Our public schools stay open so long as positivity rate remains below 5%. So far almost everyone seems very happy with that.
That’s one case per classroom.
I was referring to the positive rate in the community. Our k12 schools do not test students, but so far have reported that one-half of one percent of public school students have reported they have COVID, or 350 out of 68,000 students.
It appears that a solid proportion of the sophomore class at Amherst may be allowed to return for spring semester. D has heard that, because of all the restrictions (mainly not being able to leave campus), a very large proportion of the junior and senior classes (possibly even the majority) are deciding not to return to campus in spring and are just going to stay in off-campus apartments with their friends. Another thing that is leading juniors and seniors just to study in off-campus apartments: this semester, roughly 2/3 of classes were going to be in-person, but many professors switched to online at the last minute, so now, only 40% of professors are teaching a class with an in-person component.
@RosePetal35 Of all the schools that had students return, Amherst seemed to be the most strict. I don’t blame students for wanting to live off campus.
Can the Amherst students living off campus use campus at all? If they are athletes can they practice? How close do they have to live to campus to be part of the testing regime?
Bowdoin is making an exception for a group of seniors who currently live off campus - they will be able to use campus in the spring. But they are not allowing any other grades to live off campus and use campus at all. If you are a freshman, soph, or junior living off campus, you are not allowed on campus for any reason.
@homerdog Amherst students living off-campus cannot use campus at all, athletes who live off-campus cannot practice, and they cannot be part of the testing regime unless they live on-campus.
I can’t see NESCAC resuming sports for spring. Even though those schools have done exceptionally well with limiting Covid on campus, the national numbers are just so bad. When schools made their fall plans in June, the numbers of national daily cases was about 40k and there was a downward trend. We’ are twice that number now with an upward trend. There were 100k cases in the U.S. yesterday! And even if NESCAC has spring sports, I bet Amherst will opt out. How can they field teams with so many of their athletes missing? Plus I can’t see them allowing athletes off campus for games and not letting other students off campus. That would be mutiny!
and most NESCACs have already said kids can’t travel away from campus, or at least not for their abbreviated spring break long weekends so they certainly aren’t going to let teams travel to other NESCACs. I agree- there won’t be spring competition unless something really changes like a flood of rapid tests.
The British prime minister just announced that England will go into a one month lockdown during November and schools and universities and other educational providers will all stay open. The direct affect of schools on spread will be more easily measurable. That will be interesting to observe.
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Last night I watched UVA men’s soccer beat Syracuse in Charlottesville. Syracuse traveled 10 hours by bus. They’ll need to quarantine and take classes remotely when they arrive back at campus. I feel badly for NESCAC athletes that won’t have the opportunity to participate in their sports.
Agreed. Not to mention many high school students across the land participated in sports this fall…golf, tennis, cross country, football. Really don’t understand why NESCAC spring sports like golf, TNF, baseball can’t be held.
So how does that work? When they get back to their campus, they quarantine until they have a certain number of negative tests but how do they get food? They are likely on a floor with non-athletes and sharing a bathroom with them. Unless a team all lives together, I don’t see how it works within the constraints that all NESCAC students are living by
I have no idea how it works. All I know is they get to play. Next Friday I’ll watch UVA take on Virginia Tech. Honestly, if schools can pull off football then sports like soccer and track are no-brainers. I wonder if the NESCAC policies will hinder recruiting?
The schools that are participating in sports are not closed campuses. Students, including athletes, can go off campus to stores and restaurants. When there are big restrictions either by the school or town, like Boulder had, then there are no athletic practices. Boulder athletes did not practice for 2 weeks because of the city ordinance that people 18-22 couldn’t gather in groups of any size.
Some of the NESCAC schools do not allow anyone off campus or off campus people on to the campus. How would Amherst justify not letting someone living off campus to use the library or someone on campus from going to a restaurant or store near campus to then allow a whole team to come to play on their fields or for their athletes to travel to Williams and then go back to class?
Exactly. NESCACs trying to keep cases to zero. Some other schools have thousands of cases with kids lying about symptoms and very little testing anyway. Two completely different scenarios. Different priorities.
I guess the question is which “priority” students would prefer.
@homerdog do you believe your son would be at risk running cross country?
Regarding NESCAC recruiting and COVID impacts, although COVID is factor, most of the teams at Williams have been able to maintain practices on campus, including Lacrosse, tennis, crew, cross country, golf, football. Another factor that will really benefit the NESCAC schools is the Ivy League schools like Dartmouth and Brown dropping sports such as swimming, squash, golf and tennis. The schools like Williams and Amherst have larger endowments per capita and can support the full range of sports in ways the smaller Ivies cannot at a D1 level.
Williams athletes may be practicing, but they can’t travel to another school to play. It’s now an intramural activity.
Amherst athletes are practicing but must wear masks and maintain social distance while doing so. That’s not going to work though in an actual game. How are you going to play lacrosse or any other sport for that matter if you can’t be within 6 feet of one another?