We are in person 5 days a week right now so I imagine next year we will be, too.
What I am wondering about is safety protocols. Will masks and distancing still be required? Until we reach herd immunity I feel like they must be but I can see them dropping requirements once all teachers that want to be vaccinated are (which they are halfway there now). That is what is making me nervous for next year.
Biden said one of his priorities was getting all schools to a place where they can safely open. He has like an actual plan with money to go with it. I am curious to see how it plays out.
Post by Leeham Rimes on Jan 21, 2021 9:25:50 GMT -5
Florida is already 5 day in person with minimal protection, based on the school you attend. Nothing is mandated state wise so it’s on individual schools to implement their own rules.
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Post by CheeringCharm on Jan 21, 2021 9:34:10 GMT -5
I was wondering if masks will be enough to prevent spread among children or if schools will still need to continue the distancing protocols, which will require them to continue with the hybrid format (splitting the student population).
Post by Velar Fricative on Jan 21, 2021 9:39:00 GMT -5
Yes, I believe so. Teachers and school staff will have had the opportunity to get vaccinated by then (they already have been getting vaccinated, like my husband). Many neighboring schools already have 5-day school for at least some elementary grades (DD1 will be going into 3rd in the fall). I do believe mask-wearing and distancing will need to continue until kids can start get vaccinated.
DH teaches middle school and while there's a possibility middle and high schools can reopen for in-person learning this school year, he thinks it's way more likely that they won't be able to reopen until September. Especially since kids in those age ranges will be able to get vaccinated.
Our district has been in person five days a week since August, but masked, and there hasn't been known spread and few cases. I hope the masks continue until they approve a vaccine for children.
Ours are open now, with virtual choice offered. I expect they will be open in fall unless something dramatically changes (new strain resistant to vaccine or something). I wouldn't be surprised if we no longer have any virtual option in fall.
No one has heard anything definitive. Shit, everything still changes weekly.
My guess: schools will be open full time, in person, face to face or hybrid. There will still be masking and social distancing (assuming the need for smaller classes, this is where I think some schools will go hybrid). There will not be a full remote option run through most districts, but some people will choose cyber charters because either safety or their kids are doing well virtually. Hybrid will be asynchronous - teachers as a group hate this both at once nonsense and unions will fight it.
PDQ this part: I'm interested to see what my school (private) will do. We have been open in person since August. I'd say 85-90% of the students are in person. About 10-15% of the faculty is remote. Some grades have huge remote groups, for a variety of reasons. One of those grades will be mine next year. I've been very vocal about not teaching in person and remote at the same time next year and my boss agrees with me. I wonder if this group of parents will stay remote when 1) vaccinations are more widespread and 2) they realize that the remote program isn't what they ended up with by sheer luck this year. I'm a little worried about what's going to happen when my boss tells them they aren't going to get a fully synchronous, tailored to their kids program next year.
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Our district already is 5 days/week in person for K-5. We have been since September, except for a few weeks over the holidays when cases were too high and we had too many staff in quarantine, so we did a few weeks of remote.
By fall 2021, we will definitely be doing 5 days/week for K-5, hopefully with greater stability than we have now (w/r/t quarantines, absences, etc.). I have pretty good confidence that grades 6-12 will be back to full time as well; currently they are on an A/B day rotation hybrid.
If all the adults in the family get vaccines we will be for sure going back to in person school. I am actually surprised our Texas district has virtual option the entire time.
My school has been open 5 days a week since August. I assume that we will be the same in the fall, still masked.
I am excited that our school has indicated that, while there will be a virtual option, it will NOT be handled as it is now (we teachers teaching both simultaneously). Currently we only have a few students per class doing the virtual option, so I would say 90-95% are here all week.
Post by amandakisser on Jan 21, 2021 9:54:04 GMT -5
Oh we for sure will be in person full time. We are now, and though there have been a couple cases at my daughter's school, they have been isolated incidents and haven't spread. I can't see that changing in the fall.
I think with vaccines, along with the number of people who have already been infected, there will be a decent amount of immunity at least at the start of the year (I know immunity doesn't last forever).
Our school just announced 5 days a week starting Feb 22. They feel that school can operate 5 days a week once teachers are vaccinated. They will do everything they can to be full time in fall 2021.
Post by Patsy Baloney on Jan 21, 2021 10:23:37 GMT -5
I think the onus is on everyone who can get vaccinated to get vaccinated as soon as they're able. If community spread is low, there is no reason kids of all ages couldn't safely go back to school. I hope money will be put behind long-lasting cleaning initiatives (I mean, seriously, schools are petri dishes). I hope mask wearing will be the norm for a while, at least through the winter.
My kid has been out by choice all year. She hasn't been sick at all and she usually has a cold from October-April, with the flu sometime in Jan/Feb. I don't look forward to going back to that.
I think hybrid in some fashion will still be in place in NYC. I certainly hope some or most schools can be more open. We selected hybrid for our middle schooler though she is in virtual now since no public middle schools are open.
K-5/special ed are the only open public school here. They do run either 5 days or in with hybrid cohorts as Velar Fricative noted but huge portions of families voluntarily picked full virtual making it easier for those who selecting in person to get more time in class. I am hoping middle and high school return to hybrid in April but no one is saying what the requirements are for this to happen.
Come fall the following factors will play a role in what happens.
1. What percent of teachers/staff get the vaccine. This will be driven by personal choice AND by vaccine eligibility. I think vaccine refusal combined with the fact that school staff are competing with a large pool of other eligible folks for a limited supply means schools might be well below 70% which is the percent I commonly hear to reach herd immunity.
2. No one under 16 can receive the vaccine currently. I believe there are trials for 12-16 underway but I am not hearing anything about those trials being complete by fall. It is not clear what the public health thinking is on a group situation where most of the adults but none of the children are vaccinated. I hope the federal DOE and/or Fauci weight in on this.
3. Unions are strong in NYC. So far the Teacher's Union has taken a view that is strongly for virtual and/or highly curtailed hybrid-openings. I have not heard the union come out with a position on fall openings but I would not be surprised if the union continued to push for hybrid in fall. Even if we do a full reopen with optional virtual as a stand alone option other modifications are going to be needed. Things masks, non-crossing cohorts (so no school sports for example), no trips, classroom lunch and other modifications may continue to be required. I am fine with all these requirements but it does mean school will not be like it was pre-covid.
4. Parents are very concerned about in person learning. In the article below it notes that only about 25% of students have shown up for in person learning. The article is from October when cases were not as high as they are now. While there may be vocal political pressure to open schools there will likely be a strong counter pressure to keep virtual as an option. www.nytimes.com/2020/10/26/nyregion/nyc-schools-attendance.html
5. Overall cases in the community will be the biggest factor if/how schools open. Going into fall NYC had an estimated 25% covid rate. Even if vaccine distribution falls short the natural immunity here combined with vaccine based immunity and the seasonal dip from summer may slow the spread and keep cases low enough for schools to open/partial open in fall. We'll just have to see what actually happens. Other factors could drive up the spread (folks returning to in person work, increased travel, covid-fatigue, etc) could mitigate the pressures that drive cases down. www.cnbc.com/2020/06/30/roughly-25percent-of-new-york-city-has-probably-been-infected-with-coronavirus-dr-scott-gottlieb-says.html
Post by soccermama on Jan 21, 2021 10:33:13 GMT -5
Damn am I in the only state where they are reluctant to open schools back?? I am level 10000% frustration with this school situation. I just want my kids back in school. Period, end of story. Especially my 2nd grader.
I’m a teacher in NY and got vaccinated as soon as I could, but a lot, like A LOT, of my coworkers do not want the vaccine. I don’t know how that will play out. My district has said they plan on everything being “normal” next year.
Fall schooling is 6+ months away (at least for us in MA, we usually start end of Aug/early Sept). I think it is too early to predict because anything could happen by then. I'm optimistic though that we will be back to full in person. The last article I read still said that by July, any adult who wants the vaccine should be able to get it. Hopefully at least 2 more vaccines will be approved soon. I would think that would significantly reduce community spread. I don't think school will be back to the "before times". I still expect masks and distancing as much as possible. But I hope we're closer.
I’m a teacher in NY and got vaccinated as soon as I could, but a lot, like A LOT, of my coworkers do not want the vaccine. I don’t know how that will play out. My district has said they plan on everything being “normal” next year.
Do you know why they don't want to vaccine? Are they antivaxxer normally or just wary of this one since it is so new? If the latter, I hope that attitude changes in the next few months as more and more people are getting it and more data comes out.
I’m a teacher in NY and got vaccinated as soon as I could, but a lot, like A LOT, of my coworkers do not want the vaccine. I don’t know how that will play out. My district has said they plan on everything being “normal” next year.
Do you know why they don't want to vaccine? Are they antivaxxer normally or just wary of this one since it is so new? If the latter, I hope that attitude changes in the next few months as more and more people are getting it and more data comes out.
I think both. One coworker had some “inside information” from her nurse friend about how the vaccine will cause infertility. So she shared that with everyone and several of my coworkers are TTC and decided not to get it.
Do you know why they don't want to vaccine? Are they antivaxxer normally or just wary of this one since it is so new? If the latter, I hope that attitude changes in the next few months as more and more people are getting it and more data comes out.
I think both. One coworker had some “inside information” from her nurse friend about how the vaccine will cause infertility. So she shared that with everyone and several of my coworkers are TTC and decided not to get it.
OMG <eyeroll> Maybe they should discuss with their doctors instead of trusting random gossip?
Schools here have been mostly in person for K-5 then hybrid or remote for 6-8 and a mix as well in HS. I think that it will be 5x a week for more grades in the fall, possibly them all? I do think masks and distancing will still be a thing in school through next school year though.
Our district really doesn't want to go back - there is a lot of rumbling that even with the vaccine, teachers won't be safe in class. I think that if they get prioritized for the vaccine and take it.. they go back. There's no "it's not safe enough to go back still." If they're going to get it, they're back in the classroom, otherwise, wait in line like everyone else while they work remotely.
ETA: It's Thursday right? So maybe this is my unpopular opinion.
Both the current vaccines are currently testing 12+ (Moderna needs volunteers- we signed DS up [with his approval], even though the nearest open site is really too far for us to be practical).
My kids are happy enough and doing very well virtually, but, next year DS really needs to be in person (he'll start HS in a pre-IB diploma program), and DD would really, really, really like to be in person for the social aspect (it's gotten worse as the virtual numbers have dwindled).
Unfortunately, our district's student cases ballooned from ~280 to 382 from the last W-W week (!!!), so covering our own asses with vaccines seems like the only rational way to do this safely. I really hope we are able to ramp up the adult vaccine roll out (I want mine, and we're at the bottom of the totem pole) and that there is positive news on a pediatric vaccine by the summer (when these current trials should conclude).
I think both. One coworker had some “inside information” from her nurse friend about how the vaccine will cause infertility. So she shared that with everyone and several of my coworkers are TTC and decided not to get it.
OMG <eyeroll> Maybe they should discuss with their doctors instead of trusting random gossip?
Did you miss the part where I said Insider Information!?!?