Community Chat

[suzyQ3]

I apologize if this has already been posted: From the NYT

A student at Greenfield Central Junior High School in Indiana tested positive for the coronavirus on Thursday, the first day of school.

One of the first school districts in the country to reopen its doors during the coronavirus pandemic did not even make it a day before being forced to grapple with the issue facing every system actively trying to get students into classrooms: What happens when someone comes to school infected?

Just hours into the first day of classes on Thursday, a call from the county health department notified Greenfield Central Junior High School in Indiana that a student who had walked the halls and sat in various classrooms had tested positive for the coronavirus.

[Porcelain]

"Many schools in Indiana started on Thursday. On Saturday, the superintendent of the Elwood Community School Corporation in the central part of the state sent a note thanking students and parents for “a great first two days of school!”

But the optimistic tone quickly gave way: Staff members had tested positive, and the high school was forced to close its doors and move all students in seventh through 12th grades to online learning for at least a week.

“We did see more positive cases from staff members than we anticipated,” Joe Brown, the superintendent, wrote to families.

And similar developments occurred across the country. Just hours into the first day of classes at Greenfield Central Junior High School, also in Indiana, the county health department notified the school that a student had tested positive. The student was isolated, and others who had been in proximity were forced to quarantine for two weeks.

At a high school in Corinth, Miss., someone also tested positiveduring the first week back, and exposed students there were asked to stay home for 14 days. And in the Atlanta area, more than 200 employees of a single school district in Gwinnett County tested positive or were in quarantine last week before classes even resumed.

Gwinnett County Public Schools is the largest school system in Georgia, with more than 180,000 students. Teachers returned to work last Wednesday, in preparation for staring classes remotely on Aug. 12. But as of Thursday, about 260 employees had been excluded from work because they tested positive or had potentially been exposed to the virus."

The best bet is to put kids into isolated pods of 10, where they only come into contact with each other and their teacher during the school day. That isolates and limits spread. But that kind of thing is more possible for schools with more resources, private schools, or the schools where most children are doing virtual learning.

[haddon9]

It's heartbreaking!  So many people are falling through the cracks during this terrible time.

[suzyQ3]

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@Porcelain wrote:

"Many schools in Indiana started on Thursday. On Saturday, the superintendent of the Elwood Community School Corporation in the central part of the state sent a note thanking students and parents for “a great first two days of school!”

But the optimistic tone quickly gave way: Staff members had tested positive, and the high school was forced to close its doors and move all students in seventh through 12th grades to online learning for at least a week.

“We did see more positive cases from staff members than we anticipated,” Joe Brown, the superintendent, wrote to families.

And similar developments occurred across the country. Just hours into the first day of classes at Greenfield Central Junior High School, also in Indiana, the county health department notified the school that a student had tested positive. The student was isolated, and others who had been in proximity were forced to quarantine for two weeks.

At a high school in Corinth, Miss., someone also tested positiveduring the first week back, and exposed students there were asked to stay home for 14 days. And in the Atlanta area, more than 200 employees of a single school district in Gwinnett County tested positive or were in quarantine last week before classes even resumed.

Gwinnett County Public Schools is the largest school system in Georgia, with more than 180,000 students. Teachers returned to work last Wednesday, in preparation for staring classes remotely on Aug. 12. But as of Thursday, about 260 employees had been excluded from work because they tested positive or had potentially been exposed to the virus."

The best bet is to put kids into isolated pods of 10, where they only come into contact with each other and their teacher during the school day. That isolates and limits spread. But that kind of thing is more possible for schools with more resources, private schools, or the schools where most children are doing virtual learning.

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@Porcelain, I'm not understanding the pod thing. Unless they don't leave the pod, how are they going to remain safe?

[Porcelain]

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@suzyQ3 wrote:

The best bet is to put kids into isolated pods of 10, where they only come into contact with each other and their teacher during the school day. That isolates and limits spread. But that kind of thing is more possible for schools with more resources, private schools, or the schools where most children are doing virtual learning.

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@Porcelain, I'm not understanding the pod thing. Unless they don't leave the pod, how are they going to remain safe?

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They go to locations with just the 10 students and a teacher. And then their parents have to keep them safe the rest of the time. The liklihood of someone in the pod location of 10 showing up sick is much less than if they were in a larger location of 500. Based on community spread, the more people present at a school, the more people who are infected will be there.

It can't just be class size. It has to be number of people at the location. There are too many common touch points of contact at a normal school that would have to be monitored at all times, and it just isn't feasible. Too many moving parts and individuals.

(And those people who are most concerned about abuse and attention to special needs students will be happy to know that abuse will be more easy to spot and special needs students will receive more attention in these smaller pods. High potential kids can get the attention and challenge they deserve as well.)

[SXMGirl]

I just saw a friend today whose son is a 15-year old special needs student.  She is really concerned that school will be virtual for the foreseeable future.   He failed classes for the first time and she is obviously distressed.  He needs direct interaction with a teacher, as well as socialization.

There must be some way to deal effectively with schools.  I know that this is  pie in the sky, but I would keep class sizes limited, bring back teachers who have retired, keep the students in one classroom all day with exercise or a few social breaks, have the teachers move from class to class, and have administrators back in the classroom.  There would need to be a real plan for problem students.  There also would probably need to be a shortened day, which should not be a problem since there are no after school activities of any kind.

I know that it sounds impossible, but I was a classroom teacher after years of corporate, and this can be done in at least some schools.  Is it the best?  Of course not.  But parents need to go back to work and students need real school.  Very few students do well with virtual studies, especially when there are so many distractions.

Just my opinion.

[Porcelain]

I just found out yesterday that my step brother's whole family has Covid. My dad forgot to mention it until yesterday! Their first sign was when the son had mild symptoms so they got him tested. They've determined that the only way he could have gotten it was from playing hockey, which they had thought was being done in a safe way.

So far step brother and his wife and son do have symptoms. Bro's are moderate, she is only having severe headaches. No one is hospitalized. Only the youngest daughter has no symptoms. They are only a week into it, so I am sending them all the healing vibes I've got.

[suzyQ3]

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@Porcelain wrote:

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@suzyQ3 wrote:

The best bet is to put kids into isolated pods of 10, where they only come into contact with each other and their teacher during the school day. That isolates and limits spread. But that kind of thing is more possible for schools with more resources, private schools, or the schools where most children are doing virtual learning.

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@Porcelain, I'm not understanding the pod thing. Unless they don't leave the pod, how are they going to remain safe?

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They go to locations with just the 10 students and a teacher. And then their parents have to keep them safe the rest of the time. The liklihood of someone in the pod location of 10 showing up sick is much less than if they were in a larger location of 500. Based on community spread, the more people present at a school, the more people who are infected will be there.

It can't just be class size. It has to be number of people at the location. There are too many common touch points of contact at a normal school that would have to be monitored at all times, and it just isn't feasible. Too many moving parts and individuals.

(And those people who are most concerned about abuse and attention to special needs students will be happy to know that abuse will be more easy to spot and special needs students will receive more attention in these smaller pods. High potential kids can get the attention and challenge they deserve as well.)

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it certainly does reduce the risk, @Porcelain, although it does leave open the possibility of infection from contact that the adults involve may bring to the pod. I hope that all involved would be very careful.

I'm reminded of that sports figure who was podding with some fellow players. He was granted leave to attend a funeral but then went to a strip club. It could have had serious ramifications.

[Cakers3]

Some are not understanding the impact pods or microschooling is going to have on school budgets.

As far as special needs students, each one has an IEP;  and not all IEP's are the same in case one does not understand what an IEP means.

Some parents are pooling money to pay for instructors which leaves families with lower income out of the loop.

This is not a cut and dried solution.

[Tinkerbell3]

Some will be in person-

Food insecurity ios an ENORMOUS concern!