I'm really jealous of everyone whose district is currently asking for opinions, has released reopening plans, or has committed to doing so in the next couple of weeks. My state board of education (in Utah) isn't requiring districts to release plans until August 1, and even that date was a fight after they originally stated that August 10 was their target. I go back to preservice work as a teacher on 8/10, and the first day of classes will be 8/24. How am I supposed to find childcare for my 4th grader when I have no way to know when he'll be in school until the week before I go back?
Post by sapphireblue on Jun 29, 2020 10:21:21 GMT -5
The question of school in the fall is very stressful. I have a kid due to go into kindergarten in the fall. I'm not sure what to do.
A good friend of mine has a H who is very involved in working on a plan for public schools reopening in a large US city. He said that at this point 40% of the teachers are saying they will refuse to come into the schools in September. They will work from home but won't come to school due to safety concerns. So that's another wrinkle.
Clearly, they have a VERY strong teacher's union so they can't be fired--I assume that in many places they would be.
I wish school for this coming school year could just be canceled nationwide. I'm joking, sort of.
"the AAP strongly advocates that all policy considerations for the coming school year should start with a goal of having students physically present in school."
Like many I have very mixed feelings about this, and it doesn't really address my main concerns about in-person learning, given how little we know about long term effects on asymptomatic cases, but I am also a big proponent of listening to the experts.
This is the hard part here. Pediatric experts have a different guidance than public health experts. So whose guidance do the schools go by?
Reading the recommendations on here, I question how many of the authors have been in a classroom. They talk about 6 foot distancing between early elementary kids and teachers and not allowing other adults on campus. So when a Kindergartener falls and bonks their knee and ends up in tears (a daily thing at most schools), is the teacher really going to stand 6 feet away to try to comfort them? When a 6 year old has separation anxiety getting dropped off at campus (totally age appropriate), is the staff member helping them out of the car going to stand 6 feet away from the crying 6 year old who is trying to run after the car as their parent drives away? omgzombies these aren't directed at you. Just in general medical guidelines don't seem to address actual practical considerations regarding things that happen in classrooms.
No worries, I 100% agree with all the issues you brought up. I don't think this takes into account a full picture. And as I said, it also doesn't address my concern about long term ramifications that can show up from asymptomatic carriers. It's great that my kid won't run a fever, and won't be as likely to need hospitalization or ventilation. But I've seen multiple reports on lung damage, and neurological damage for asymptomatic cases (whether it's permanent, long, or short term remain to be seen), I believe I saw one article discussing nerve damage, and a few talking about the disease being a trigger for diabetes as well, and whatever else we'll discover as we learn more. This thing is brand new, and I'll be the first to admit I have an issue with anyone claiming "oh this is relatively safe" when we haven't even had time to study its effects. Encephalitis in measles while rare, can occur years after the patient has had the disease. And I keep coming back to this idea that we don't know what we don't know.
Post by formerlyak on Jun 29, 2020 10:34:41 GMT -5
I also worry about lawsuits if kids get sick. Based on some of the parents who I know and have seen post about this on many of our local FaceBook groups, the kinds of people I see in my neighborhood who are all in for returning to school "as normal" are also the kinds who in other posts are sue happy. Right now, several want to sue if the schools don't reopen full in August. I would be shocked if they aren't all "I'm going to sue the school for not protecting my kid better" if their kid gets the virus come fall. It's really a lose lose for schools.
And that's before we even consider teachers. Many teachers are not ready or willing to return to the classrooms until we know more.
I also worry about lawsuits if kids get sick. Based on some of the parents who I know and have seen post about this on many of our local FaceBook groups, the kinds of people I see in my neighborhood who are all in for returning to school "as normal" are also the kinds who in other posts are sue happy. Right now, several want to sue if the schools don't reopen full in August. I would be shocked if they aren't all "I'm going to sue the school for not protecting my kid better" if their kid gets the virus come fall. It's really a lose lose for schools.
And that's before we even consider teachers. Many teachers are not ready or willing to return to the classrooms until we know more.
My nieces school district gave parents a choice of either distance learning or in-school learning. Is this the districts way of protecting themselves against a lawsuit? ie you chose to send your kid, you can’t sue us because he got Covid (I have no idea, just a thought)
The question of school in the fall is very stressful. I have a kid due to go into kindergarten in the fall. I'm not sure what to do.
A good friend of mine has a H who is very involved in working on a plan for public schools reopening in a large US city. He said that at this point 40% of the teachers are saying they will refuse to come into the schools in September. They will work from home but won't come to school due to safety concerns. So that's another wrinkle.
Clearly, they have a VERY strong teacher's union so they can't be fired--I assume that in many places they would be.
I wish school for this coming school year could just be canceled nationwide. I'm joking, sort of.
I have heard similar things regarding various teachers unions. It was posted somewhere on here I think about the Fairfax VA teachers union. I believe the union issued a statement to their members urging them to choose “distance learning teacher” for the fall as they thought it was unsafe for anyone to return to school in the fall. Anyone local to fairfax know anything about this?
Post by omgzombies on Jun 29, 2020 10:59:42 GMT -5
I also worry about protecting the staff. Not just teachers and admin, but the food service workers and the custodians. How is their sick leave handled if they suspect they are ill, are they able to quarantine with pay (doubtful), what happens if they get sick on the job, what protections will be in place for them?
I also worry about the general sanitation supplies. Part of our school supply list every year is disinfectant wipes and hand sanitizer. And our teachers ALWAYS ask for donations to resupply the classroom throughout the year. Are we expecting that teachers will be paying for these extra supplies out of their own pockets too? That all parents will be able to donate the extra cleaning supplies? What happens if there's another shortage or distribution chain problems?
This is the hard part here. Pediatric experts have a different guidance than public health experts. So whose guidance do the schools go by?
Reading the recommendations on here, I question how many of the authors have been in a classroom. They talk about 6 foot distancing between early elementary kids and teachers and not allowing other adults on campus. So when a Kindergartener falls and bonks their knee and ends up in tears (a daily thing at most schools), is the teacher really going to stand 6 feet away to try to comfort them? When a 6 year old has separation anxiety getting dropped off at campus (totally age appropriate), is the staff member helping them out of the car going to stand 6 feet away from the crying 6 year old who is trying to run after the car as their parent drives away? omgzombies these aren't directed at you. Just in general medical guidelines don't seem to address actual practical considerations regarding things that happen in classrooms.
No worries, I 100% agree with all the issues you brought up. I don't think this takes into account a full picture. And as I said, it also doesn't address my concern about long term ramifications that can show up from asymptomatic carriers. It's great that my kid won't run a fever, and won't be as likely to need hospitalization or ventilation. But I've seen multiple reports on lung damage, and neurological damage for asymptomatic cases (whether it's permanent, long, or short term remain to be seen), I believe I saw one article discussing nerve damage, and a few talking about the disease being a trigger for diabetes as well, and whatever else we'll discover as we learn more. This thing is brand new, and I'll be the first to admit I have an issue with anyone claiming "oh this is relatively safe" when we haven't even had time to study its effects. Encephalitis in measles while rare, can occur years after the patient has had the disease. And I keep coming back to this idea that we don't know what we don't know.
I agree that there is a question mark over a lot of this. A lot of news articles are running "discoveries" that are based on pre-print articles. While Coronaviruses are not new, Covid-19 has only been studied since late last year. There have been examples of other countries keeping schools open and not having schools become a "hot spot" but comparing them isn't a simple apples to apples comparison. America still has this thing poorly managed and it has been more diffuse here than in a lot of places. Also, we have the "masking is political issue." If people aren't taking precautions outside of school, it is more likely a spread could occur in school because it is long term exposure in an enclosed space.
I also worry about protecting the staff. Not just teachers and admin, but the food service workers and the custodians. How is their sick leave handled if they suspect they are ill, are they able to quarantine with pay (doubtful), what happens if they get sick on the job, what protections will be in place for them?
I also worry about the general sanitation supplies. Part of our school supply list every year is disinfectant wipes and hand sanitizer. And our teachers ALWAYS ask for donations to resupply the classroom throughout the year. Are we expecting that teachers will be paying for these extra supplies out of their own pockets too? That all parents will be able to donate the extra cleaning supplies? What happens if there's another shortage or distribution chain problems?
I am currently having a hard time finding foaming hand soap. Same with Clorox wipes and the like. So yeah...where is all the extra cleaning stuff going to come from?
I also worry about protecting the staff. Not just teachers and admin, but the food service workers and the custodians. How is their sick leave handled if they suspect they are ill, are they able to quarantine with pay (doubtful), what happens if they get sick on the job, what protections will be in place for them?
I also worry about the general sanitation supplies. Part of our school supply list every year is disinfectant wipes and hand sanitizer. And our teachers ALWAYS ask for donations to resupply the classroom throughout the year. Are we expecting that teachers will be paying for these extra supplies out of their own pockets too? That all parents will be able to donate the extra cleaning supplies? What happens if there's another shortage or distribution chain problems?
Every time I see wipes or sanitizer at the store I buy my one allowed. I will send them all to school
I also worry about protecting the staff. Not just teachers and admin, but the food service workers and the custodians. How is their sick leave handled if they suspect they are ill, are they able to quarantine with pay (doubtful), what happens if they get sick on the job, what protections will be in place for them?
I also worry about the general sanitation supplies. Part of our school supply list every year is disinfectant wipes and hand sanitizer. And our teachers ALWAYS ask for donations to resupply the classroom throughout the year. Are we expecting that teachers will be paying for these extra supplies out of their own pockets too? That all parents will be able to donate the extra cleaning supplies? What happens if there's another shortage or distribution chain problems?
Every time I see wipes or sanitizer at the store I buy my one allowed. I will send them all to school
If anyone has high school age students please consider doing this! My school doesn’t have have lists for the high school bc teachers all have various needs and usually don’t ask for Clorox wipes bc we don’t get them. It would be so helpful! I have started buying them slowly for my classroom but the small containers of 35 wipes will get me through 2 classes (so I will need minimum of 2 containers a day) if we have full class size in the fall.
So, my ILs were interested in return-to-school plans for my DD, their granddaughter. They are super bootstrap conservative types. We were talking about how much is “up in the air” And even the school supply list was released with the caveat that it might change ‘due to Covid 19”.
They were all “WELL THE DISTRICT BETTER GIVE THOSE TEACHERS WHATEVER SUPPLIES THEY NEED!!”
And we were all, “Yeah, the district doesn’t provide supplies. That is all out of pocket for the teachers and us parents.” Shocked! They were shocked! Even my husband was like “Yeah, that’s pretty much common knowledge. It’s a BIG problem. Big source of INEQUALITY and all that between children attending affluent/non-affluent schools.
They were adamant that “that didn’t happen 50 YEARS AGO - when their kids went to school”.
Our state (New Mexico) released its guidance last week. Traditional school is not on the plan. Primary plan at this point is hybrid in class and online with a backup 100% online if it's needed. The hybrid will have A/B schedules with some kids in school on Monday/Tuesday and others Thursday/Friday. All will be home on Wednesdays so the classrooms can be cleaned. Class sizes will be very limited and everyone will have to wear a mask but I think there are some accommodations available for kids that need one.
Our district had already done a survey back in May asking for parent input and during a school board meeting a few weeks ago had said that traditional schooling wasn't part of their plan to the state, so the state's announcement wasn't really a surprise at this point.
My local moms group on Facebook is filled with people saying they will homeschool their kids because their child can't possibly be forced to wear a mask all day. Several teachers are also in the group and have responded that it's obviously the family's choice to do so, but please plan to do it for the full year because it will make things very difficult on teachers if mid-year all these families decide that homeschool is too hard and they try to enroll them late. I don't love my kids having to wear a mask all day, but it's do-able. They were able to do camp at the zoo this past week and they had to wear one all day outside and they said that after the first little bit, they kind of forgot about it. Is it ideal? No. Will they get over it? Yep.
Today, I received an email on letterhead from the district superintendent that says they are forming a task force with what seems like every department in the district (admin, special ed, food service, transportation, etc). It was thoughtfully worded.
I just cannot believe that we are on our own and starting from scratch. Clearly.
How do we not have proper national guidance? Frustrating. Pathetic.
Also doesn't it seem a little late to just be forming the task force? I don't disagree that it's a lot on individual states and districts but shouldn't they have already been working on this?
Omaha public Schools released their plan tonight. 3/2 family plan-kids A-K will come M/T/W and L-Z Th/F. The following week they will switch who has Weds class in person. While on off days, they will have online learning of some sort. So the teachers will definitely be doing a lot of extra work with no extra time or breaks for cleaning.
This seems like a good recipe for confusion of people sending their kids (or not) on the wrong week.
So, my ILs were interested in return-to-school plans for my DD, their granddaughter. They are super bootstrap conservative types. We were talking about how much is “up in the air” And even the school supply list was released with the caveat that it might change ‘due to Covid 19”.
They were all “WELL THE DISTRICT BETTER GIVE THOSE TEACHERS WHATEVER SUPPLIES THEY NEED!!”
And we were all, “Yeah, the district doesn’t provide supplies. That is all out of pocket for the teachers and us parents.” Shocked! They were shocked! Even my husband was like “Yeah, that’s pretty much common knowledge. It’s a BIG problem. Big source of INEQUALITY and all that between children attending affluent/non-affluent schools.
They were adamant that “that didn’t happen 50 YEARS AGO - when their kids went to school”.
Cool story, boomer.
OMG, that sounds like something that my grandmother who is in her late 80's would say.
Grandma has ALL of her health care expenses taken care of because my Grandpa retired from the City of Pittsburgh back in the 80's or 90's and under his union's contract back then, retirees and their spouses got pretty sweet benefits. Grandma was SHOCKED - SHOCKED, I tell you, when my mom - who was in her sixties - told Grandma how much Mom had to pay for her monthly health insurance and her co-pays. Grandma just assumed that everyone got the sweet little deal that she got. I don't begrudge my grandmother for the benefits that her husband's union negotiated decades ago. But I'm pissed that the older generation got all sorts of things taken care of for them when their kids and grandkids are now struggling.
Today, I received an email on letterhead from the district superintendent that says they are forming a task force with what seems like every department in the district (admin, special ed, food service, transportation, etc). It was thoughtfully worded.
I just cannot believe that we are on our own and starting from scratch. Clearly.
How do we not have proper national guidance? Frustrating. Pathetic.
Also doesn't it seem a little late to just be forming the task force? I don't disagree that it's a lot on individual states and districts but shouldn't they have already been working on this?
We go back after Labor Day in September. The letter went out on the last day of scheduled classes. With the vibe “Today is our last day of classes, next week we will continue with admin days, training and planning. As part of that planning is our hopeful return to school in the fall, and it is our districts plan to form a task force ...”
Post by fancynewbeesly on Jun 29, 2020 19:17:40 GMT -5
As far as I know, by us there is no task force. The guidelines just came out Friday so I think they were waiting for those to be released. We go back after Labor Day.
Our district (Chicago burbs) sent a second survey today that implied that school will open with two options—100% in person and 100% virtual—in the fall, and we needed to indicate which we’d choose and if we’d need the bus. I was shocked because the admins I talked to all seemed to think hybrid was going to be the definite choice.
My guess is if the results show too many in person, they will go to hybrid, but for now they think (based on the first survey) that enough will choose virtual that they won’t have to do that.
The question of school in the fall is very stressful. I have a kid due to go into kindergarten in the fall. I'm not sure what to do.
A good friend of mine has a H who is very involved in working on a plan for public schools reopening in a large US city. He said that at this point 40% of the teachers are saying they will refuse to come into the schools in September. They will work from home but won't come to school due to safety concerns. So that's another wrinkle.
Clearly, they have a VERY strong teacher's union so they can't be fired--I assume that in many places they would be.
I wish school for this coming school year could just be canceled nationwide. I'm joking, sort of.
I have heard similar things regarding various teachers unions. It was posted somewhere on here I think about the Fairfax VA teachers union. I believe the union issued a statement to their members urging them to choose “distance learning teacher” for the fall as they thought it was unsafe for anyone to return to school in the fall. Anyone local to fairfax know anything about this?
This was put out by the three unions. I don't know how strong they actually are though.
Educator Unions Urge FCPS to Continue Distance Learning
Fairfax County, VA – On Tuesday, June 23, Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS) issued an updated “return to school” plan that appeared to provide employees and students with the option to work and learn in the environment that they feel is most safe for the 2020-2021 school year. FCPS has asked employees and families to select their personal preferences for returning to school for face-to-face instruction or remaining at home for virtual instruction by July 10th. Without providing much more detailed information about each of these options, neither group is able to make an informed decision at this time.
Due to lack of consistency and transparency in the FCPS plan, unions that represent Fairfax County Public Schools employees are calling on FCPS to work with union leadership to develop much more detailed clear and concise implementation plans for both scenarios, well in advance of any selection deadlines for employees and families. When finalizing its plan, FCPS should follow four basic principles, and prioritize: health expertise, educator voice, access to protection and a focus on equity. Success must be measured far beyond the first few weeks of the new school year.
Given overwhelming educator concern with the ability of FCPS to keep employees and students safe, Association of Fairfax Professional Educators, Fairfax County Federation of Teachers and Fairfax Education Association encourage our respective union members to clearly state their preference for continued virtual learning until such time as adequate information is made available for employees and families to make informed decisions about returning to face-to-face instruction.
“Our educators are overwhelmingly not comfortable returning to schools. They fear for their lives, the lives of their students and the lives of their families,” said Tina Williams, President of Fairfax County Federation of Teachers. “We call on FCPS to put workers and students first by listening to the employees on the frontlines of this crisis. Due to FCPS’ lack of consistency and transparency, we encourage our members to continue with distance learning to keep our community safe.”
“It is absolutely unacceptable that FCPS has established an arbitrary deadline for employees and students to make decisions about the next school year without adequate data or specific information regarding their options,” stated Becca Ferrick, President of Association of Fairfax Professional Educators. “Asking our employees to make such an uninformed decision is akin to asking them to sign a blank check. We will not do that.”
“We believe our community as a whole should not return to in-person learning until a vaccine or treatment is widely available for COVID-19. All staff should be provided the ability to continue virtual instruction as long as there is community spread of this virus,” stated Kimberly Adams, President of the Fairfax Education Association. “We will continue to make every possible effort to assist FCPS in developing a plan that keeps health and safety first.”
I have heard similar things regarding various teachers unions. It was posted somewhere on here I think about the Fairfax VA teachers union. I believe the union issued a statement to their members urging them to choose “distance learning teacher” for the fall as they thought it was unsafe for anyone to return to school in the fall. Anyone local to fairfax know anything about this?
This was put out by the three unions. I don't know how strong they actually are though.
Educator Unions Urge FCPS to Continue Distance Learning
Fairfax County, VA – On Tuesday, June 23, Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS) issued an updated “return to school” plan that appeared to provide employees and students with the option to work and learn in the environment that they feel is most safe for the 2020-2021 school year. FCPS has asked employees and families to select their personal preferences for returning to school for face-to-face instruction or remaining at home for virtual instruction by July 10th. Without providing much more detailed information about each of these options, neither group is able to make an informed decision at this time.
Due to lack of consistency and transparency in the FCPS plan, unions that represent Fairfax County Public Schools employees are calling on FCPS to work with union leadership to develop much more detailed clear and concise implementation plans for both scenarios, well in advance of any selection deadlines for employees and families. When finalizing its plan, FCPS should follow four basic principles, and prioritize: health expertise, educator voice, access to protection and a focus on equity. Success must be measured far beyond the first few weeks of the new school year.
Given overwhelming educator concern with the ability of FCPS to keep employees and students safe, Association of Fairfax Professional Educators, Fairfax County Federation of Teachers and Fairfax Education Association encourage our respective union members to clearly state their preference for continued virtual learning until such time as adequate information is made available for employees and families to make informed decisions about returning to face-to-face instruction.
“Our educators are overwhelmingly not comfortable returning to schools. They fear for their lives, the lives of their students and the lives of their families,” said Tina Williams, President of Fairfax County Federation of Teachers. “We call on FCPS to put workers and students first by listening to the employees on the frontlines of this crisis. Due to FCPS’ lack of consistency and transparency, we encourage our members to continue with distance learning to keep our community safe.”
“It is absolutely unacceptable that FCPS has established an arbitrary deadline for employees and students to make decisions about the next school year without adequate data or specific information regarding their options,” stated Becca Ferrick, President of Association of Fairfax Professional Educators. “Asking our employees to make such an uninformed decision is akin to asking them to sign a blank check. We will not do that.”
“We believe our community as a whole should not return to in-person learning until a vaccine or treatment is widely available for COVID-19. All staff should be provided the ability to continue virtual instruction as long as there is community spread of this virus,” stated Kimberly Adams, President of the Fairfax Education Association. “We will continue to make every possible effort to assist FCPS in developing a plan that keeps health and safety first.”
Oh wow thats very interesting. Are teachers going to strike over this? What a terrible situation for all involved. I wonder how many other teacher communities will have these demands to do virtual instruction. I’m wondering if other industries will also follow to demand non in-person work.
Are schools that are doing in-person learning requiring teachers to wear masks? I certainly wouldn’t want to go in to a work environment without the mask requirement. It’s required at my work place, but I don’t know what’s going on in other states that don’t have mask rules in general.
This was put out by the three unions. I don't know how strong they actually are though.
Educator Unions Urge FCPS to Continue Distance Learning
Fairfax County, VA – On Tuesday, June 23, Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS) issued an updated “return to school” plan that appeared to provide employees and students with the option to work and learn in the environment that they feel is most safe for the 2020-2021 school year. FCPS has asked employees and families to select their personal preferences for returning to school for face-to-face instruction or remaining at home for virtual instruction by July 10th. Without providing much more detailed information about each of these options, neither group is able to make an informed decision at this time.
Due to lack of consistency and transparency in the FCPS plan, unions that represent Fairfax County Public Schools employees are calling on FCPS to work with union leadership to develop much more detailed clear and concise implementation plans for both scenarios, well in advance of any selection deadlines for employees and families. When finalizing its plan, FCPS should follow four basic principles, and prioritize: health expertise, educator voice, access to protection and a focus on equity. Success must be measured far beyond the first few weeks of the new school year.
Given overwhelming educator concern with the ability of FCPS to keep employees and students safe, Association of Fairfax Professional Educators, Fairfax County Federation of Teachers and Fairfax Education Association encourage our respective union members to clearly state their preference for continued virtual learning until such time as adequate information is made available for employees and families to make informed decisions about returning to face-to-face instruction.
“Our educators are overwhelmingly not comfortable returning to schools. They fear for their lives, the lives of their students and the lives of their families,” said Tina Williams, President of Fairfax County Federation of Teachers. “We call on FCPS to put workers and students first by listening to the employees on the frontlines of this crisis. Due to FCPS’ lack of consistency and transparency, we encourage our members to continue with distance learning to keep our community safe.”
“It is absolutely unacceptable that FCPS has established an arbitrary deadline for employees and students to make decisions about the next school year without adequate data or specific information regarding their options,” stated Becca Ferrick, President of Association of Fairfax Professional Educators. “Asking our employees to make such an uninformed decision is akin to asking them to sign a blank check. We will not do that.”
“We believe our community as a whole should not return to in-person learning until a vaccine or treatment is widely available for COVID-19. All staff should be provided the ability to continue virtual instruction as long as there is community spread of this virus,” stated Kimberly Adams, President of the Fairfax Education Association. “We will continue to make every possible effort to assist FCPS in developing a plan that keeps health and safety first.”
Oh wow thats very interesting. Are teachers going to strike over this? What a terrible situation for all involved. I wonder how many other teacher communities will have these demands to do virtual instruction. I’m wondering if other industries will also follow to demand non in-person work.
Are schools that are doing in-person learning requiring teachers to wear masks? I certainly wouldn’t want to go in to a work environment without the mask requirement. It’s required at my work place, but I don’t know what’s going on in other states that don’t have mask rules in general.
As a teacher and a parent (two different districts) I am more concerned about students not being required to wear masks. I am fine wearing a mask as long as the CDC recommends it but I expect the other people in the room to do so as well.
Post by RoxMonster on Jun 29, 2020 23:06:42 GMT -5
Illinois is requiring everyone - staff, faculty, and students - to wear masks. I would absolutely NOT have been OK with them not requiring that. I know some states are only requiring the teachers to wear masks and that makes no sense to me to not have students wearing masks. I get that it sucks for children to wear a mask all day. I am not super jazzed about wearing one all day either, but of course I will. I just don't understand that policy from a safety standpoint, though.
Illinois is requiring everyone - staff, faculty, and students - to wear masks. I would absolutely NOT have been OK with them not requiring that. I know some states are only requiring the teachers to wear masks and that makes no sense to me to not have students wearing masks. I get that it sucks for children to wear a mask all day. I am not super jazzed about wearing one all day either, but of course I will. I just don't understand that policy from a safety standpoint, though.
There’s a statewide (CA) mask requirement currently, so I don’t know why DD’s district thinks they can only recommend them for students. I don’t think their teachers’ union will go for that.
Post by suburbanzookeeper on Jun 30, 2020 1:57:35 GMT -5
We submitted our required intent for 100% online last week. Our district originally offered in-person, hybrid, and online but have meet mute on anything regarding hybrid since that announcement. My son is currently doing our district's online summer reading program (with daily instruction 4 days a week) and while it's an improvement over the program offerings in the spring, its still clunky. I have been considering K12 since it's been fully online for years but I'm our school PTSA president next year, so I don't want to bounce.
Illinois is requiring everyone - staff, faculty, and students - to wear masks. I would absolutely NOT have been OK with them not requiring that. I know some states are only requiring the teachers to wear masks and that makes no sense to me to not have students wearing masks. I get that it sucks for children to wear a mask all day. I am not super jazzed about wearing one all day either, but of course I will. I just don't understand that policy from a safety standpoint, though.
Even though NJ has a statewide mask rule, students are “encouraged” to wear them. (They do have yo if they can’t socially distance). Teachers including myself are pissed. It opens a can of worms. Kids “forgot” them, refuse to wear it, plus all the liabilities. And the fact that teachers wear them (required) to protect the students but the students don’t have to wear them to protect us? I see a lot of teachers leaving over this.
We submitted our required intent for 100% online last week. Our district originally offered in-person, hybrid, and online but have meet mute on anything regarding hybrid since that announcement. My son is currently doing our district's online summer reading program (with daily instruction 4 days a week) and while it's an improvement over the program offerings in the spring, its still clunky. I have been considering K12 since it's been fully online for years but I'm our school PTSA president next year, so I don't want to bounce.
I was looking at a few K-12 reviews as well but there were some that really made me give pause. This one in particular. It discusses issues with transparency, equity, and performance:
Illinois is requiring everyone - staff, faculty, and students - to wear masks. I would absolutely NOT have been OK with them not requiring that. I know some states are only requiring the teachers to wear masks and that makes no sense to me to not have students wearing masks. I get that it sucks for children to wear a mask all day. I am not super jazzed about wearing one all day either, but of course I will. I just don't understand that policy from a safety standpoint, though.
Even though NJ has a statewide mask rule, students are “encouraged” to wear them. (They do have yo if they can’t socially distance). Teachers including myself are pissed. It opens a can of worms. Kids “forgot” them, refuse to wear it, plus all the liabilities. And the fact that teachers wear them (required) to protect the students but the students don’t have to wear them to protect us? I see a lot of teachers leaving over this.
I am so mad that they aren’t required for kids. I understand that it will be difficult. I have a 7 year old with sensory integration disorder and the first time we put a mask on him he cried and cried and ripped it off. We then explained his grandparents can’t visit in the backyard unless he wears one. The first time they came he only lasted 15 minutes, but we’ve worked from there. We even worked our way up to a walk to the ice cream store when they reopened.
Now when he sees people without masks he says “I don’t get a good feeling about this.” I made him and his sister Yankees masks, so they’re excited about those, and I’m getting other fun prints so he has a stack for school.
It’s not easy, and I recognize that there will be some kids with larger struggles than mine had, but the vast majority of kids learn to do what they need to. And in the meantime, I’m not comfortable sending my daughter who has viral induced asthma into a school with kids who won’t wear masks. I know she’ll wear hers without question, but we all know that’s not enough. And I also want to protect the rest of the school community (students, faculty, staff) and kids being allowed with masks puts everyone at risk.
From what I am hearing through friends in admin masks are tricky. If the states require them they also have to provide funding for them. Therefore many states only recommended them. Same with districts. It makes no sense to me because we have school supplies that we have to provide every year so I don't see why masks are any different.
Texas hasn't fully released plans yet. They were set to last Friday and then everything started closing down again due to spikes. TEA won't release guidelines for another 2 weeks now. Teachers start back in early August. That is cutting it awfully close.
Illinois is requiring everyone - staff, faculty, and students - to wear masks. I would absolutely NOT have been OK with them not requiring that. I know some states are only requiring the teachers to wear masks and that makes no sense to me to not have students wearing masks. I get that it sucks for children to wear a mask all day. I am not super jazzed about wearing one all day either, but of course I will. I just don't understand that policy from a safety standpoint, though.
I would much rather my kid be required to wear a mask at school than sit at home watching TV while I try to work until Fall 2021.