K-12 fall plans

[kaysixteen]

Lots of people could do a job that is better/ more advanced, etc., than the one they got now, but there ain't enough jobs in many if not most of these more sophisticated areas than folks who could and would take em.  One might believe one is so superior that one will certainly beat the odds, etc., but, well.... maybe so, maybe not.  What exactly, and I am trying, I guess, to give you a chance to explain yourself, would be the contingency plans most of these lower-income people should have, how could they get such a contingency in place, etc.?

[apl68]

Our local grade school is a couple of blocks up from where I live.  The teachers are now coming in making their preparations to reopen.  The children will be there in a few more days.  We'll see.

[wellfleet]

First day of synchronous class for wellkid's high school today and it looked like his science teacher was Zooming from a tide pool. Keeping our fingers crossed . . . .

[mamselle]

This is the follow-up article to the young woman suspended for posting a picture of non-socially distanced, unmasked throngs in her high-school hallway in Georgia:

    https://amp.cnn.com/cnn/2020/08/10/us/paulding-school-crowded-halls-threats/index.html

This is on another school's discussion and decision-making trajectory: they're going to remote for grades 4-12:

   https://www.thecrimson.com/article/2020/8/9/cambridge-public-schools-remote-fall/ 

M.

[mamselle]

Double a few days later: One family's decision-making tree:

   https://www.cnn.com/2020/08/12/health/covid-kids-school-gupta-essay/index.html


M.

[FishProf]

This is the follow-up article to the young woman suspended for posting a picture of non-socially distanced, unmasked throngs in her high-school hallway in Georgia:

    https://amp.cnn.com/cnn/2020/08/10/us/paulding-school-crowded-halls-threats/index.html

This is on another school's discussion and decision-making trajectory: they're going to remote for grades 4-12:

   https://www.thecrimson.com/article/2020/8/9/cambridge-public-schools-remote-fall/ 

M.

I wonder if this is where Smolt's (G3) school got their plans.  Survey sent yesterday - Do you prefer:
Plan A: K-3 F2F all day every day, 4-12 some hybrid split day plan; or
Plan B: K-12 All remote.

Why yes, I do prefer middle grounds, where they are offered.

[apl68]

Staff here, who spend an awful lot of time worrying about everything, are now fearful that we'll be inundated by kids trying to do remote work and running everywhere spreading germs once school opens.  Actually we've seen very, very few children here this summer.  I'm afraid that our inability to provide our normal summer reading program has caused us to fall completely off of parents' radar.  I doubt we're going to have anything like our normal (modest) number of children coming here during the school year.

Nonetheless, to reassure them I've dedicated my latest library column in the local paper to reminding parents that families and students who come here will be expected to practice social distancing, that limited availability of computers means we'll have to prioritize educational use over gaming and videos, and that we are not able to have unaccompanied pre-teens here.

I hope that parents and children DO come, as there are useful services that we can still offer.  I wish there was more we could do, but our remote access resources and expertise here are so painfully limited.  And the staff member whose responsibility it is for managing what we do have is the one who has been out for weeks and is malingering about coming back. 

[nebo113]

60 new cases in 4 days in small, rural county of about 37,000.  One small school district already open.  County district opening next week.  Insanity.

[Economizer]

Bad asses and others that get mean for whatever reasons, boys and girls both, will be the unknown factor in the 2020 fall startups. Sturgislike bravado, maybe? Further and more efficient controls on the immaturity of the immature? Maybe when terror in their immediate vicinity is realized. The best course is to instill a good sense of responsibility and the need for being positive role models by team members and other activity participants. I have worked in schools where athletic squads were prepared to be quickly directed to control assignments by their coaches in certain instances.

[hmaria1609]

Maryland and Virginia counties will offer child care in school buildings:
https://wtop.com/local/2020/08/md-va-counties-will-offer-child-care-programs-in-school-buildings-during-remote-learning/
Posted on WTOP Radio online (8/16/20)

[apl68]

One of my mother's former students, who is responsible for ESL classes in her district, has just been told that she has a week to put all classes online.  Evidently the district planned to be face-to-face, then panicked and decided to go online at the last minute. 

There are also reports coming in of a district in Our Neighbor to the South that has had to flee online because the very first week of class predictably blew up the number of infections in what was already a hot spot city.

[nebo113]

District went virtual 4 days before school starts.

[Parasaurolophus]

K-12 started last weekish here and in other parts of the country, but is postponed at least until the 22 in Ontario.

Since the daily new cases are kind of high in the three biggest provinces (over 600 a day between them for the last while), and the transmission rate is above 1, I rather suspect we're in for a shutdown and a shift back online in the near future. So far, this doesn't seem related to schools at all, but I think it's only a matter of time.

[apl68]

So far so good in our local schools.  But we just added three new cases in our county overnight, so the overall situation's still worrisome.

[ab_grp]

Our K-12 schools are online, but there have been several cases at various schools involving staff members.  I think the admin is supposed to make a decision about returning after Oct 15, but my guess is remote learning will continue through the end of the semester (at least).