Should schools reopen?

StarSong said:
Saw this and thought it was spot-on. My teacher friends all want to return to the classroom, but when it's safe for them, their students, and everyone's families.
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Tell me exactly how the government failed to act ? What could they have done with a plague like virus ? The president tried to close the borders, ASAP.... and was accused of being xenophobic .
 
Tell me exactly how the government failed to act ?
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Rgp, you asked the above question. The detailed and highly professional study that I quoted was your answer.

Nothing more to say. You will see what you want to see.
 
Sunny said:
Rgp, you asked the above question. The detailed and highly professional study that I quoted was your answer.

Nothing more to say. You will see what you want to see.
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And right back at'cha ......... that is why it is called a debate.
 
Many Students Will Be in Classrooms Only Part of the Week This Fall....,,Some American school districts are beginning to announce hybrid schedules that include a mix of online and in-school learning, presenting a difficult challenge for working parents.

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/26/us/coronavirus-schools-reopen-fall.html

Anyone know of any other states re-opening schools with teachers and students together in classrooms?
 
This is a terrible conundrum! Childrens' lives certainly shouldn't be risked by school openings but on the other hand, parents who must work and have smaller children may not have options as to where to leave them while they are at work. In my city many schools were overcrowded to begin with. That certainly isn't a safe environment. My DIL and ex-DIL both work in the school system. The latter is an administrator and she said the schools are slated to open in September. I think N.J.'s numbers are looking better so we'll see. In states where the numbers have surged (because they didn't take proper precautions to begin with) certainly shouldn't be opening schools.
 
Ex teacher here. In my state, NSW, all schools public and private, closed completely for a full semester and students were provided with online learning to do at home. This was especially important for seniors preparing for final year exams. It was also important to help the parents and allay fears that the children would be falling behind. However, disadvantaged children were further disadvantaged so there was pressure to open the schools ASAP. The state premier allowed a partial opening at first. Students would attend on a rostered basis for just 2 days per week at first. Seniors and infants children were the first to start back. Online lessons were still available for all students because some parents were still worried about safety.

All schools had to be deep cleaned before any students could return and at the first sign that someone was positive then the school was closed again for further deep cleaning and contact tracing. Hand sanitiser was provided in every class room and desks and other surfaces were continually disinfected. Bathrooms also received more frequent attention. Masks were not required.

It didn't take long for all schools to be open and operating under strict rules about school assemblies and other activities but the class rooms were functioning as normal.

The main concern the health authorities had was not what happened inside the school gates. It was the parents congregating outside the gates that was the most likely place the virus would spread. Somehow they managed to control this and parents were not allowed onto school property.

So far, with only a handful of temporary school closures, the schools have opened up again.
 
The Dept of Education and the CDC isnt involved as much as they should be, leaving each county in each state to decide, sending surveys to
school admin, teachers and parents to express their opinions in the how, where and when issue to re-open.....this is probably becoming chaotic for everyone.
 
My daughter was a substitute school nurse for a few months years ago and then was asked to be a private teacher for an autistic little boy. She said that quit a few times a child went to the nurses office saying they felt sick. They told the Nurse that they had thrown up all night but their Mom said they would feel better going to school. The child had a temperature of 100.5 degrees. The nurse called the Mom to pick him up but the Mom said she was too busy. She showed up when classes were over and sent him back to school the next day, Some parents just don't care for their child's safety or for the safety of other children or staff.
 
Warrigal said:
Ex teacher here. In my state, NSW, all schools public and private, closed completely for a full semester and students were provided with online learning to do at home. This was especially important for seniors preparing for final year exams. It was also important to help the parents and allay fears that the children would be falling behind. However, disadvantaged children were further disadvantaged so there was pressure to open the schools ASAP. The state premier allowed a partial opening at first. Students would attend on a rostered basis for just 2 days per week at first. Seniors and infants children were the first to start back. Online lessons were still available for all students because some parents were still worried about safety.

All schools had to be deep cleaned before any students could return and at the first sign that someone was positive then the school was closed again for further deep cleaning and contact tracing. Hand sanitiser was provided in every class room and desks and other surfaces were continually disinfected. Bathrooms also received more frequent attention. Masks were not required.

It didn't take long for all schools to be open and operating under strict rules about school assemblies and other activities but the class rooms were functioning as normal.

The main concern the health authorities had was not what happened inside the school gates. It was the parents congregating outside the gates that was the most likely place the virus would spread. Somehow they managed to control this and parents were not allowed onto school property.

So far, with only a handful of temporary school closures, the schools have opened up again.
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I can understand how this would work in a city with very few virus cases and good contact tracing. I envy Australia's response to COVID.

Sad to say, many US population centers are loaded with positive cases and hospitalizations.
For instance, Los Angeles County has reported 36,704 new cases in just the past two weeks.

We are at Threat Level Orange:
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One other note about opening schools... I have to wonder about possible long-term effects of repeated applications of hand sanitzer on humans, particularly children whose bodies are still developing.

Will we one day be greatly distressed over the grand experiment of kids applying this gunk 10 times a day for months on end?
 
StarSong said:
I can understand how this would work in a city with very few virus cases and good contact tracing. I envy Australia's response to COVID.

Sad to say, many US population centers are loaded with positive cases and hospitalizations.
For instance, Los Angeles County has reported 36,704 new cases in just the past two weeks.

We are at Threat Level Orange:
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It would be a mistake to compare the US and Australian situations because there are some very big differences in each country. Although the land masses are roughly the same the population sizes are very different. Australia is an island and can secure the borders (when the authorities finally get their act together and don't let infected cruise ships discharge their passengers without any health checks, as happened with the Ruby Princess). Our schools all have outdoor playgrounds for the children at recess and lunch breaks and the climate is conducive to being outside the buildings. I did note that when I was in New York that the school buildings were more like office blocks and the children ate their lunches inside. That is not good for this current health crisis.

This why it is very important that the authorities and political leaders come together to prepare plans to cope with crises before they present themselves. Such plans need to be specific to the particular local conditions. It would be foolish for any country to apply a carbon copy of some other country's plan but we can all learn from things that did work well and adapt or modify them for our local conditions. Being proactive does help a country gear up quickly when necessary.

It is unfortunate that when the virus first appeared in New York or California the authorities in the south eastern states did not watch and learn and get ready for outbreaks that would inevitably arrive on their doorsteps.

Australia had not had a serious pandemic to deal with since the Spanish flu but even so, because of our proximity to Asia we did have a plan in place. We stumbled at first but the best part of the plan was a mechanism for co-operation between the states, territories and the commonwealth in the form of a (temporary) National Cabinet. Even during this time of isolation, using internet meetings, the responses could be agreed on and co-ordinated. The state leaders did not fight each other or play the political game, even when some states closed their borders to travellers from the larger states where the virus was on the rise. The Commonwealth committed military personnel when required including medical teams to relieve stressed civilian nurses and doctors and assisting police with manning check points or supervising quarantine in hotels.

It would be a wise move, once the present crisis is past, to insist on serious planning for the next one, taking into account all of the mistakes made this time, and setting up mechanisms for state-state and state-federal co-operation rather than competition. The plan should be published and not just left to gather dust in some government archive. The value of the plan would be to allow some responses to occur quickly, even if the plan needed modification because no two crises are exactly the same.

Think about the weaknesses that were revealed with this corona virus. A shortage of masks and PPE was a serious problem. There were not enough immediately available and China was the largest supplier and the source of the virus. Major problem. Messages went out saying civilians didn't need to wear masks because they were needed for front line medical staff. It was suggested that they were ineffective and now it is very hard to convince people that mask wearing is helpful to limit community transmission of the disease. Next time, we should have generous stockpiles of masks and PPE on hand. That should be part of the planning.

Can you see what I am getting at? Planning and co-operation are essential to success in dealing with the next pandemic for which no vaccination or cure is available. Let's not get past this crisis and forget that another one could pop up in some part of the world at any time. Each country must be ready with effective strategies for the particular conditions of geography, demographics and government structures.
 
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PopsnTuff said:
Just read private schools all over are re-opening.....probably cause the classrooms are smaller.
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I will add this little note. The owners of the Charter Schools are making out like Bandits, BIG TIME!!

A friend of mine stopped by the other night and he had a fellow with him that I didn't know. My friend introduced him as John Smith and stated to me that he is the owner of The Smith Charter School for grades 10-12. (Names are fictitious.) I just asked him how were things going and then we got into a long discussion, including financial information. He made it sound like he was rolling it in, so I called another friend who I know that has a connection to one of the Charter Schools and he corroborated what the man was telling me. Evidently, anyone that owns one of these schools is doing very well.

Anyone else know anyone involved in these schools? I'm really curious about this now, but not because I'm interested in starting one, just really curious. It's my nature. What can I say?
 
This virus is not going anywhere soon, either learn to live our lives and use some precautions, or give up and stay at home in fear.

Guess what. The vaccine is not going to be some panacea either, how effective is the current flu vaccine? 70 or 80%? We will have to endure herd immunity or shut down everything and the entire country will go bankrupt. Scare enough people, like they're doing with schools, and you won't have a food supply.....
 
I think it was in the Huffington post there was an article about teachers making out their wills because they're scared they're gonna get it from teaching class & die. Can't say that I blame them.
 
Our schools here were already overcrowded before the virus, and teachers were already underpaid. Many teachers here (especially older ones) have decided to either retire or just quit because they don't think it would be safe to return.

If I were a teacher I don't think I'd be going back this year, and if I had young children I don't think I'd be sending them back this year, either. I don't think there is any real, practical way to make children, especially the younger ones, abide by safety restrictions -- distancing, wearing masks, etc.
 

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