In reply to ProDarwin :
Agreed. The Governor here is trying tho. Masks mandated, bars shut down. He's been pretty aggressive with all of this, hopefully cases don't continue to go up because then I'm sure he'll start closing down businesses again...
In reply to ProDarwin :
Agreed. The Governor here is trying tho. Masks mandated, bars shut down. He's been pretty aggressive with all of this, hopefully cases don't continue to go up because then I'm sure he'll start closing down businesses again...
I have a feeling once schools do open it will only take a couple weeks for them to shut back down again. Only takes on Johnny or Susie to come home with a fever and the chain of events will start again. My kids are definitely visual learners and the home school thing didn't go as well before so I think we need to step up our game and make it more interesting and easier to follow. Wish they would have an actual virtual class for each student to draw in their attention. Sitting at home next to the Fortnite machine makes their brains not as sharp.
My county is now requiring all persons to wear face masks in all retail establishments open to the public.
My wife went to the school yesterday to officially withdraw my daughter. Classes start in 10 days, but admin was there.
There were 6 women working behind the counter in the administration office. NONE of them were wearing masks. During the time she was there, 3 other parents came to withdraw their students. ALL of the parents were wearing masks.
I don't feel better.
From a friend who's spouse is a local principal - Our county system considers proper social distance to be 3' from nose to nose. They, as principal, are not allowed to require anyone to put on a mask. They're ...very concerned.
Also, school officially started today I think, and the news was reporting yesterday some members of one of the football teams had already tested positive.
In reply to ultraclyde (Forum Supporter) :
I find it bizarre that they can't mandate masks but they can force girls to cover their shoulders, ban colored hair, and police skirt length.
My college kid had the opportunity to go place fall semester only. He will stay home because he doesn't want to be trapped in his dorm room. They are sending the kids home at Thanksgiving anyway.
My high schooler had the opportunity to go back hybrid. She will do 100% online. We'd rather sit on the sideline of this experiment for a while.
My wife is an elementary teacher. She will go back 5 days a week. That option is being offered to the elementary students (along with hybrid and online), partly because the early belief was the young ones don't get it as easily and forcing them to stay home puts some parents in an impossible bind.
I wish you all the best of luck. The will be interesting. I hope all schools have a good exit plan in place.
mazdeuce - Seth said:In reply to ultraclyde (Forum Supporter) :
I find it bizarre that they can't mandate masks but they can force girls to cover their shoulders, ban colored hair, and police skirt length.
In another Georgia county a high school student was suspended for a week for publishing photos of the crowded halls where no one was wearing a mask. Their reason for the suspension was she was breaking a school rule by using her phone without permission. The government line is that an education is too important to send the kids home even if there is a pandemic, but apparently unsanctioned cell phone usage is a more serious problem and worth a child missing their education. My point is, don't look for rational thought where government and institutions are concerned. Remember, our governor was suing any local government that passed a mask ordenance.
TheGloriousW said:My college kid had the opportunity to go place fall semester only. He will stay home because he doesn't want to be trapped in his dorm room. They are sending the kids home at Thanksgiving anyway.
Scratch that. I just got an email changing plans. They cannot come back in the fall at all.
The Georgia situation will be a good "Canary in the Coal Mine" test.
Such a test would be WILDLY unethical normally.
I can hear the lawyers circling already....
mazdeuce - Seth said:In reply to ultraclyde (Forum Supporter) :
I find it bizarre that they can't mandate masks but they can force girls to cover their shoulders, ban colored hair, and police skirt length.
They absolutely can.
They aren't because they are pathetic weak leaders who are afraid to face their constituents.
From the district that my wife teaches in...
Picture from local paper of last nights school board meeting. Main topic of the meeting was weather they would be starting Aug 31 with:
Notice the meeting was held at the football stadium(outdoors.) All board members are in masks. One person per 6ft table.
Decision was for full population all 5 days.
I am caught by the irony of the distance required to announce the lack of distance they are planning.
Our county now has at least one confirmed student case in 13 schools, including every high school, several middle schools and at least one elementary school. Plans are to quarantine and test anyone they had "close contact" with including teachers and staff. Substitute teachers will be brought in. I wonder how many substitutes they can have at one time...
ultraclyde (Forum Supporter) said:Our county now has at least one confirmed student case in 13 schools, including every high school, several middle schools and at least one elementary school. Plans are to quarantine and test anyone they had "close contact" with including teachers and staff. Substitute teachers will be brought in. I wonder how many substitutes they can have at one time...
Considering the lousy pay for substitutes where I live, how many people will sign up to risk infection for a low paying temp job? They may run out of substitutes really fast, especially if the schools become hot spots.
I don't think they thought this out very well.
The superintendent of this nearby district does not believe in masks or vaccines. Parents are already complaining to the health departments and the state. Lawsuits could be next. Strangely enough, this is the same district that rented parking lots to local car clubs for autocrosses and then cancelled after one event when they realized the events were "high speed" driving events and not car shows.
It begins.
In reply to Snowdoggie :
A sufficient supply of subs are a hot topic here too. Pre-covid there was already a shortage.
aircooled said:The Georgia situation will be a good "Canary in the Coal Mine" test.
Such a test would be WILDLY unethical normally.
I can hear the lawyers circling already....
I am sure they all signed a waiver before going back.
I know I did and my kids are not even attending
Supposed to hear from the school today whether they're going to open up full time or not.
Has anyone heard of teachers unions considering striking?
In reply to Slippery (Forum Supporter) :
Lots of issues....
First off, a waiver will not exempt anyone from liability is the case of gross negligence. Gross negligence is willful disregard for an individual's safety. If a district is aware of a hazard but does not take action to mitigate the risk and protect individuals, it's gross negligence.
Secondly, some states (like GA) have passed laws saying an individual can not hold a business responsible if they get COVID 19. By entering the premises, they are assuming the risk.
Third, I note that your waiver is from a faith based entity. They may have other exemptions that would protect them.
BUT, the entire dynamic changes when it's about employees. No employer can make an employee sign a waiver allowing them to be at risk. This violates the General Duty clause of the Osh Act (which OSHA is built on). The legal requirement for employers to provide workplaces free of known hazards can not be waived. Those waivers do not apply to employees. (Note for faith based associations- volunteers are NOT employees, and are not protected by OSHA).
So, the answer is there is absolutely no answer. One thing is certain... the lawsuits will be flying. With or without waivers.
docwyte said:No offense to those living in the South but your states have done a particularly bad job at managing this. Hence the increased case loads.
Yeah they have. At least my state (Alabama) has put a mask order in place unlike three of the states around us.
John Welsh (Moderate Supporter) said:I am caught by the irony of the distance required to announce the lack of distance they are planning.
Speaking as a public school teacher, the problem is you're looking at this with logic and reason. The sooner you can suspend logic and reason, the sooner you can embrace a whole world of weird.
We've got a mix of plans for my sons in the fall
My 6th grader start the school year full remote. If all goes well the school district plan on K,1, 6,9, and 12 grades to start hybrid in November and wveryone hubrid after winter break.
My 11th grade will be going hybrid, alternating weeks. The in person week will be 2 days academics, 3 days auto tech shop. The remote week will be 3 days academic and 2 days shop.
Also just heard that as of now they will be having a hockey season, but it will be modified (no checking, modified face offs, refs with masks?) and there will be COVID procedures in place.
I'm in NJ, with the worst ratio of deaths/population in the country (like 12X normal flu season at last count) but where things are largely under control now. The only real disruption to my routine is wearing a mask at stores, WFH, and no eating out. The local school district is going with splitting the classes with Mon/Tues, Wed/Thurs attendance with remote learning on off days and the option for full remote.
My daughter is going into 6th grade. Her private school is giving us the option of in-person or home. They bought a system called Swivel (sp?) that adds tracking to the cameras so the teachers can move around. If you're at home, you go to all the same classes at the same time. They're repurposing large open areas like the gym and auditorium to be wide-open classrooms. Kids in masks. Lunch at desks. Activities that mix grades are suspended. No lockers. Aftercare numbers severely limited. A lot of the staff (and the owner himself) are at the age that puts them at high risk. They are not fooling around.
Most of the parents we know are planning to let their kids go back although several are planning to wait a month or so and see how things work out. My wife and I continue to be on the fence. We are both able to WFH and our 11 yo daughter (going into 6th grade) is very self-motivated at school even as she complains about it. Still, in the last six months she's seen one friend in person perhaps 5 times. She has her amazing babysitter 3X/wk but still... I'm bike riding with buddies several times/wk and my wife runs with her friends while she gets no in-person peer interaction.
She did do absolutely great in the spring. She and a friend or two would have facetime open during the day and would collaborate on their assignments very effectively. I don't think that will survive the new arrangement. She'll be more isolated.
She is at my in-laws right now, enjoying a day of painting with Grandpa. If/when she starts back, we plan to severely limit her interactions with them.
Did a virtual open house with my son on Wednesday. Didn't go well. He was super squirmy/fidgety and unable to focus on the computer screen.
Did a family - teach conference today and it was more of the same. He's good for about 5 minutes then loses interest. Does not bode well.
Any tips on training a 5 year old to effectively use zoom? I am planning on practicing some this weekend by calling family members and having some penalty/reward system for him, but if anyone has been through this, I would appreciate some tips.
In reply to ProDarwin :
Wish I had some advice. My kids would get up and wander away from Sesame Street if they weren't engaged. I have no idea how zoom classes with kids that age are going to work.
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