Yes. So interesting. So four kids now in isolation. I wonder how many are quarantined after contact tracing. Those kids have to be isolated and then test on day four and day seven and if negative then they can be “released”.
Does that mean that Notre Dame is only testing kids with symptoms? 67 tests since 8/3 wouldn’t appear to indicate they are doing asymptomatic testing.
The new reason likely being Math. My educated guess is that the number of students returning to live on campus was way less than they initially thought. between those staying home and the smart upperclassmen who got off campus apartments, the normal room and board revenue that usually exceeds cost, no longer even offset the cost of returning to campus - so they pulled the plug. Plus local last minute pressure and last minute faculty pressure.
I don’t think it’s the math. Places like Princeton and Penn only offered on campus spots to certain grades and they knew that’s what they were getting in room and board. Last minute local pressure and new quarantine rules seem to be the big kicker.
Reversal from the governor in NJ, re: K-12 plans: https://www.nj.com/education/2020/08/nj-schools-will-be-allowed-to-start-all-remote-report-says-in-major-reversal-of-murphys-reopening-plans.html
geez what’s going on in NJ?
Very interesting. NJ is a very interesting case because the property taxes in most towns are astronomical - because the have the best public schools. I can’t imagine the war there will be in these towns where people pay well north of 12k a year in property taxes and now won’t be able to go to work because they have to teach their small children at home via remote learning - all while the state has a super low positivity rate after heroically living through one of the most restrictive shut downs, and suffering such high elderly death rates.
This plus this is just the first wave…the unknown if the problem I think.
@suzyQ7 The article says, in some cases, teachers refused to return.
My understanding is that teachers don’t want to go back in person because they don’t think it’s safe. Their unions support them. The governor wanted some in person instruction in every plan, but now backed down to the pressure and will let each town decide.
My old public school district in OH just announced delaying the start of the school year and doing the first 4 weeks online before trying to transition to a hybrid model if the numbers of cases looks OK. The press release specifically said that they had a record number of teachers take early retirement, request FMLA, or just flat out resign. So many that they needed to reshuffle classes and workload and that’s why they were postponing the start of the school year.
Looking at Massachusetts and the waffling going on now even with super low positivity rates - the number of cases will never be ok until they are zero.
Our high school district is now going fully remote at least to start the fall semester, and many parents are already talking about filing a lawsuit (affluent suburban Chicagoland with crazy high taxes where housing market still has not rebounded since the great recession…a high proportion of homes pay $20K+ in RE taxes each year).
I am not sure what the basis of the lawsuits would be…any legal types out there who know? Maybe less classroom time, less synchronous instruction don’t fulfill teacher duties in the union contract?
Our local high school district had freshmen orientation for one of the high schools last week and the other one is today. Masks, distancing all enforced. We even have videos made from student council members going over the rules and looking cheery about it.
Kids find out today if they are in group A or B, remote class starts on Monday. For M-W, kids “go” too all classes remotely to “meet” their whole class and have the teachers welcome them and lay the ground rules. Homework will be given all three days. Then, on Thursday, group A goes to school and, on Friday, it’s group Bs turn. After than, A goes M, Th and B goes T, F and everyone remote on Wednesdays. In theory it sounds ok I guess. No lunch. Home by 12;:45. Lots of rules.
Some sports are happening - boys golf, girls tennis, XC, and swim.
Most people here think we will make it a few weeks. I had a conversation with a dad I don’t really know while out on a dog walk. He said kids should be in school and hopes that it doesn’t change. Then he went on to say that kids will be kids outside of school and we should let them have Homecoming parties so they all get herd immunity. I wish I had thought more quickly to respond more thoroughly but I was shocked and just told him that our D won’t be going to any Homecoming party.
"Currently, Ohio has left the decision to individual school districts on how to approach the new school year.
According to information gathered by the Ohio Department of Education, 325 public school districts in Ohio are planning to return to school full-time which equates to approximately 590,000 students. A total of 55 districts representing approximately 398,000 public school students will begin the school year remotely. Approximately 380,000 students in 154 public school districts will start the school year with a hybrid of online and in-person learning. Information on 78 public school distracts was not readily available."
There was an interesting map of Ohio that showed school district plans so far at yesterday’s press conference. For the most part as expected rural areas return to school and urban areas go online.
@Mwfan1921 Shoot. Well, we are in the same situation here with the taxes so I’m sure your neighborhood will be looking at districts like ours that seem to be moving forward with the plan. For all of our sake’s, I hope it works. If we do ok, you guys may have a better chance of school in Oct.
Elon has updated its dashboard but interestingly it does not display the number of tests administered on campus.
https://www.elon.edu/u/ready-and-resilient/health-wellness/covid-19-dashboard/
In PA there are state guidelines to return, but it is also up to the districts. The other day a very large district made it clear that the administration was supporting a hybrid model as requested by the majority of parents, but it had to be tabled because they didn’t have enough teachers willing to work in person. So 100% remote.
Social media exploded.
In our area, a lot of folks transferring kids to private school. Also many daycare businesses advertising as places for kids to attend school virtually.
I work in the NJ schools. Many districts are simply unprepared to open safely. No PPE, no teacher training, hours to complete temperature checks, policies not in place (what happens when a child has a bathroom accident, needs his milk opened?).
Why is it Ok to eat lunch in school…when it’s not OK to eat in a restaurant?
How do students get mask breaks when it’s raining outside?
This is just the beginning…
Interesting news from H yesterday. He had a meeting of all elem specialty teachers downtown. One of the items mentioned was that parents had to pick either all virtual or in person learning. Once they selected the choice, it was binding through the end of the semester. The results? 55% of elementary selected virtual. I was shocked, but also very pleased for H. Cutting the numbers in half right off the bat has to help. Of course, IMO binding won’t really be binding as everything seems to change daily. But I will choose to be pleased for the time being.