@roycroftmom Sooooo many suburban schools are this big. We are in the same boat as @Mwfan1921. 2800 students in an old, not well-ventilated building. Wealthy neighborhood, though, and well-known, respected competitive school that is able to provide chromebooks to all kids and didn’t have that bad of a spring with remote learning. I don’t think many rising seniors (or really none) are going to go somewhere else for their senior year. This is the culmination of their schooling in neighborhood schools where they’ve been going since they were little.
A teacher friend told me yesterday that, if high school does go back to some part time schedule for a percentage of kids each week, they’d better be ready for it took look more like a pediatrician’s office than a high school.
I can understand wanting to finish up senior year in the same school. For those starting such a high school in an affluent area, would private schools be an option?
If public officials get re-opening wrong, what are the potential negative consequences to them? And the city, county, state?
If college administrators get re-opening wrong, what are the potential negative consequences? What are possible long term consequences to the college in terms of negative publicity? Future enrollment? Survival?
It’s about finances. If mayors and governors mess up, we can’t decide not to pay our taxes, at least not legally. If college administrators make the wrong choices, that college really might not still be around post-pandemic.
Opening up to save the economy could possibly be a long term good for local and national economy, but a disaster for some colleges. Staying closed could be a disaster as well.
@roycroftmom It’s not different, BUT it’s about liability management, REALLY. 250 or 500 kids get together at a beach party or whatever and several become ill, we say irresponsible kids, bad parenting, etc. Happens on campus and the school is liable. All of a sudden it becomes “how could you let them gather like that?” Very real and likely scenario. Sad.
Think about it, the overall community is probably safer if these kids are highly concentrated in college than if they are sprinkled all over the place. Because they will gather regardless of location, the infection spread will likely be similar. On or close to campus keeps it there. Yes it puts faculty and staff at risk. But gatherings at home puts the general population at risk. Of course staffers and profs are part of the general population but maybe easier to control their whereabouts than entire communities. I would assume it’s better for the general population if these kids were on an island. Campus is more like that island.
I know I’ve stated this before, but nothing will stop the infection spread until we have a vaccine and scale. School plans are far more about “not on my watch.” I don’t blame them because our society will.
Yeah, I agree. It’s important to note that the CT rule allowing 500 as long as the blankets are 15’ apart goes into effect July 3rd one day before 4th of July fireworks. I don’t think any “normal event” can meet the guidelines.
That’s partly why I thought the roycroft was joking.
I don’t live in CT, but it looks like the governor has laid out a plan so fireworks can happen. I’m sure they could cancel at the last minute like they do when there is lightening.
Was it Joseph Mankiewisz who once said of a dead movie producer’s funeral turnout, “Give the people what they want and they’ll come.”? I’m not saying Americans want their kids to die. On the contrary. But, enough people have looked at the question whether their child may die from covid to collectively hand American colleges and universities a powerful market incentive to reopen. A college that thinks it can cover enough of the wellness issues (de-densifying, quarantining, feeding and emotional support) would be foolish not to try to meet the demand.
“New Zealand beat back the coronavirus, but families were left divided and migrant workers stranded in the process”
Washington post today.
We are a culture based on basic freedom and human agency.
Each family, every professor, every staffer and each “adult” student 18+ must decide for themselves. I’ll respect those who choose whatever works best for them.
The schools will offer choice and do the best they can.
My neighbor just found out she’s online for the fall. She is a rising sophomore at community college. She is crushed. Even though she’s a commuter, the social aspect of school was so important to her. She really struggled when classes went online.
Her mom works for our school district and she believes our schools will be open but only the elementary kids will not be online. Sigh.
Maybe rational adults have looked at the risks based on age and are comfortable in attending college compared to the other risks one encounters every day. Even staying home has risks-there is a big increase in serious falls around the house, ER doctors have told me. College aged adults die every year in car accidents, drugs, suicide, and yes, even influenza complications. It may still be rational for those adults to use autos and attend college.
@rickle1 S19 really believes that, once kids get back to campus and are tested and the positive cases are isolated, there shouldn’t be a way for more cases to present themselves. That all of them being at school, on campus, just isn’t dangerous because the campus itself will be isolated from any cases.
He insists he will follow whatever rules are imposed but is still having a hard time understanding how anyone will contract the virus on campus after those first cases are isolated. I was joking this morning that we’d better figure out how he can watch golf (or any sports!) on his laptop since he doesn’t have a tv at college and likely won’t have one in an isolation room and he started talking about how he is not going to catch it. Ugh.
It’s really hard because we had so few cases here. I said we could catch in on the plane or at the airport and he said “how? we will be wearing masks and using hand sanitizer, etc”. I think kids here understand there are correct protocols and they will follow them when they are in places that require them. Then, they think all is safe. Maybe he is right. We had a little virus curve here and now it’s gone. One new case two weeks ago. None last week. He and his friends haven’t been masked or social distanced for weeks and no one is sick. So, just like our town seems pretty safe now and things feel more relaxed (except for in stores where people do wear masks), why would it be any different on small, residential campus? Where would a spike even come from if no one is leaving town?
Colleges know, even though the risk of death or serious illness is low, some students will get sick and some of their parents may be very unhappy with the level of care colleges are realistically able to provide for their sick kids.
Colleges are putting plans in place for student outbreaks. They seem to think it’s a given.
We’ll probably have sick kids in isolation, no way to take them home, no parent visits. Families could decide back to campus was a very bad idea really soon into the semester, and will blame the college for poor planning.. However, the college does have that semester tuition, room & board. But some families are going to be expecting refunds.
Given the reaction of some parents, I am really curious-did no one get very ill or die when you went to college? I was in college in the 80s, and a girl died of toxic shock syndrome, and there were a few suicides. I remember a classmate passing away in a car accident. The school had a serious meningitis b outbreak years later. This isn’t exactly uncharted territory.
@homerdog - I can feel your pain, trying to figure all of this out, on the fly, with probably a few hundred people following your every word. That was my main concern when I asked, in all sincerity, upstream somewhere, whether you had a spouse. I’m sorry, if I offended you or anyone else on this thread. But, I really do worry about whether you’re getting everything you need during this crisis?