We are lucky too in that our average class size is 11 kids. And their classrooms are really large. What will be interesting to me is what the school does with the “wait and see” parents who haven’t signed their contracts for next year. Their spots were officially released in February. They generally are pretty relaxed until April. But I know a ton of parents who don’t want to pay our tuition if they are doing any distance learning. So what happens if they set everything up for classes under 10 kids, and then they all come rushing back? I’m of the opinion that they can go f themselves. The school has to plan, sign teacher contracts (or not as the case may be), set up classes, etc. The can’t wait until August to do all that stuff.
Plus the ones who refuse to pay tuition or sign contracts are the ones throwing parties and pretending there’s no pandemic, so they are the ones I’m sure who would also be saying their kid isn’t getting vaccinated, isn’t wearing a mask, and shouldn’t have to stay home for a cough. I’m just sad that a couple are DD’s bffs. So that sucks.
I would much prefer that the kids just go back full-time with no masks. That doesn’t seem feasible based on the guidelines. If they stick to the 10-kid limit, DD1’s class will be a mess since they have 21. DD2’s could be divided since they are set to have 13 kids this fall (though that number could go up since 2 local schools closed last week).
I don’t wasn’t them home at all in the fall. They need to go back. I need them to go back. I’m just not confident that it will happen.
mae0111, I hear you, I need them to go back as well. Our district said that they will decide sometime in July. And that we will likely have some sort of hybrid with days in school and days of virtual learning. I'm hopeful that maybe enough parents will decide to keep their kids home that we could go 5 days per week. If not, we will hire a nanny for the other days. And hopefully have both kids have the same days in class and the same days out of a class. Right now, I am so grateful that our new nanny started this morning.
I have a feeling my district will end up full remote again in the fall. In talking with my mom and sister this weekend (both educators in the state) it seems like the most likely solution. They both said live stream of classes basically can't happen due to privacy concerns. And our classrooms are already filled to the brim and we have no empty spaces in the school to realistically space these kids out enough. It's not an overcrowded school, but classes are around 20-25 kids depending on grade level. Plus, you'd need so much more staff to handle those spaced out kids, I don't know how we'd suddenly get the funding for that. I think regardless of what happens with school, ExH and I are going to have to switch to a week on/week off schedule to help make things more manageable for everyone.
Our principal cancelled all summer programs today. She has said that she's studying the initial guidelines, and is awaiting more detailed guidelines to be released next week before completing any planning. But she's ordering PPE for the teachers now based on the state's outline. She said we won't know the complete plan until mid-July.
So... it sounds like the kids will be in the building somehow??? And at some point??? in the fall.
DS has to be in the building. He was a straight A student and got his first C and barely pulled out another B in this mess. Puberty and being a boy in high school may play a role, but he has a lot of trouble getting his work in online, and we have never had this problem before.
Each kid had a goodbye class zoom today. DD1's teacher just gave such a sweet, heartfelt little speech congratulating the kids on making it through distance learning and being so brave. One of their good friends is moving away, so the girls are never going to see him in person to say goodbye, so he's saying bye to everyone. A lot of the kids are getting all choked up. My desk backs up to the table where they do schoolwork, so I'm basically in tears over here listening to all this. It's just heartbreaking.
I’ll be really surprised if we’re 100% online in the fall. I think the most likely scenario is two days a week - our district is preparing for Mon/Wed or Tues/Thurs. DH typically has good instincts on big social things (he’s the guy who took the virus a lot more seriously than most people and bought and stocked a freezer by early March) and he thinks we’ll be going back full time somehow. He thinks ultimately the parents/school district will tell the health department to shove it. I hope he’s right but I’m not too optimistic.
We will figure it out and hire someone for the off days and have the flexibility to continue to work from home here and there. But what about all the dual working parents who had only budgeted $250 a month for school aftercare? What are they going to do now? There also won’t be any distance learning on the off days because the teacher needs to be teaching the other half of the class. It will just be homework packets. From a safety perspective, I think it would be much safer to have 24 kids close to each other in a class everyday vs 12 kids there and the other 12 kids interacting with 12 separate groups of other kids/parents/grandparents on the off days.
ETA - I do think it’s likely that older kids, like high schoolers, might have to continue with distance learning. But at least around here there’s a big push to have elementary schoolers back in school at least a little bit. It’s just not possible to do kindergarten online for the vast majority of kids.
I’ll be really surprised if we’re 100% online in the fall. I think the most likely scenario is two days a week - our district is preparing for Mon/Wed or Tues/Thurs. DH typically has good instincts on big social things (he’s the guy who took the virus a lot more seriously than most people and bought and stocked a freezer by early March) and he thinks we’ll be going back full time somehow. He thinks ultimately the parents/school district will tell the health department to shove it. I hope he’s right but I’m not too optimistic.
We will figure it out and hire someone for the off days and have the flexibility to continue to work from home here and there. But what about all the dual working parents who had only budgeted $250 a month for school aftercare? What are they doing to do now? There also won’t be any distance learning on the off days because the teacher needs to be teaching the other half of the class. It will just be homework packets. Form a safety perspective, I think it would be much safer to have 24 kids close to each other in a class everyday vs 12 kids there and the other 12 kids interacting with 12 separate groups of other kids/parents/grandparents on the off days.
This is a piece that totally stresses me out. I can work from home indefinitely right now, but ExH isn't sure how much longer his boss will let it go on. And since I'm legally obligated to pay for all childcare in our divorce decree, I am really nervous about what that means for my monthly budget. If he has to find childcare for his days, I could suddenly be on the hook for a lot more money out of pocket each month. And I'm still much better off than a lot of families who will be struggling without a WFH option at all.
twinmomma, I would think that legally if he needs childcare for his days, he would need to pay for it. He’s responsible for the kids those days, so he needs to figure it out. I would consult your lawyer on that.
sdlaura, Unfortunately it's not that simple. I've agreed to pay all expenses to avoid paying him child support and alimony. Down to last week asking him how many pairs of shorts he needs at his house for the summer and purchasing those to send back with the kids. If I start messing with the current agreement it could cost me A LOT more each month. The way our state calculates spousal support, I'd be broke and not able to keep the house, so this deal works out a lot better for me. I swear, that form was worse than the FAFSA for college aid and "expected family contributions."
Has anyone who sends their kids to private schools heard anything definitive about opening in the fall? If our school district is online in the fall, I am wondering if the private schools will be as well? If the public school is online but the private school isn't, I would maybe send the kids there. The private schools are about $7k per year here on average ( some are also more), but with having to pay a sitter, they might be worth it, purely from a monetary standpoint. We haven't enrolled in them prior because our public school here is super well ranked, and we pay a ton in property taxes already.
phdmomma I’ve thought about the same thing. But I don’t think we could find a private school here for less than $15k per kid/$30k total. So it will be a lot cheaper to hire a combo of private tutor and babysitter for the days kids aren’t in school. Plus I’m still hopeful that at some point in the year the public schools will go back full time. I think there’s mounting evidence shutting schools didn’t significantly save lives. New article on a study out today:
One striking finding: School closures did not show a significant effect, although the authors cautioned that their research on this was not conclusive and the effectiveness of school closures requires further study.
phdmomma - my kids are in catholic school. So they don’t have to follow the department of Ed guidelines, but they do have to follow the archdiocese. The principal said that we will not have guidelines until July. The final department of Ed guidelines are due to come out next week, and she will review those while making decisions for the school.
We have a ton of old private schools around here, and I don’t know what they’re planning for the fall. I don’t think they’ve issues guidelines yet. But I do know that the private schools around here have been much better about distance learning than the public schools.
phdmomma- our private school is absolutely planning on being in person in the fall. But it’s expensive. We are about to cut a check for $40k for two kids in elementary school. I’m interested to see what our numbers look like for enrollment next year. I’m guessing it will be down, but I don’t know by how much.
twinmomma I would make his employer put in writing that he can't work from home if the kids aren't in school. Just thinking ahead that he might lie to you and woe is me