What would public and private schools look like next school year with SARS-COV-2?

[JadeOrchidSong]

My oldest son is doing PSEO for three subjects and homeschooling for two subjects this school year. My youngest homeschooled up to 8th grade and is now in a small 370-student private school for 9th grade. He has been under-challenged academically wise though he enjoyed the social aspects, especially the debate team. But with the schools closed, he has been doing e-learning put out by the school, which runs at most at 1/2 capacity and he's back to feeling isolated as he cited as the main reason to discontinue homeschooling. 

I don't know how schools look next school year with this SARS-COV-2 still running around. It doesn't make sense to pay for private school and then do online learning. So my son is interested in homeschooling again with online classes that he has done in the past. Originally he wanted to do the regular private high school for all 4 years. Now he is interested in doing PSEO for junior and senior years. 

What do you think public and private schools would look like  for the fall semester? 

Edited April 22, 2020 by JadeOrchidSong
Spelling

[Ottakee]

I don't know but I sure hope we can transition back to regular in person schooling.  I work with special needs young adults and there is no way to replicate our community based instruction remotely.  My daughter is in the same program and they just can't do it.   

[MEmama]

Idk but I hope for DS that schools can be back to some sort of normal. He misses his classes,  teachers, friends and sports, and I’d hate for him to miss his senior year. He LOVES his school (public high school) experience. My heart breaks for him every day. 😞

As to speculations, I just can’t. I don’t have the bandwidth to contemplate various scenarios. I think we all just need to be patient and see how this rides out. 

[Storygirl]

DD18 is a senior in private school, and my other three go to public school.

If she were a junior this year, instead of a senior, I think I would want her to continue in her private school for the final year (next year). And her social attachments to the other students and teachers have been important enough to her that I probably would have continued to pay the private school tuition for her next year, even if she were in a younger grade. She homeschooled through 8th grade, and it was obvious in 8th that she was not happy with homeschooling and needed to be learning with peers, which is why we enrolled her. Those needs of hers wouldn't go away, so I think I would be hesitant to going back to homeschooling for her.

But all kids are individuals. My other DD14 was, before this year, enrolled in a very expensive private dyslexia school, and I have to admit that I have been glad that she had transitioned to public school this year for 8th grade, and that we are not paying that high tuition for online classes that cannot replicate the unique help that she was getting there in person. If we were still going to that school, we would probably think it was time to switch her to public for the fall.

But again, she was ready to transition to a new learning environment anyway. There are plenty of students who need that special help from the dyslexia school that would NOT be okay with leaving that learning environment.

I do worry about what public school will look like in the fall. Not only with regard to academics, but also for band and choir, which are really important for my very musical kids.

And I worry the most about what DD18's first year of college might look like. She would not choose to do college online, but if the virus spikes during the school year, she will need to, as this year's students are doing. Which makes me think about a gap year for her. Except that she really thrives with the social connections, and she is already making those with other incoming freshmen at her college. It would be a VERY hard call to tell her that she has to wait to enroll. But it's also a very hard call to commit those tuition funds with so much uncertainty. But we also care about the well being of the college (strong family connections to the college on my husband's side of the family), and we know it will devastate higher education institutions if most students opt out of going in the fall.

So... I don't know, but I think about it a lot. My three younger kids will all be in public high school next fall, and our school has done a decent job with remote learning this spring, so we wouldn't pull them out to homeschool (I did homeschool all of them for elementary grades). I'm glad that we don't have the tuition questions to wrestle with for them.

[Storygirl]

I know that school officials are discussing all kinds of options. And in our state, each school district will be able to determine for themselves, to some extent, what their plans will be. Our governor has acknowledged that each district is unique with regard to student population and technology, so things will need to be decided on the local level.

Unfortunately, I think it means that schools that already doing a good job will continue to do a good job, and schools that struggle to meet their students' needs will struggle more. I think the divide will increase between the students who are disadvantaged educationally and those who are well positioned in high performing schools.

I also have two kids with IEPs, so I'm concerned about the students with special needs. My kids are fortunate that DH and I have been able to step into the role of the daily intervention specialist, to some extent.And he has been able to do other things, like speech therapy and 1:1 help with his math teacher, online. But so many students don't have parents who are able to help or have the technology to provide the connections. I think it's a great challenge that schools face when it comes to figuring out how to serve the kids who need intervention.

[Storygirl]

I'm hoping that our school takes the health risks seriously and finds some way to provide social distancing. Perhaps by going to class in shifts, or doing some work online and some in-person.

But every possible solution also presents new challenges. I'm glad I'm not a school administrator at this time! Our school superintendent friend says these are the hardest issues and decisions that he has ever faced in his 36 year career.

[MEmama]

17 minutes ago, Storygirl said:

 

And I worry the most about what DD18's first year of college might look like. She would not choose to do college online, but if the virus spikes during the school year, she will need to, as this year's students are doing. Which makes me think about a gap year for her. Except that she really thrives with the social connections, and she is already making those with other incoming freshmen at her college. It would be a VERY hard call to tell her that she has to wait to enroll. But it's also a very hard call to commit those tuition funds with so much uncertainty. But we also care about the well being of the college (strong family connections to the college on my husband's side of the family), and we know it will devastate higher education institutions if most students opt out of going in the fall.

 

Having a son one year younger than your daughter, I worry what will happen if a large number of current seniors defer their first year of college, or take a gap year if they haven’t already committed. What will happen to the enrollment opportunities for next years seniors, and what will happen to underclassman classes that suddenly become twice as large? 

[Arcadia]

CollegeBoard and ACT are prepping for fall test dates to be online just in case. Colleges are prepping for fall to be online. It would be nice for my teens if community colleges can reopen for in person classes and labs but we are all mentally prepared that fall classes would be totally online. 

ETA:

My school district has overcrowding  issues so unlikely to reopen if social distancing measures are required. Besides there are no allocated funds to hire more teachers. It might be hard for private schools to reopen too without charging more tuition to hire more teachers and rent more portable classrooms to spread kids out.

Edited April 22, 2020 by Arcadia

[hippiemamato3]

1 hour ago, MEmama said:

Having a son one year younger than your daughter, I worry what will happen if a large number of current seniors defer their first year of college, or take a gap year if they haven’t already committed. What will happen to the enrollment opportunities for next years seniors, and what will happen to underclassman classes that suddenly become twice as large? 

I think colleges will take a huge hit if instruction is all online anyway - people won't be willing to pay regular tuition prices, right? 

[MEmama]

18 minutes ago, hippiemamato3 said:

I think colleges will take a huge hit if instruction is all online anyway - people won't be willing to pay regular tuition prices, right? 

Right. I’m assuming this coming year will be primarily online, and that a high number of current seniors will defer a year or take a gap year, thus entering university as freshmen—along with the regular incoming class of freshmen—a year late. I can’t wrap my head around how any of that will work. The strain on dorms, first and second year classes, and so on will be overwhelmed. That concern radiates out to sports (or choose a student's extracurricular), internship opportunities etc. I’m finding the uncertainties overwhelming for years to come. 

[HSMWB]

I am currently very concerned about this for my oldest.  She homeschooled through 8th, wanted to go to high school so we found one private school that we thought would be a good fit.  She was doing ok and we were planing on sending her back to finish, we did not actually sign the paperwork though.  Then, Covid came.  And now although I think her school has actually in some ways done a much better job of managing the ‘crisis on-line’ schooling much better then the public schools, I am still not impressed with it at all.  
I really want to at least look at a variety of options in case schools are forced into doing on-line learning.  This was not something we consider at all last time, and I think if we are forced into this model, some of the options that we have a hard pass to last year need a serious re-evaluation.  I am not willing to continue paying private school tuition for what we received this year.  Although I am hopeful that her current school will possibly do things different over the summer to try and be in a better position for fall if on-line is required.

[Hilltopmom]

If school doesn’t return in person next year I will have to go back to homeschooling my “senior to be”. She homeschooled till 8th and has done well with iep supports at school but distance learning is not working for her!

I really hope it does not come to that because we have gone through a lot of hoops to get her close to graduating in NY. But there’s no way I can keep this up all of senior year. Homeschooling I can handle- negotiating the public school assignments online I cannot.

i would also keep my 5 & almost 7 year olds home- cuz primary grades remote learning also not great. I can do a much better job myself. Mind you, I’d probably have to quit my teaching job to have the time for my own kids...

OTOH- if we do return to school I don’t really want my kids or myself to be guinea pigs in that experiment

Edited April 22, 2020 by Hilltopmom

[Ali in OR]

Next school year is a big unknown. I'm guessing it might depend on what happens over the summer. I could see us going back to school in September maybe with everyone wearing masks, maybe sports and group activities cancelled. And if we are able to start the year, I can also see us needing to go online in winter if a 2nd or 3rd wave hits then.

I work in a public high school, and there are huge equity problems with the distance learning we're trying to do now. Every teacher is overwhelmed with having to learn so many new ways of doing things, all without the primary reward of being with students. Kids like my junior dd and her peers are fine; they have access to technology, they're self-drive and can self-learn, etc. The IEP kids I work with cannot access learning the same way and most will fall backwards, some waaaaaayyy back. But we all have to wait and see what happens. The more we socially distance now and not try to re-open too soon, the better chance we have of being stable enough to return in September.

OP, your son's plan sounds good. 

[SoCal_Bear]

@JadeOrchidSong

I think you are in the same area I am. I saw this in the UT this morning, 
A return to full-time, on-campus instruction in the fall may not happen. U-T reporter Kristen Taketa reports a county expert predicts that students might be on campus only a day or two a week, and school districts could move from classroom-based learning to “blended” or distance learning.

[Arcadia]

23 minutes ago, calbear said:

A return to full-time, on-campus instruction in the fall may not happen. U-T reporter Kristen Taketa reports a county expert predicts that students might be on campus only a day or two a week, and school districts could move from classroom-based learning to “blended” or distance learning.

A friend is already upset that UCSD would likely be online for fall. 

[JadeOrchidSong]

With regular school teachers mostly unfamiliar with online teaching, it makes more sense to go back to homeschool with trusted online class providers, who have ironed all the creases. My son has enjoyed Potter School's English and Spanish classes. I think this might be the most stable and quality education he can get. 

Having T1D puts him more at risk if he contracts Novel Coronavirus. 10% death rate. 

Edited April 23, 2020 by JadeOrchidSong
Deleted some irrelevant info

[73349]

Our district already uses year-round schools with 4 tracks to address crowding in the elementary schools. Unless students were only going to attend half a day to one day a week, I don't see how class size could be reduced sufficiently for distancing.

[Arcadia]

1 hour ago, whitehawk said:

Our district already uses year-round schools with 4 tracks to address crowding in the elementary schools. Unless students were only going to attend half a day to one day a week, I don't see how class size could be reduced sufficiently for distancing.

My district might be able to do it for some elementary schools by adding more portable classrooms to the basketball courts, school fields and general parking area, as well as use the auditorium/multipurpose hall as a classroom. 

It is getting the money/funding to pay for at least double the number of teachers to be in each classroom that would be difficult (besides paying for the rental of more portable classrooms). My district is funded by property tax so if property prices drop or foreclosures go up in the near future, the funding would already be less than projected for 2020/21. 

[Sneezyone]

I’m seeing districts begin to float one or two days of in person instruction/week with online activities/packets for all other days to relieve overcrowding. They can see all at risk kids at least once, stock them up with food, and do one on one assessment w/smaller groups of kids this way. Masks and more frequent sanitizing would also be included. Basically, a flipped classroom model.

Edited April 24, 2020 by Sneezyone

[Innisfree]

3 minutes ago, Sneezyone said:

I’m seeing districts begin to float one or two days of in person instruction/week with online activities/packets for all other days to relieve overcrowding. They can see all at risk kids at least once, stock them up with food, and do one on one assessment w/smaller groups of kids this way. Masks and more frequent sanitizing would also be included. Basically, a flipped classroom model.

I like that model.

Returning to homeschooling would not work well for my high school dd, but she's no more eager to attend school in the normal way while Covid-19 is circulating than I am to send her there. Once or twice a week sounds like a sane compromise, if it means only half the student body is attending at a time.

[Arcadia]

1 hour ago, Sneezyone said:

I’m seeing districts begin to float one or two days of in person instruction/week with online activities/packets for all other days to relieve overcrowding.

That would work for Fall if all daycare options open back up for K-5th. The 6th to 12th here tend to use the libraries as daycare if latchkey. I am assuming schools and closed workplaces open back up at the same time. 

[Sneezyone]

31 minutes ago, Arcadia said:

That would work for Fall if all daycare options open back up for K-5th. The 6th to 12th here tend to use the libraries as daycare if latchkey. I am assuming schools and closed workplaces open back up at the same time. 

It would certainly take A LOT of coordination with local childcare providers to simultaneously reduce their loads. Typically, pre-K classes are pretty small already but when you add in staff they will have to get smaller. You’d also have to substantially increase capacity for school age kids whose parents are working. I don’t think all workplaces will return to SOP so many parents will still be working from home. Not all, but as many as can be accommodated. Now is the time to plan tho.

Edited April 24, 2020 by Sneezyone

[Sneezyone]

30 minutes ago, HeighHo said:

 

I"m thinking the school will stay online for nonremedial students.  Right now we run 45  in a high school nonremedial class, there is no funding to move that to 23. 

Of course, if our international students stay in the home country...we may have some wiggle room.

45 is not the norm in my state, max 35 in this district. We already have an A/B block schedule So this would not be a huge switch. I do need not think classes will be 100% online here but I can see 1/3 full classes rotating every third day. There are vocal/performing arts and other hands-on assessments that need to happen in a classroom.

Edited April 24, 2020 by Sneezyone

[DawnM]

Ohio announced they are looking at a hybrid program.  I assume that is half in school and half home???  Anyone in OH who can clarify?

 

[Storygirl]

32 minutes ago, DawnM said:

Ohio announced they are looking at a hybrid program.  I assume that is half in school and half home???  Anyone in OH who can clarify?

 

Where are you seeing this? We haven't had any announcements like that that I know of. The only thing I can think that is close is when Gov. DeWine answered a question in his news conference this week and said that it was too soon to know anything about schools for the fall yet, but that he could see hybrid --partial online and partial in-person--  options being possible. He also said that it would be up to each school district to decide a lot of things.

It sounded to me like he was going to issue guidance -- perhaps about social distancing regulations -- but let each district figure it out. This news link includes his quote.

https://www.wsaz.com/content/news/Ohio-school-cancelled-Ohio-educators-also-preparing-for-fall-569800211.html

 

Edited April 24, 2020 by Storygirl

[DawnM]

12 minutes ago, Storygirl said:

Where are you seeing this? We haven't had any announcements like that that I know of. The only thing I can think that is close is when Gov. DeWine answered a question in his news conference this week and said that it was too soon to know anything about schools for the fall yet, but that he could see hybrid --partial online and partial in-person--  options being possible. He also said that it would be up to each school district to decide a lot of things.

It sounded to me like he was going to issue guidance -- perhaps about social distancing regulations -- but let each district figure it out. This news link includes his quote.

https://www.wsaz.com/content/news/Ohio-school-cancelled-Ohio-educators-also-preparing-for-fall-569800211.html

 

 

It was on the news.  My friend sent me a screen shot.  I will see if I can find it.

 

I will keep looking, but I did find this.  It mentions hybrid as a possibility.

https://www.wthitv.com/content/news/State-leaders-discuss-what-the-2020-2021-school-year-could-look-like-569826191.html

Edited April 24, 2020 by DawnM

[Storygirl]

17 minutes ago, DawnM said:

 

It was on the news.  My friend sent me a screen shot.  I will see if I can find it.

 

I will keep looking, but I did find this.  It mentions hybrid as a possibility.

https://www.wthitv.com/content/news/State-leaders-discuss-what-the-2020-2021-school-year-could-look-like-569826191.html

I think whatever you heard reported on your news there in your area was making some conclusions that Ohio Gov. DeWine didn't intend with his statement. But I can't tell anything from your link, which seems to be about Indiana. The link I posted was a very accurate description of his actual comments.

He hasn't made any official announcements. He just answered a question from a reporter about what he thought the fall might look like.

Edited April 24, 2020 by Storygirl

[Sneezyone]

On 4/22/2020 at 8:21 PM, JadeOrchidSong said:

With regular school teachers mostly unfamiliar with online teaching, it makes more sense to go back to homeschool with trusted online class providers, who have ironed all the creases. My son has enjoyed Potter School's English and Spanish classes. I think this might be the most stable and quality education he can get. 

Having T1D puts him more at risk if he contracts Novel Coronavirus. 10% death rate. 

 

This is the approach I'm taking for my DC. If the district doesn't step up it's game as far as academics, DS will continue with online instruction with live teachers for 7th grade. There are a lot of PS teachers offering full semester classes with the exact texts our district uses for fall so he will miss nothing. DD will continue to supplement their meager offerings with outschool classes in her area of interest. She's also building her social media presence and beginning to monitize her Roblox programs.

[QueenCat]

I think that we will see many different models across the country come August/September. Some won't be different than it was before COVID, some will be very different. Wealthier areas will have more options. Hiring enough teachers for some of the models suggested could be a real hindrance. 

[JadeOrchidSong]

OP here. Update: my son does not want to go back to homeschooling online classes because he feels so isolated doing lessons all alone at home. He prefers to continue with the private school. Since dh still has a stable IT job and we can afford to pay the tuition, we will let him continue with this school. I don't think teenagers are good with disinfecting and hand washing. And with Type 1 Diabetes, he is more at risk (10% death) if he contracts SARS-COV-2 virus. But his mental health is very important. He seriously felt very lonely and isolated at home in 8th grade. He was happy when he went to school every day last fall. I hope schools will be somewhat normal with social distancing in the fall. Thanks for contributing to this post. I appreciate it very much! ❤️❤️🌹🌹

[Carrie12345]

The other day, I’m pretty sure that I heard the CDC recommendation was for desks to be 6’ apart.  Um... How big do they think the average classroom is???  I mean, I get that the virus doesn’t care about architecture, but that’s just not doable.

[Carrie12345]

Anyone wanna check my calculations?

I’m getting 16 desks per 900sf, but one of those would have to be the teacher’s desk.

[MEmama]

The smallest class my DS has in his public high school is 7 students, the largest is just over 20. None of those classrooms could accommodate mandatory spacing. I can’t see how it would make sense, at any rate.

[SanDiegoMom]

16 minutes ago, MEmama said:

The smallest class my DS has in his public high school is 7 students, the largest is just over 20. None of those classrooms could accommodate mandatory spacing. I can’t see how it would make sense, at any rate.

When we lived in San Diego my daughter’s Pre-Algebra class (middle school) had 42 students. They had to leave their backpacks in the hall and they were so crammed in the class it wasn’t funny. K-2 has to have a maximum of 28 kids, 3-5 a maximum of 35 kids. They were so overcrowded. Even with half days there’s no way they would have enough distance between them! 

[JadeOrchidSong]

OP again😂😂😂 My son changed his mind. He is willing to do online homeschool because the two extracurricular activities he enjoyed very much would be the first things to go with distance learning his school does. Video meetings are never the same. Schools will be struggling with teaching the most basics with e-learning, at least in the fall semester. He prefers homeschool online classes if brick and mortar schools have to do distance learning again in the fall. And with a price tag of five digits (me having no income due to loss of my non essential very part time job) and not getting the community feeling which comes with physically being in school that my son craves, it is not worth it. 

I feel sad, but it is what it is. 

Edited May 2, 2020 by JadeOrchidSong

[Arcadia]

21 hours ago, Carrie12345 said:

The other day, I’m pretty sure that I heard the CDC recommendation was for desks to be 6’ apart.  Um... How big do they think the average classroom is???  I mean, I get that the virus doesn’t care about architecture, but that’s just not doable.

For SAT, the requirements are

“Each student must be separated by a minimum of 3 feet from right to left (measure from center of desk).”

and they typically have 20 kids maximum in each classroom when my kids took their SAT and SAT subject tests. They can’t squeeze more.

For 20 students to have desk 6 feet apart, the classroom would have to be about the size of the school’s multipurpose hall/gymnasium.

South Korea held exams in soccer stadiums so that they could space the candidates out.

https://world.kbs.co.kr/service/news_view.htm?lang=e&Seq_Code=152534

“Ansan Urban Corporation held a 90-minute written exam for 139 job applicants on Saturday on an outdoor football field, while implementing strict safety measures. 

The applicants were seated at desks spaced at five meter intervals on the field and before entering the test site, each underwent a temperature check and was made to sanitize their hands and wear face masks.”

 

[Storygirl]

34 minutes ago, JadeOrchidSong said:

OP again😂😂😂 My son changed his mind. He is willing to do online homeschool because the two extracurricular activities he enjoyed very much would be the first things to go with distance learning his school does. Video meetings are never the same. Schools will be struggling with teaching the most basics with e-learning, at least in the fall semester. He prefers homeschool online classes if brick and mortar schools have to do distance learning again in the fall. And with a price tag of five digits (me having no income due to loss of my non essential very part time job) and not getting the community feeling which comes with physically being in school that my son craves, it is not worth it. 

I feel sad, but it is what it is. 

Your son has three years left, right? Hopefully conditions will be better, so that he could rejoin his class for 11th grade, if your family desires that. My DD18's private school had at least one kid who left after ninth grade but came back for the final years.

[Storygirl]

We got our first message from the public school about what fall might look like, and the message is.....they don't know. They are expecting our state department of ed to issue some guidance sometime this month. After they have that in hand, the administration and a committee (or maybe she named two committees?) will work to come up with a plan.

The superintendent did say that they are expecting things not to be normal.

Our state high school athletic association is considering swapping fall and spring sports for next school year. So track, for example,  would be in the fall and football in the spring.

[Bootsie]

9 hours ago, Carrie12345 said:

Anyone wanna check my calculations?

I’m getting 16 desks per 900sf, but one of those would have to be the teacher’s desk.

That would be if the students had to also be six feet from the wall

If students could be all of the way up against a wall you would only need 324 sq feet.  If students were 3 feet from the wall then you would need 576 square feet 

[MEmama]

55 minutes ago, Storygirl said:

We got our first message from the public school about what fall might look like, and the message is.....they don't know. They are expecting our state department of ed to issue some guidance sometime this month. After they have that in hand, the administration and a committee (or maybe she named two committees?) will work to come up with a plan.

The superintendent did say that they are expecting things not to be normal.

Our state high school athletic association is considering swapping fall and spring sports for next school year. So track, for example,  would be in the fall and football in the spring.

Literally makes no sense to do track over XC in the fall, just saying. Between the two, XC is far and away more naturally “socially distanced” than track and field, and could be made more so if necessary. Football I don’t know or care about. I do know some football players here do winter (indoor) track, especially sprints or field events. 
Not that you’re the one making the decision. Lol. 

[mathnerd]

All schools all over are not going to have an unified way of functioning in the Fall. This will depend on the size, resources, budgeting and to a large extent, how much education the families can provide their own kids on their own dime. In my state, urban and suburban public schools are large, crowded, have strong and political Teachers Unions, operating under budget cuts all the time, have frequent teacher layoffs, some operate out of temporary buildings and some of them already on shifts to accommodate too many enrollees. The most sought after private schools are also large and don't have enough staff to work in shifts and the prices are high already without special accommodations for a pandemic. So, my guess, for my area would be that there will be online classes in the Fall, perhaps earlier start in July or August, and the content delivery would be paced to be much slower than the IRL classes and testing will be limited/not rigorous. There might even be more resources allocated for high school student than elementary school students because that is what is happening right now in my area. This may vary for other states or counties.

[Carrie12345]

An official  from one of the districts in my region was quoted to say they were “hoping for the best, preparing for the worst” for fall, with the context centering on online school. It’s the first time I’ve heard anything about the fall around here. Well, other than speculation from random people.

[DawnM]

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/what-school-could-look-like-when-it-reopens_l_5eb99078c5b609af615e2f9a

 

Interesting article

[Selkie]

I'm in Illinois and talked to someone whose wife is a 3rd grade teacher at a public school here. He said she is being told that the fall semester will most likely be online.

[rebcoola]

Don't think they have had a ton guidance here.  Our ALE-Parent partnership put on the schedule for 6th grade and up which has lighter enrollment than k-5.  I was happy/surprised they included non-core classes though they did a few more limits on how many you could sign up for.  Not sure if that is because or covid or because of the larger than normal 6th grade class.  They aren't putting out a schedule for k-5 workshops until they know more.  Since those are all enrichment/fun I won't be surprised if they don't happen in the fall.  

[PeterPan]

Well see what @Story girl thinks, but our state dept of ed is saying *masks* for all students and teachers. It just hit the papers, so I guess we'll see what the public outcry/fallout is from that. Masks aren't even mandated in our state, only suggested. So you have the shaping of an entire generation.

Our state has many publicly funded charter/cyber options, and those schools, even cyber, will often have all kinds of sports, get togethers, etc. You could see an exodus to charter schools with a physical presence if they are not required to wear masks. Are private schools being told their students must wear masks too? 

I think if ps students withdraw, the ps loses their funding for that student. Could get really interesting if this happens on a massive level. And I'm not sure how the dept of ed tells private schools what they have to do as private businesses when businesses in our state are choosing whether to require masks in their stores. Zero stores in our area require masks, and when I was at the store last night fully 70% of the people were not masked. So let's see how cool those 70% are with the ps system saying their *kids* have to wear masks all day long to go to school. Not a county by county decision, not based on data, not temporary depending on where things are then, just swoop the whole state. 

[PeterPan]

The good part is, the schools are FINALLY willing to teach hand washing. It has been a long time coming and possibly the best outcome from the coronamess.

https://www.cleveland19.com/2020/05/14/ohio-state-board-education-gives-glimpse-what-schools-could-look-like-this-fall/

[Guest]

https://wreg.com/news/shelby-county-schools-details-potential-fall-school-plans/

 

Here's what my local district has stated so far. 

[PeterPan]

29 minutes ago, Heartwood said:

I have a really hard time understanding people who talk with masks on. This would not work well in a classroom. Many kids would also be constantly touching their faces. I don't see this working out and understand why parents would pull their kids.

Interesting point. And the dept of ed is saying it's a *draft* which means they're expecting pushback and that they got "parent" input. So you know what's conspicuously missing? Moving high risk teachers (age 60+, pre-existing conditions) to other jobs within the system or through early retirement so kids wouldn't have to wear masks. But it always goes back to the money, so you can imagine the teacher orgs fought that. 

The other fight they apparently see looming in that article is who *pays* for all this PPE for every kid every day. All so that high risk people don't get repositioned. 

Sorry, but at what point do we call that trauma and abuse? I mean, it's just mindboggling. America has to decide what they want to be their norm, how they want their kids to live.

And the joke is, these kids are still going to get together without masks. What's going to happen at lunch? We see it at the stores all the time, high schoolers hanging together. You're not going to stop this, so it's sheer lunacy to say we ought to traumatize the minds of our kids by subjecting them to masks ALL DAY LONG. And that's exactly what it is. It's stressful and should not be that way. They could remove high risk people. There's no way money and teacher's unions were not a factor in this.

But you know, let's see the feedback. DeWine has back pedaled before. If the schools are already expecting a 20% drop and then another 10-20% even of kids pull out for other options, that could be a massive drop in their budgets. Money may be the only thing that talks.

[JadeOrchidSong]

On 5/12/2020 at 10:45 AM, DawnM said:

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/what-school-could-look-like-when-it-reopens_l_5eb99078c5b609af615e2f9a

 

Interesting article

I read it last night and shared on Facebook. No one commented on Facebook, so I deleted it. I guess people do not want o think about this now. 

The point that schools only will do basic stuff is exactly what turned my son and me off. He goes to an expensive private school just for the community and the fun extra stuff. Now that the extras are gone, and it's back to screen and distance learning, there is no benefit for an outside school.