The superintendent has repeatedly stated masks will be optional. But then the school board had a special meeting last night and there is nothing available yet on what happened at it. The principal of our school is saying masks will be mandatory for the open house, so we are speculating that the mask policy changed at the board meeting last night but there has not been an official announcement.
Masks are required basically everywhere. They're keeping the lunch room at lower occupancy. No word on after school enrichment activities, but sports are back to normal, so I think that will be normal too. No word on specialty teachers either, but I really think they'll just go all the way back to normal except for chorus.
They'll have free testing on-site for anyone with symptoms or exposure to a lab-confirmed case. There's a contact tracing team dedicated to the school system.
We have a virtual option but it was discouraged for most of the summer, they really want as many people in person as possible. Now that cases are rising, they've been sending out email saying families who feel like they need to go virtual can apply. Teen vaccination rates are about 70% already.
There is some fight with the teachers' union about putting material online. The management position is that posting weekly learning goals/activities/assignments isn't anything new. The teachers' union position is that this is extra work and it doesn't fit into the schedule. I don't know who's right. Usually these sort of last minute things get sorted out one way or another. I'm hoping the Kindergarten jumpstart (which is this week) gives everyone a chance to see how this might fit into the day.
There has been very little discussion about addressing learning loss holistically. There were specific summer programs for specific student populations deemed at-risk. But summer school eligibility was very limited (for a variety of reasons -- public health concerns, teachers were burned out so they didn't want to do it, etc.) and none of the pool of free money from the feds seems to have been set aside for tutoring. It has been like pulling teeth trying to get traction from the school. This seems nuts to me -- we all follow the news! We all lived it! Maybe they are hoping that there's a ton of catch-up learning once in person school starts. Maybe they want to wait until fall state assessments in October and then they'll see where they are.
... my opinion on BTS seems to be UO for the board. But I'm also in a high vaccination place where the indirect public health risk is pretty small. I get that this is a lot different in other places.
I'm starting to get really frustrated with the lack of information from our school district. We have received a letter that masks will be required for all students (yay and phew!). But that's pretty much it! No info on anything else otherwise and school starts in less than 2 weeks. They did a great job last year and I expect the same this year, but I really hoped they'd provide more info proactively. There's a SC meeting tonight I plan to watch and I really hope it has more details. The last one a few weeks ago was a lot of "that will be decided later". <head explodes>
I think you are in MA. I am too. My district has no plans yet. The school committee meets on the 19th to vote about masks. My 3 are all vaccinated, but I still want masks. It is better for everybody. Meanwhile on our local parents FB page somebody just posted a masks should be a choice petition. Ugh!
I teach preschool and we are requiring masks. I would not go back if the students were unmasked.
ETA: I wish Gov Baker had just mandated masks for schools.
Post by penguingrrl on Aug 17, 2021 17:51:40 GMT -5
Ours haven’t released much yet. The state announced that masks are mandatory, so that will be the case. No word on quarantines or anything else. No screening testing happening at all. When it was suggested we were told we were welcome to do so outside of school.
Post by bookqueen15 on Aug 17, 2021 18:26:03 GMT -5
Fully in person, masks optional. Second week in and it's already a disaster here. Emergency school board meeting tomorrow, but I don't think anything will change because our district is terrified of the state taking their funding if they defy the Governor and mandate masks. Florida is really the worst right now.
Post by Velar Fricative on Aug 17, 2021 18:44:01 GMT -5
We don’t start until 9/13. So far here’s what we know:
On-site learning only Masks mandatory for everyone Health screenings mandatory In-school testing in TBD intervals School staff must be vaccinated or tested weekly Three-feet distancing Air filtration equipment in every classroom Quarantines, but extent and conditions TBD
I'm starting to get really frustrated with the lack of information from our school district. We have received a letter that masks will be required for all students (yay and phew!). But that's pretty much it! No info on anything else otherwise and school starts in less than 2 weeks. They did a great job last year and I expect the same this year, but I really hoped they'd provide more info proactively. There's a SC meeting tonight I plan to watch and I really hope it has more details. The last one a few weeks ago was a lot of "that will be decided later". <head explodes>
I think you are in MA. I am too. My district has no plans yet. The school committee meets on the 19th to vote about masks. My 3 are all vaccinated, but I still want masks. It is better for everybody. Meanwhile on our local parents FB page somebody just posted a masks should be a choice petition. Ugh!
I teach preschool and we are requiring masks. I would not go back if the students were unmasked.
ETA: I wish Gov Baker had just mandated masks for schools.
Yes, also MA and agree I wish the state had just mandated masks to make it non-negotiable.
I just watched our SC meeting and the parents protesting the district mask mandate make me so mad! They keep saying things like: kids don’t get sick (one even said kids are “immune”!!! 🤯), kids are uncomfortable in masks (🙄), everyone who wants to be vaccinated can be (except my under 12 year old children! 😡) and it’s been 18 months, we should be done with masks by now. Yes, I 100% agree, I wish we could be done with masks too but COVID ISNT OVER YET!! And this was after another parent shared that she lost a 40 year old friend with 3 children to Covid, and another shared that her immunocompromised kid needs others to wear masks to protect her child, etc, etc. The selfishness of people makes me so angry.
We started last Monday. Everyone staff and students in the entire district (2 years and over …we have an infant -preschool child care facility as part of the district) required to be masked indoors regardless of vaccination status. Outdoors is mask optional and parents are currently not allowed on campus.
Post by goldengirlz on Aug 17, 2021 22:40:30 GMT -5
It’s the Bay Area. So basically, it’s strict.
The entire region has an indoor mask mandate so that’s beyond just the schools. They’re going to attempt contact tracing, keeping kids in stable cohorts. There’s no testing program for students but there’s a daily health screener.
Fully in person unless you opted for fully virtual for the full year, masks required, screening required, quarantine enforced (unless fully vaccinated). Optional routine, asymptomatic antigen testing.
Fully in person, masks optional. Second week in and it's already a disaster here. Emergency school board meeting tomorrow, but I don't think anything will change because our district is terrified of the state taking their funding if they defy the Governor and mandate masks. Florida is really the worst right now.
Our district is “mask required with option for parents to opt their kids out by sending in a note”. That means optional to me. All to appease DeSantis and his followers. Some people were complaining about having to send the simple note. Crazy.
Post by countthestars on Aug 18, 2021 8:45:01 GMT -5
We're in MA:
- Masks required for all regardless of vaccination status (bus and indoors) - Pool sample testing is optional (I think?) - Parents still not allowed in the school for volunteering but can come in to drop off late or pick up early
We're private so our very left-leaning school does what it wants as Missouri burns:
All the masks for all the people in all the circumstances Daily Screener Random COVID testing Spaced out classrooms Outdoor learning when applicable Negative COVID test required if any cold symptoms are reported/observable
Masked parents are allowed in the school this year. (I'm not worried about that. Most of our parent population is probably already on the list for the third dose. That's how we roll.) Additionally, our head of school meets weekly with the COVID-19 task force.
And actually, that's been the case for most - if not all - of the private schools around me. We don't send our kid to Catholic school but that's the most common private option in STL and most of my friends do. They are reporting pretty much the same at three different schools in the region. I think all the major schools here have formed a sort of task force of their own and agreed to all use the same rules because there is so much crossover in our communities.
Post by sandandsea on Aug 18, 2021 10:29:01 GMT -5
We are fully in person with masks. There is an independent study option available for kids who aren’t comfortable with in person. Teachers were vaccinated first and if they aren’t vaccinated get tested weekly.
Post by sometimesrunner on Aug 18, 2021 10:37:19 GMT -5
-Masks on busses required for everyone -Dedicated virtual school for those who want it (last year, the few students who chose virtual were taught along-side their in-school peers, which anecdotally was a nightmare for the teachers to manage) -Elementary: masks required for all students and teachers, regardless of vaccination status -Middle and High School: masks optional for students, regardless of vaccination status; for teachers masks are required for unvaccinated staff and optional for vaccinated staff
I have been very pleased with how our districted has handled everything last year and this year.
Masks mandatory by the state (NJ) for all K-12 schools. Extra outdoor time, weather permitting, for mask breaks, and plexiglass in the classroom. We are full in-person, but live stream available to students that are required to quarantine (although I'm not sure of the quarantine rules). I have a new K student starting on 9/9 and I feel like I don't know much about what to expect yet, but all of this info is from the handbook I just got yesterday. There was nothing regarding testing.
Post by estrellita on Aug 23, 2021 12:13:51 GMT -5
E's school is having masks mandatory on busses but it sounded like they won't be enforcing it very much (the wording was that the drivers were told to focus mainly on safely driving the kids to school). Masks are optional in school. They will still be doing things like going outside as much as possible, increased cleaning, sanitizing, hand washing, etc. This is a very red area so there was no way they were going to be able to mandate masks without a huge fight. I just keep hoping they open vaccines for E's age group so we can at least get some protection that way!
The BTS town hall was encouraging. They are testing the air exchange frequency in every classroom. They have portable HEPA filters in each classroom, and 5 on standby in case one breaks, they're in the lunchroom. The lunch cohorts are split in half, they take turns eating outside in a covered area (only one solid wall). Things are a lot more spaced out than usual. The PTA and school district are trying to figure out if we can get them space heaters. The quarantine/contact tracing protocol is pretty reasonable -- I would try a little harder to keep asymptomatic contacts in school, but it's a reasonable choice. There's on-site testing.
I'd say about 2/3 of the Q&A was "please god how fast can I prove my kid is healthy enough to go back to school?" and 1/3 was "can we do anything about indoor lunch?".