they have been for the flu and other ailments. It’s certainly not worthwhile opening up schools if the students are not going to attend.
So we have this matrix of risks, consequences, Rewards. There are a number of parties involved in this equation.
In my personal situation, I assessed that my risk of getting Covid where I was working was low and the rewards were great. I was fortunate enough to have the choice. My work was deemed essential. My work place and community took precautions. I could have chosen not to work because my situation did not require taking the job. I know many employees who are working even with high risks because the immediate downside of not doing so is too painful. I also know essential healthcare workers who have chosen NOT to work. Not much written about them, not much discussion.
So, as far as colleges go, and all who have children in their college years, decisions have to be made.
I don’t understand the obsession with NJ opening back up fully (incidentally only a handful of colleges here have announced they are all remote.) But be that as it may, two things are key here:
We lived through the worst stretch of the pandemic–with little PPE, not nearly the limited treatments available now, and terrifying illness and death rates. Hard to describe what it’s like to live in a relatively small town and lose scores of fellow townspeople, refrigerator trucks outside the hospital around the corner, etc. No one wants to go back to that.
Secondly, we are avoiding that with our strict precautions, and even with them, knuckleheads at parties and outside bars are nudging the numbers back up again.
So yes, those of us in states where we believe in caution and know that the virus is real, don’t want to go back to the way it was last spring, and have a hard time understanding why we’d want to emulate states who had much more warning, and yet have chosen to pretend the virus isn’t real and open everything up–with the expected results.
No thanks!
No one is asking to go back to spring, but elementary schools need to open for some sort of in person instruction - our kids need to be in school. There are a few knuckleheads and millions of people following the rules. Those people need their kids to go to school. It’s essential.
@Midwestmomofboys , yes, you are right about Denison, and I am sorry if my terminology confused people. Denison is offering some classes face-to-face and some only virtual - my son’s classes just happen all to be virtual, at least at the start of the semester. After doing virtual from Asia over the spring, I think that just being on campus and in the same time zone as his professors is enough for him. Today, there are a lot of early check-in reports on the parents FB page, and it seems to be going smoothly. Each student gets six masks and a large bottle of sanitizer upon arrival. The school is really trying to make the best of the situation. They’ve also been actively soliciting ideas from the students - hammocks for outdoor classes, anyone?
It would be credible, @garland, if we didn’t have daily pics from the NJ shore showing vast unmasked throngs of people, who apparently do not have PTSD over the March experience in NJ. Perhaps better priorities would dictate that more police enforce the shore situation and colleges/schools could reopen.
No colleges in NJ can offer in person instruction while the state remains in phase 2.
The daily pics are exactly why we can’t open up. Also, although our governor enjoys about 70% approval, there is a robust 30% who hate his guts. And the Venn diagram of them and the idiots at the Shore bars is basically a circle.
Also this thread is about colleges, not elementary students, is it not? Let’s not conflate the two.
And agree that no college can have in person in Stage Two. All along, the expectation has remained that we will move to S3 before colleges begin. Again, the idiots in those pictures you reference are the reason we haven’t moved on yet, and why Murphy might move the K-12 to remote for the fall.