Among all the difficult decisions colleges have to make for the fall, the most consequential for a residential college is the decision whether to allow multiple occupancy of a dorm room. It has a cascading effect on most other decisions.
I’m digging what Randolph-Macon is planning for the fall. The Fall 2020 term will be divided into two 7-week sessions. The first session will run from August 24 - October 9 and the second session will run from October 12 - December 4 with the last week of the term, including final exams for the second session, administered online.
Yes…the student in Scarsdale who tested positive after returning from Florida is now quarantining along with others who she came in contact with. Hopefully this does not turn into what happened in New Rochelle.
Meanwhile most of the 20 somethings at the bars outside in Manhattan are not wearing masks. Hopefully the numbers don’t spike…going back to college should be interesting.
I’m surprised that the Virginia teachers’ association seemed to have so much power. I would be surprised if that could happen here in Massachusetts, and I thought we had a strong union.
That said, of course it is reasonable for employees to protest situations that could kill them. When I read the new MA guidelines, having also read the previous guidelines, as well as peer-reviewed science and suggestions from the CDC and the Harvard Chan School of Public Health, it seems clear that schools are being asked to cut corners in ways that could really endanger everyone (of course, faculty and staff, but also students - this is not a cake walk of a virus even if you’re a kid).
There are also ancillary health effects on children of some of the new ill-advised opening guidelines - if food has to be eaten in classrooms instead of the cafeteria, then allergen exposure will be much higher. Massachusetts schools (until March of 2020) had strict rules about no food in classrooms whatsoever, to protect these kids with allergies.
It seems abundantly clear to me that there will be progress on treatments very soon and vaccines a few months later. Whatever can be paused until then, should be paused until then.
I assume these questions are rhetorical, because I don’t know the reasoning behind the FSU policy.
There are many jobs that can be done remotely, yet some need one’s full attention during business hours to interact with clients/customers/students, participate in zoom sessions, teach classes live, etc…so no way to also watch the kids during those times (which could be all day during business hours, or a significant part of it).
Schools in NYS have to submit detailed plans to the state before they’re allowed to reopen. Those plans must include how they’ll deal with different aspects of campus life (classes, dorms, activities, meals, and quarantines), as well how they’d go about shutting down campus in the event of an outbreak.
I really don’t mind since I do not have kids in k12, but are parents ok with US kids staying out of in person school until sometime in 2022? It looks like the Chinese government is preparing for distancing measures to be required through then.
@roycroftmom I do think our schools should be planning long term. The problem is that states are just coming out with guidelines and school is starting soon. I really want kids back at schools for K-12 but maybe we need to give districts more time. Plan on remote class for the first two months (or some other arbitrary number of days) and then get going on making real plans for the return - plans that are much more thought out than they can come up with in six weeks time.
I don’t have young kids either, but not having kids in school is a huge problem, for the many reasons mentioned up thread.
The only thing that gets us out of social distancing is a vaccine…and while I hope that we see a vaccine sooner rather than later, I think it would be far better for the US to start figuring out how we can live with the virus, and that means getting a significant proportion of kids into f2f school (among other things).
“It seems abundantly clear to me that there will be progress on treatments very soon and vaccines a few months later. Whatever can be paused until then, should be paused until then.”
This is not a done deal. there is already progress on treatments, but apparently not enough, and there is no way that any vaccine will be ready for the general population until at least next spring.
In most metro Atlanta counties here in GA they are offering parents either online or in person, your choice. So for those immune compromised families or those that feel online meets their needs, that can pick that option. This also then lowers the amount of kids attending in person, so hopefully allow for Social distancing. Also those teachers that dont want to put themselves at risk can teach the online schools. The only caveat is that if you pick online, you have to stick with it. you cant change your mind partially into the semester.
BTW the uptick in cases in the south and west. Just like the Northeast, I have a feeling that by Aug it will simmer down, having “gone through those states”, but at what cost no one knows yet. Back to comment above, are any of the treatments going to reduce the rate of death, plus with most of the positives being the under 30 crowd. I will fully admit our family is probably next to get this thing. My D is going out with friends all the time; not in public, but at their apartments and homes. All it takes is one of these “friends” to catch it , and then she has it , likely Asymptomatic, and next thing you now DH and I are sick. WE are not happy with her, but it seems the only recourse we have would be to kick her out of the house. so whatever her school does in the fall, she can live up there.; She is complaining that she will be lonely, but at this point I dont care. (sorry I need to rant, tired of fighting with her)
Johnson&Johnson has a goal of trying to have a vaccine that can be distributed sometime in 2021. That is a nice goal to have, but a long way from achieving that goal.
It sounds as if they’re going in the same direction as the Beloit modular plan.
@sdl0625 we’re in metro Atlanta and waiting on more details. At first, I thought that the fact some people would opt for online would lead to an easier time social distancing at school, but I’ve seen a lot of chatter as to how the implementation will affect that - if some of the teachers in a high school, for example, are assigned to online only and others to in-person, we may still have the same student:teacher ratio in school as always and classes will still potentially have 25-30 kids in them. Or, if a teacher is split - teaching a particular class which some of the kids are taking in person and others are taking remotely, then we could end up with better distancing taking place at school. I’m hoping more details are released tomorrow - we’re currently torn with our D23s and think one is going to do remote while the other goes back. We have a few weeks to decide. S21 attends a school that isn’t part of the county plan, so not sure yet what his Fall scenario looks like. I’m sorry about the battles with your D - glad I’m not dealing with that on top of everything else.
Realistically, we have two bad choices with respect to K-12 education, at least until a vaccine or better treatment (that reduces the risk of bad results like death or long term damage or disability) becomes available.
A. Return to the classroom, accept that there will be outbreaks because an indoor environment with limited capacity for social distancing where people (the students and teacher) are there with each other for a long period of time is the most likely place for outbreaks to occur. Of course, the outbreaks among the students will affect school staff and the students’ families and their contacts… The primary mitigating factor appears to be that young children (below high school age) may be less likely to get sick or transmit the virus, but the science is not completely clear on the latter. Masks could help, but there is substantial political resistance, frequent improper use (particularly among younger children), and the problem that they can make it harder for others to understand what the masked speaker (teacher or other student) is saying.
B. Not return to the classroom and accept reduced educational effectiveness and greater inequality, particularly in the K-6 grade levels.
Some of my patients are kindergarten and First grade teachers. They are beside themselves to figure out how to teach to this age group remotely
“The problem is that some colleges are going not just test optional, but test blind (Caltech of all places).”
I’m pretty sure Cal Tech’s test average of their applicants are pretty close to what they publish for their admitted or enrolled students. I know quite a few kids that applied to Cal Tech from my corner in the bay area, nobody applies unless they have over a 1500/35 or 2300 (old format) and nobody applies without a 800 on the math and math 2 subject test. They have a self selecting applicant pool that in these times, they can say they don’t need scores.
“Ontario has not yet in fact announced guidelines for K-12 school in the fall. The Sick Kids recommendation is merely one piece of the puzzle that will be considered before decisions are made.”
True, my point was they seem to be going about it the right way.
I am curious as to the plan with K-12 when a student or teacher tests positive? Are any students\ staff who were closer than 3-6 feet to them expected to stay at home for 10 days until then be tested? How do you even start to contract trace in a Kindergarten who stood too close to Sally? And then are those students missing out on two weeks of instruction?
Also with EC teachers- I know how physically close they must be to their students. My son is particularly scared of storms and I actually ended up picking him up early during a line of storms. When I came his EC teacher walked with him and he was practically burrowing into her side. His EC teachers also must be close enough to hear him (he whispers when nervous). They have tons of other students with IEPs that also will need a similar level of care. I am really worried about those EC teachers. They are not a group that can be replaced with substitutes easily.
At what level of an outbreak does a K-12 just go ahead and close for a few weeks? Same for colleges? They must have a finite amount of quarantine space but I haven’t heard any school sharing threshold limits with the public.
At my last two employers, they mandated that if you work at home and have underage kids that need day care, you have to have a babysitter or nanny watch the kids.
I think it’s a good rule as there is no way the average worker can do their job 9-5 while watching one or two small kids throughout the day.
Wellesley College is also dividing the semester into two shorter terms, with students taking two courses during each shorter term.
The average worker can not afford a babysitter or nanny. This rule would effectively kick most mothers out of the workplace (because childcare disproportionately falls on the mothers).
FSU obviously wants to avoid situations like this viral moment.
? They are greatly mistaken in my opinion