@@ Covid Thread - Week of 1/25

[Jalapeñomel]

Jan 25, 2021 12:27:56 GMT -5 melmaria said:

Two big articles in the NYT the last few days:

Biden Is Vowing to Reopen Schools Quickly. It Won’t Be Easy. www.nytimes.com/2021/01/25/us/biden-schools-reopen-coronavirus.html

Given the seemingly intractable health and labor challenges, some district officials have begun to say out loud what was previously unthinkable: that schools may not be operating normally for the 2021-2022 school year. And some labor leaders are seeking to tamp down the expectations Mr. Biden’s words have raised.

“We don’t know whether a vaccine stops transmissibility,” said Randi Weingarten, the powerful president of the American Federation of Teachers, the nation’s second largest teachers union.

Some virus experts, however, have said there is reason to be optimistic on this question. 

...

Robert Runcie, superintendent of Broward County Public Schools in South Florida, the nation’s sixth-largest district, said he would like to see Dr. Anthony Fauci hold a news conference to discuss schools and “alleviate the fear people have.”

Broward is not doing surveillance testing, but has published a dashboard tracking known virus cases in its schools — about 2,000 among students and staff since the system reopened in October, serving about a third of its 260,000 students in person. Contact tracing suggested that just 10 percent of those cases could have been caused by transmission in schools, Mr. Runcie said, and that the majority of those transmissions were likely connected to athletics.

That is in line with other research suggesting that measures like masks can effectively mitigate virus spread in schools.

The district required some teachers with health concerns to return to school buildings earlier this month, in order to avoid a situation in which some students were learning online even within school buildings. In response, the local union sued; the case is currently in arbitration. The district’s bus drivers, food service workers, custodians and clerks are working full time without complaint, Mr. Runcie said.

The system lost 9,000 students this year as parents sought alternatives to virtual education. If some families choose to stay permanently in private and charter schools, district funding could plummet, forcing layoffs, Mr. Runcie warned. He argued that the union’s fight was shortsighted.

If by back to normal they mean cramming 25-35 students in a classroom with no added precautions I agree.  

But if we continue to keep class sizes small and we wear masks, I feel confident we can reopen safely. 

[lanehazel]

I am worried for my younger daughter who has not adjusted to online learning and isolation well. My older daughter at least has friends with ipads so she's been able to maintain her friendships. My younger daughter missed a third of first grade and now looks like all of second which are friendship building years (based off my experience with DD1). She's also the youngest in her grade because of her birthday just making the cutoff. I debated holding her back for kindergarten but decided to send her because, why not? Now, the principal refuses to hold anyone back unless they are a full 1 year behind standards. She is absolutely not ready for 3rd, especially if its going to be online. I'm now looking at private schools for her because I too have heard buzzing that we won't open this year or even in the fall.  Apparently the teachers union wants all students and teachers vaccinated before returning to in person learning.

On top of all of that, we are in San Diego and are losing our superintendent for the Biden administration. People are worried the school board will now be preoccupied with finding a replacement and using that as a reason to postpone opening. 

This is going to just further divide the haves and the have nots.

[lanehazel]

Jan 25, 2021 12:53:32 GMT -5 melmaria said:

Jan 25, 2021 12:50:02 GMT -5 lanehazel said:

I am worried for my younger daughter who has not adjusted to online learning and isolation well. My older daughter at least has friends with ipads so she's been able to maintain her friendships. My younger daughter missed a third of first grade and now looks like all of second which are friendship building years (based off my experience with DD1). She's also the youngest in her grade because of her birthday just making the cutoff. I debated holding her back for kindergarten but decided to send her because, why not? Now, the principal refuses to hold anyone back unless they are a full 1 year behind standards. She is absolutely not ready for 3rd, especially if its going to be online. I'm now looking at private schools for her because I too have heard buzzing that we won't open this year or even in the fall.  Apparently the teachers union wants all students and teachers vaccinated before returning to in person learning.

On top of all of that, we are in San Diego and are losing our superintendent for the Biden administration. People are worried the school board will now be preoccupied with finding a replacement and using that as a reason to postpone opening. 

This is going to just further divide the haves and the have nots.

Beating my dead horse on here, but expect to see more and more of this (demanding that all students get vaccinated first too).

Does anyone know if any of the vaccines coming out will be approved for kids under 16? Will the current vaccines be approved?

[kittenponypony]

I read that Trump banned federal data gathering on Covid spread in schools, so hopefully now with that lifted things should get better to figure out the relationship there

[lilac05]

I don’t have the answers, but I think we really do need to look further into the mental health of children and how it can be addressed. A friend is a nurse in the children’s wing of our hospital and says it’s really bad right now. They’re not seeing many (if any, currently) kids for actual Covid, but way more than normal for mental health...and implied some patients who have been admitted from abusive homes.

My kids are doing alright, but they have each other and one family in the neighborhood that they hang out with outside. Those neighbors have been gone for a week and I definitely notice a difference in my kids. We have basically every single privilege that’s available, yet I feel like some days, we’re just surviving. As my mental health continues to take a hit, theirs does, too, as I’m less likely to do the things that make them happier and healthier.

I’ve seen some headlines about possible treatments for Covid, and I hope that pans out. I have long said that I think that’s a key factor in being able to ease back into at least some socializing. Getting Covid obviously isn’t healthy, but kids not having any interaction with other kids for an entire year with no end in sight isn’t healthy, either.

[abs]

I read both of those over the weekend. I still think most schools will be in person next year in some fashion but it will be interesting to see what happens. School is such a crucial piece to building relationships and learning social skills for kids of all ages. I just can't imagine basically 2 and a half years without in person school for some kids. Like I said last week I'm not willing to write off the next school year already. I do think at this point a lot of people are looking for eradication and I don't think that is realistic. Vaccines for teachers/staff, hopefully parents, masks, and distancing are what should be the focus.

DD has been in school since September with no issues. There have only been 3 positive cases all year and two of those came from outside school. Today however we got notification of a case in DD's classroom. DD is not a close contact so she does not need to stay home but I guess I am going to get in a close and personal example to see if there is spread from this. The girl that tested positive is not a good mask wearer so in this case if there is spread I won't be surprised.

[pixy0stix]

Jan 25, 2021 12:58:59 GMT -5 kittenponypony said:

I read that Trump banned federal data gathering on Covid spread in schools, so hopefully now with that lifted things should get better to figure out the relationship there

Do you have an article on that? It's always been suspicious that all the data coming out has been "there is NO spread in schools".

[eddy]

Our after school care is closed this week due to a positive COVID case with staff (that our child did not have contact with.)

We told our 8 year old in a very matter of fact fashion. Later that night he came down sobbing because he was worried next week when he returned he would get COVID.

I felt so awful. I completely forget that something like this is brand new. He has been so lucky to not have encountered this yet. We told him about all the protocols a person would need to follow to return to being a teacher. And that the program is close out of the abundance of caution to make sure everyone stays safe. And that if we ever felt like a situation was unsafe we would never send him.

Sigh, it is just the new thing that is tough this week. It was a good reminder that all of this still feels new to them even when we are 10 months into it.

[Velar Fricative]

The UFT may be talking about not going back publicly, but internally, they don't want this. They want schools running like normal, because this hurts the bottom line for public schools. NY is already set to lose money and representation due to pending Census figures, and families shifting to private schools or de-enrolling from public school to homeschool on their own is going to hurt. They obviously want to do it safely (and they have, so far - little kids are in hybrid or even 5-day on-site learning if space allows, but middle and high schools are still virtual because we know older kids transmit as much as adults do). And they are realllllllly keen on teachers getting vaccinated (they want my husband and any other teachers to post on social media that they got vaccinated to help promote it). We already have mandatory vaccinations for students, and I'm sure the covid vaccine will be mandatory for students when we know it's safe for kids. But I cannot understand why some unions want all teachers AND students to be vaccinated before returning to the classroom. I mean, I do understand that because I'd love that too but I just don't think we (collective "we") have the appetite for losing more than 1.3 school years of on-site learning to the virus. What I would mostly prefer is mandatory vaccinations for all school staff, but I know that's not going to happen. At the very least, hybrid should be on the table for schools that are still 100% virtual. DD1 is in hybrid and logistically it's annoying, but she's so much happier going into the school building and I can tell she's learning a lot more in the building.

[wanderingback]

Trigger Warning re: suicide.......




Looks like Las Vegas schools feels pushed to open schools after increasing death by suicide among school students
Although data on reasons for suicide is hard to always exactly pin the reason, experts do believe isolation due to the pandemic could be driving the increase.

Also, an interesting point in regards to technology - 1 dad was alerted to his son thinking about suicide after he googled how to make a noose.
Heart breaking stories in the article.

I hope that there's answers soon to keep everyone safe both physically and mentally from mental health issues and covid itself.
In another thread on ML or MM some people were saying teachers are really pushing back about restarting school and they don't think it'll happen in the fall. I wonder if that'll change at all based on mental health concerns.

www.nytimes.com/2021/01/24/us/politics/student-suicides-nevada-coronavirus.html

[seeyalater52]

Jan 25, 2021 13:18:53 GMT -5 pixy0stix said:

Jan 25, 2021 12:58:59 GMT -5 kittenponypony said:

I read that Trump banned federal data gathering on Covid spread in schools, so hopefully now with that lifted things should get better to figure out the relationship there

Do you have an article on that? It's always been suspicious that all the data coming out has been "there is NO spread in schools".

I agree. We keep hearing this in our state too but contract tracing is not robust and getting kids tested is nearly impossible so I’m curious how they are determining this.

[ssmjlm]

Jan 25, 2021 12:32:06 GMT -5 Jalapeñomel said:

Jan 25, 2021 12:27:56 GMT -5 melmaria said:

Two big articles in the NYT the last few days:

Biden Is Vowing to Reopen Schools Quickly. It Won’t Be Easy. www.nytimes.com/2021/01/25/us/biden-schools-reopen-coronavirus.html

If by back to normal they mean cramming 25-35 students in a classroom with no added precautions I agree.  

But if we continue to keep class sizes small and we wear masks, I feel confident we can reopen safely. 

This, the only reason we've had a good hybrid experience and they're able to distance is because enrollment was way down (80 students in our ES) and there are 5+ less kids in each class.

If they quickly reopen and schools see the overcrowding issues because those that chose an alternative this year come back, then it all goes to hell in a COVID handbasket.

[Velar Fricative]

Jan 25, 2021 13:26:30 GMT -5 melmaria said:

Jan 25, 2021 13:10:04 GMT -5 lilac05 said:

And, I absolutely want all of the teachers in my life (and all teachers generally) to get the vaccine ASAP.  I'm absolutely happy for teachers to go wayyyyyy before me/most people.  But, and I'll probably be flamed here, if schools still won't open after that happens, why are teachers prioritized for the vaccine (instead of just prioritizing by age/serious comorbidities, which is the biggest risk factor in likelihood of hospitalization/death)?

No flames here. My husband says the same thing. The whole point of NY opening up vaccinations to teachers this month is so that we have an optimistic chance to have a semblance of normalcy in September. I'm not talking about 2019 here, I'm talking about so his middle school could actually open at all for in-person learning with masks and distancing and maybe some vaccines for students old enough if they can get there. He's his school's chapter leader, so he talks to eeeeeeeveryone, and there are very few teachers who don't want to be in school at all after getting vaccinated (unless they've received medical accommodations already, and even then those teachers are ready to get back once they're vaccinated). 

[SusanBAnthony]

My kid totally lost it this past week and I ended up scheduling two in person playdates and an appointment with a counselor. We are at the end of our rope with being able to hold on and keep this up. I NEED my kid in school. She isn't suicidal (yet, I don't think) but I'm done with lockdown at the expense of mental health.

(Kid 2 is totally fine at home).

[taratru]

I will keep on saying, give me a vaccine, make sure there is room for distancing and required masking, and I'll go back full time, HAPPILY. The VAST majority of teachers feel this way.

Now...cram 35 of them in my room with no additional PPE, no changes to ventilation or air, and no vaccine? Yeah, I'll pass.

eta: I would also like to keep screaming that this pandemic has taught us that schools absolutely CANNOT continue to be expected to be the savior of all children in all ways. Can we just get some other social safety nets and programs in place so this kind of shit doesn't keep happening?!?! 

also, there seems to be *very* little talk about the mental health of school staff/adults in general, which worries me. I know I'm being pushed to the very edge most days. Luckily, I know how to manage that, but only because of years of therapy. I'm just as concerned for teachers right now. 

[SusanBAnthony]

I'm pretty sure we have talked about how humans are generally terrible at evaluating risk, especially order of magnitude of different risks.

It's a huge issue with kids because the person who screams the loudest about babies/kids dying wins.

[georgeglass]

Jan 25, 2021 13:27:20 GMT -5 seeyalater52 said:

Jan 25, 2021 13:18:53 GMT -5 pixy0stix said:

Do you have an article on that? It's always been suspicious that all the data coming out has been "there is NO spread in schools".

I agree. We keep hearing this in our state too but contract tracing is not robust and getting kids tested is nearly impossible so I’m curious how they are determining this.

For us, each time we have a COVID positive case, we work with the local health department's dedicated school epidemiologists. We report any + people, they follow up with us and the students family. We report anyone we deem exposed (we do our own contact tracing based on local and CDC guidelines - all of our tracers did the Johns Hopkins certification). We follow up with all exposed people and require a negative test in the proper window. It's a lot and exhausting, but we have not yet found any spread in our school. We have weekly All School Calls with the epidemiologists and they are reporting no school spread in our area.

Do I think every school in the country is doing it this detailed? No.

[kittenponypony]

Jan 25, 2021 13:18:53 GMT -5 pixy0stix said:

Jan 25, 2021 12:58:59 GMT -5 kittenponypony said:

I read that Trump banned federal data gathering on Covid spread in schools, so hopefully now with that lifted things should get better to figure out the relationship there

Do you have an article on that? It's always been suspicious that all the data coming out has been "there is NO spread in schools".

Totally suspicious! One of Biden’s executive orders mandates gathering Covid data about schools — www.edweek.org/policy-politics/how-bidens-data-mandate-could-help-schools-navigate-the-covid-19-crisis/2021/01

I remember Betsy Devos saying it was not the federal government’s responsibility to collect school Covid data 🙄 the same as Trump officials saying that providing assistance to the states to help them administer the Covid vaccine was an “invasion” www.usnews.com/news/education-news/articles/2020-10-20/betsy-devos-not-my-job-to-track-schools-coronavirus-reopening-plans

[hocus2]

Jan 25, 2021 13:25:30 GMT -5 Velar Fricative said:

The UFT may be talking about not going back publicly, but internally, they don't want this. They want schools running like normal, because this hurts the bottom line for public schools. NY is already set to lose money and representation due to pending Census figures, and families shifting to private schools or de-enrolling from public school to homeschool on their own is going to hurt. They obviously want to do it safely (and they have, so far - little kids are in hybrid or even 5-day on-site learning if space allows, but middle and high schools are still virtual because we know older kids transmit as much as adults do). And they are realllllllly keen on teachers getting vaccinated (they want my husband and any other teachers to post on social media that they got vaccinated to help promote it). We already have mandatory vaccinations for students, and I'm sure the covid vaccine will be mandatory for students when we know it's safe for kids. But I cannot understand why some unions want all teachers AND students to be vaccinated before returning to the classroom. I mean, I do understand that because I'd love that too but I just don't think we (collective "we") have the appetite for losing more than 1.3 school years of on-site learning to the virus. What I would mostly prefer is mandatory vaccinations for all school staff, but I know that's not going to happen. At the very least, hybrid should be on the table for schools that are still 100% virtual. DD1 is in hybrid and logistically it's annoying, but she's so much happier going into the school building and I can tell she's learning a lot more in the building.

   
I think we'll be in hybrid in the fall or will go back with 2 options -- in person and virtual and we'll see A LOT of families pick virtual. I think the city as a whole is well over 50% in full virtual now and I think next fall we'd still see a lot of families pick it as an option. There is a lot of fear and lack of trust right now.

Vaccine refusal and supply limits are a major concern which is why I think we're talking about this now. The reality of it all is sinking in. In September vaccines were all just theory. It isn't helping that a third vaccine hasn't yet been approved. I think it astrazeneca was in the mix as well folks would feel better.

If say 60% of the adults in a building and none of the kids have vaccination it is going to be a real hard to prevent outbreaks and this is going to be a factor in say keeping middle and high schools more restricted since old kids are seen as pretty effective as spreading the illness and don't have the same childcare needs as younger kids. My kid is home and I can say she is learning content AND doesn't need extensive childcare. While I really want her back to school part time for social and emotional reasons the schools aren't wrong in thinking that what they are doing now can work for older children who are neurotypical and have reliable internet. I could see a phasing in of kids based on need that would mean *we'd still be in a fair amount of virtual next fall. (*By we I mean families like mine with older kids who don't need services and don't have pressing social-economic concerns that would be best addressed with in person instruction/support)

If viral rates really drop over the summer these issues will be less of a concern. Even an imperfect vaccine roll out would mean a much better fall if we can get down to a level like last summer in in NYC. The article I posted last week noted that schools are much more able to prevent transmission when rates are low. Once they are high like they are now the measures schools can take have lower effectiveness.

[tacom]

While I wish we would have prioritized schools reopening above other nonessential sectors/adult recreation, we aren't there and it doesn't look like we will ever be there in the US.

At this point, I hope schools (elementary / middle) reopen as soon as vaccines are available to all teachers, in addition to medical grade PPE. If some European countries can require medical-grade masks for the general public, surely our current administration can step in and supply our teachers with N95s (preferably) or at the very least surgical masks to combine with cloth masks. At this point, we have enough data from healthcare workers that PPE, even in the absence of vaccines, works quite well. But cloth masks alone aren't going to cut it. And then I hope once a vaccine has full approval for kids by the FDA, it will be part of our mandatory vaccine schedule for students as well. But I assume that's years away for really young kids, since trials haven't even started..?

School sports are still killing me. I hope we can prioritize in person learning over take football but again... it doesn't appear to be that way (at least in my area).

My feelings are more mixed on high school / college level, since transmission rates are higher among older kids / young adults, and *most* kids/young adults this age have the cognitive skills needed to do well on a virtual platform. But on the flip side, many should have access to a vaccine very soon.

I reserve the right to again change my opinion if we see another surge in cases, but I'm feeling more optimistic now that we at least seem to be slowing our acceleration in cases across many places in the US. I have the COVID NYT tracker and this past week or so has been the first time I've seen a significant decrease across all areas I'm tracking (family on the east coast, midwest, here on the west coast)

[abs]

Jan 25, 2021 13:40:54 GMT -5 SusanBAnthony said:

My kid totally lost it this past week and I ended up scheduling two in person playdates and an appointment with a counselor. We are at the end of our rope with being able to hold on and keep this up. I NEED my kid in school. She isn't suicidal (yet, I don't think) but I'm done with lockdown at the expense of mental health.

(Kid 2 is totally fine at home).

I’m so sorry. I totally get it. My 10 year old has handled everything like a champ but she’s done. We are going to open up to outside sports again and play dates because the reward outweighs the risk at this point.

[kittenponypony]

Jan 25, 2021 13:56:49 GMT -5 georgeglass said:

Jan 25, 2021 13:27:20 GMT -5 seeyalater52 said:

I agree. We keep hearing this in our state too but contract tracing is not robust and getting kids tested is nearly impossible so I’m curious how they are determining this.

For us, each time we have a COVID positive case, we work with the local health department's dedicated school epidemiologists. We report any + people, they follow up with us and the students family. We report anyone we deem exposed (we do our own contact tracing based on local and CDC guidelines - all of our tracers did the Johns Hopkins certification). We follow up with all exposed people and require a negative test in the proper window. It's a lot and exhausting, but we have not yet found any spread in our school. We have weekly All School Calls with the epidemiologists and they are reporting no school spread in our area.

Do I think every school in the country is doing it this detailed? No.

I read that children catch Covid at the same rate as adults but they’re much more likely to be asymptomatic, so spread has been under counted in some cases because without symptoms they’re not tested

Edit: link www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2666634020300209

[taratru]

Our students are starting registration soon, and we had to decide as a department which courses we would offer as virtual. So I suspect in order to keep students, we are going to offer a hybrid of some kind to students who want it. It's going to be a staffing/teaching nightmare.

georgeglass, I'm glad it's working where you are. Our people can't keep up. It was a week between the time of notification of my kid being a possible close contact and then finding out she wasn't, and that was early on. I don't believe it's not spreading in the high schools, not for one minute.

[georgeglass]

Jan 25, 2021 13:59:03 GMT -5 kittenponypony said:

Jan 25, 2021 13:56:49 GMT -5 georgeglass said:

For us, each time we have a COVID positive case, we work with the local health department's dedicated school epidemiologists. We report any + people, they follow up with us and the students family. We report anyone we deem exposed (we do our own contact tracing based on local and CDC guidelines - all of our tracers did the Johns Hopkins certification). We follow up with all exposed people and require a negative test in the proper window. It's a lot and exhausting, but we have not yet found any spread in our school. We have weekly All School Calls with the epidemiologists and they are reporting no school spread in our area.

Do I think every school in the country is doing it this detailed? No.

I read that children catch Covid at the same rate as adults but they’re much more likely to be asymptomatic, so spread has been under counted in some cases because without symptoms they’re not tested

Edit: link www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2666634020300209

Which is why we require testing of anyone considered exposed. We do not rely on symptoms.

[abs]

Jan 25, 2021 13:54:57 GMT -5 taratru said:

I will keep on saying, give me a vaccine, make sure there is room for distancing and required masking, and I'll go back full time, HAPPILY. The VAST majority of teachers feel this way.

Now...cram 35 of them in my room with no additional PPE, no changes to ventilation or air, and no vaccine? Yeah, I'll pass.

eta: I would also like to keep screaming that this pandemic has taught us that schools absolutely CANNOT continue to be expected to be the savior of all children in all ways. Can we just get some other social safety nets and programs in place so this kind of shit doesn't keep happening?!?! 

also, there seems to be *very* little talk about the mental health of school staff/adults in general, which worries me. I know I'm being pushed to the very edge most days. Luckily, I know how to manage that, but only because of years of therapy. I'm just as concerned for teachers right now. 

Mental health of teachers absolutely needs to be addressed. They cannot be asked to do 3 full time jobs next year.

Also 35 kids?! That is insane Covid or not. I know it happens but schools desperately need more funding so it doesn’t have to. DD has never had more than 18 kids in her class. She’s only in elementary though and I know that will change.

[georgeglass]

Jan 25, 2021 14:01:20 GMT -5 taratru said:

Our students are starting registration soon, and we had to decide as a department which courses we would offer as virtual. So I suspect in order to keep students, we are going to offer a hybrid of some kind to students who want it. It's going to be a staffing/teaching nightmare.

georgeglass , I'm glad it's working where you are. Our people can't keep up. It was a week between the time of notification of my kid being a possible close contact and then finding out she wasn't, and that was early on. I don't believe it's not spreading in the high schools, not for one minute.

Ugh, that's terrible. We have our contact tracing down to ~2 hours when we get notification. We aren't perfect, though, and sometimes clear someone after the fact, but not a week later, I hope. We did have a messy one where someone was presumed positive and we quarantined everyone and required testing and then the student's second PCR came back negative and we released everyone from quarantine. It is all hard. This has basically been my full time job since July.

[tacom]

Unrelated to schools but definitely @@ and COVID

I finally got contacted by the University of Washington for a study "COVID-19 vaccine outcomes in pregnancy and lactation" after signing up for their database last month!

So far I've just signed a consent form and filled out a bunch of surveys about my medical and pregnancy history, experience receiving both vaccines, attitudes and beliefs about vaccination, and any new concerns with the pregnancy (I.e. restricted growth, low fluid levels etc etc)

I'm just excited to see they're collecting data and this will be out there some day

I'm really curious if they'll end up doing any serologic testing, especially after reading about antibodies crossing the placenta for pregnant women infected with COVID

[tacom]

Jan 25, 2021 14:03:53 GMT -5 melmaria said:

Jan 25, 2021 13:54:57 GMT -5 taratru said:

I will keep on saying, give me a vaccine, make sure there is room for distancing and required masking, and I'll go back full time, HAPPILY. The VAST majority of teachers feel this way.

Now...cram 35 of them in my room with no additional PPE, no changes to ventilation or air, and no vaccine? Yeah, I'll pass.

It seems likely all teachers who want the vaccine/are willing to take it will have been able to get it by September, even with the super slow rollout thus far.  (If I'm wrong about that, I'll probably have to jump off of a cliff out of despair).

Hopefully Biden will do something about PPE (ramp up production of KN95 masks and make them available to all school districts, for example).

I don't know what can be done about crowded classrooms.  No one can build twice as many school buildings before September.  But in a world where all teachers who want to have been vaccinated and everyone is wearing a mask, risk has dropped dramatically.  Especially in elementary schools.

IMO this is why it's so important to have proper PPE. 

Hospitals are very crowded places, yet staff infection rates have been fairly low outside of massive, uncontrolled community surges. 

[erbear]

it is true that most kids need to be back in school.

it is also true that teachers need to be safe in schools.

it is also also true that schools are not catch-alls for mental health.

This is a shitshow of epic proportions because schools and teachers have been ignored for so long. This pandemic has laid bare how crucial schools and teachers are to the wellbeing of this country, and yet we know nothing will change. 

ETA: Schools can operate safely. I've been in person since August and so far there has been no known case of school spread of Covid. But I also work at a private school. We have been able to cut class sizes down to 11. We have a huge campus with a lot of outdoor space and upgraded ventilation. We can enforce masking and distancing. Our parents are cautious and keep kids home when they are sick, because they have flexible jobs and we have a remote program. This is not the case in most schools.

And the truth is, even with all of this, I'm barely keeping my head above water. I am doing two full time jobs teaching remotely and in person simultaneously, and I can't keep doing this. My mental health matters too, and if I'm struggling this much in the best possible scenario, most teachers are breaking.

[timorousbeastie]

Jan 25, 2021 13:59:03 GMT -5 kittenponypony said:

Jan 25, 2021 13:56:49 GMT -5 georgeglass said:

For us, each time we have a COVID positive case, we work with the local health department's dedicated school epidemiologists. We report any + people, they follow up with us and the students family. We report anyone we deem exposed (we do our own contact tracing based on local and CDC guidelines - all of our tracers did the Johns Hopkins certification). We follow up with all exposed people and require a negative test in the proper window. It's a lot and exhausting, but we have not yet found any spread in our school. We have weekly All School Calls with the epidemiologists and they are reporting no school spread in our area.

Do I think every school in the country is doing it this detailed? No.

I read that children catch Covid at the same rate as adults but they’re much more likely to be asymptomatic, so spread has been under counted in some cases because without symptoms they’re not tested

Edit: link www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2666634020300209

I also wonder if some of the undercounting is exacerbated by non-compliant parents. The FB group for my district is full of parents talking about how it’s none of the district’s business if their children get COVID, that they won’t test their kids for it if they have symptoms or are exposed, they won’t report any symptoms, they just will keep their kids home long enough for obvious symptoms to go away (and that’s assuming they have any symptoms at all). The superintendent sends frequent reminders about following their COVID policies and says that the above behavior won’t be tolerated, but it doesn’t seem like that changes anyone’s mind. I’d be very concerned that if schools have enough of a population of parents like that, outbreaks at school could be hard to detect.