What do we think that the covid situation will be like in the fall?

[Drama Llama]

We need to make decisions about next school year for our kids, and I'm trying to anticipate what I think the covid situation will be.  I'd really like my kids back in school, but I also want to keep our most vulnerable family members safe, and to avoid contributing to community spread. 

Some of the decisions that we need to make are things like whether to register for online classes as a back up in case schools aren't open or we don't think they're safe.   Whether to apply to private schools that offer smaller cohorts and maybe more cohort safety.  Whether to look at public programs that would require a school bus, or just the ones in walking distance to our house.  

What are other people thinking?  

[Lecka]

My vulnerable family members will be vaccinated by Fall.  I do not know much else -- but all the elderly in my life have either had a first dose or are scheduled for a first dose.  

Edit: I don't have any vulnerable family members who aren't in the current vaccine priority group in my state.  If I had someone who was vulnerable but in a lower priority group, I do think I would still expect them to be vaccinated by Fall.  

I am pretty confident in the vaccines being effective.  

Edited January 23, 2021 by Lecka

[TechWife]

Why don't you just register them for school and then withdraw them if you need to? IMO, there is till too much unknown to determine what things will be like in eight or nine months.

 

[mommyoffive]

I really don't know.  I think by that time all adults who want a vaccine will have had access to it.  But I am not 100% on that now.  They had said anyone would be able to get it at CVS by the end of Feb or start of March.  With all the reports of people running out, I don't think that is going to happen. 

With the new strains I really don't know.  They seem so much worse and faster spreading.  I was hoping by spring things would be better.  But now all the reports are saying if the UK strain gets going it will be forcing a big surge then.  The only thing that can stop that I think is the vaccine.  

[Drama Llama]

3 minutes ago, TechWife said:

Why don't you just register them for school and then withdraw them if you need to? IMO, there is till too much unknown to determine what things will be like in eight or nine months.

 

Because if I register them for online school, I need to pay and I don't think I get all that money back.  If we apply for private school there are costs for testing, and costs for application fees.  If we register for public we can only register for one public school, so do I decide the bus is safe, and register for the one that's the best fit?  Or do I decide that the bus isn't safe and register for the ones they can walk to?

I know there's no crystal ball.  I just need to narrow down the options. 

[maize]

Will your vulnerable people be vaccinated before then?

 

Personally, I am concerned enough about the possibility of longer-term effects that I would rather my children not get covid. This means we will be maintaining fairly stringent protocols to avoid infection even after the most vulnerable household member is vaccinated. I'm not going to relax until we all get the vaccine.

[Melissa Louise]

The simplest thing is to enrol them in the local public school, withdraw and sort out online if needed closer to the time.

I'd be thinking of 2022 as more of a (hopefully) normal year, with a greater need to make the best longer term choices. 

2021, I'd go for the simplest 'good enough'. 

[wendyroo]

1 minute ago, maize said:

Will your vulnerable people be vaccinated before then?

 

Personally, I am concerned enough about the possibility of longer-term effects that I would rather my children not get covid. This means we will be maintaining fairly stringent protocols to avoid infection even after the most vulnerable household member is vaccinated. I'm not going to relax until we all get the vaccine.

This is exactly where I am, and, like maize, I have young kids who are a long, long way off from being vaccinated.

At this point I am planning all virtual extracurriculars at least through next fall semester.

I think, if anything, people are going to become more lax once the adults are vaccinated (if that is even possible compared to the extreme heedlessness most around me are already subscribing to). That will make me less likely to put my kids in group settings, because I really don't want them to get Covid.

[TravelingChris]

Personally, here,  I have seen the one private school I do know most about has had the best response.   They haven't had big outbreak and the education, even while it had to be online  last spring was so far superior to what the public school was offering,.  If I had kids that needed to go to school next year, my first choice would be based on the educational value.  Over here, that would be one of a few private schools.   It isn't that the local high school is so lacking- it normally isn't.  But what has happened since last Spring- with the shutdown and then online and then this year so far where they keep going virtual then in person and then dual schedule and then virtual and then in person and etc, I just can;t see how that is beneficial to education. Especially since a lot of times when they were virtual (and the one time for two weeks before Christmas when they just sent them home and then later gave them reiview worksheets to do) the whole thing is a giant waste of time if you have intelligent children who don;'t need the constant review. 

[catz]

I really am hoping by like the April time frame the picture on vaccine rollout will be much clearer and we will have more data to work with.  I hope we see data on Johnson and Johnson's singled dose vaccine within a few weeks here which could make a huge difference in rollout.   Anyway - I feel like it's just too soon to be certain or to make unalterable plans yet but I'm crossing fingers.   

[JennyD]

I am cautiously optimistic about things being much better by the fall, but not optimistic enough to put down any nonrefundable deposits.

As murky as things are now I think they will get steadily clearer over the coming months.   We will learn more about these new variants, some of the vaccines presently in the pipeline will have phase 3 results, we will know a lot more about the real-world effectiveness of the vaccines that people have already received, and we should have a more solid timeline on when kids will be able to get vaccinated.  So my general feeling on the fall is to push off all decisionmaking as long as possible.  The later you can wait, the more informed your decision will be.

 

[rebcoola]

ODD entered the lottery for the local STEM high school.  I am hopeful that things will be normalish.  My parents get their first dose of vaccine Tuesday.  DH is eligible for the next phase.  If I am wrong we will figure it out.

[Corraleno]

I think it will be several months before we have enough data on the efficacy of the vaccine program (including the impact of the new variants) to make clear decisions about fall. If there are actions you need to take right now, then I would choose one best case scenario and one worst case scenario, and figure on just eating the cost of whichever one isn't needed when school starts. So, for example, in your case I would probably choose the public school that would be the best fit as my best-case option and I'd pay deposits for a few online classes in the most important subjects as a worst-case backup. If public school turns out to be a safe option, then you lose the deposits on a few classes (or maybe they'll allow you to keep the credits for summer classes or something). If public school is not safe, then at least you have guaranteed seats in the most important classes and you can fill in the other subjects as needed.

[Ditto]

I am operating under the premise that things won't be a whole lot better (if at all) than they are now.  I am hoping things will be better, but not hopeful.   Once we are all vaccinated I will feel a little bit better but who knows when that will happen.  I had an appointment with one of my drs this week.  She is at a major medical center and was hopeful that there would be 2 more options for the vaccine within 4 months or so.  That would great because maybe it will be easier for everyone that wants a vaccine to get one.    My plans for fall are the same as the ones we have now: no groups,  no traveling, no visitors, continue our hermit like existence until things are safer.

[Ditto]

59 minutes ago, wendyroo said:

I think, if anything, people are going to become more lax once the adults are vaccinated (if that is even possible compared to the extreme heedlessness most around me are already subscribing to). That will make me less likely to put my kids in group settings, because I really don't want them to get Covid.

This is how I feel as well.   As to the bolded, it is very frustrating isn't it?

[Drama Llama]

1 hour ago, maize said:

Will your vulnerable people be vaccinated before then?

My most vulnerable person, my GFIL will get his first dose in a couple weeks.  My person most likely to get it, DH, got his first dose already and should be back at work by fall.  

We also have a vulnerable family member who is pregnant and at this point not choosing to be vaccinated until she delivers in the summer.  It is hard to predict where that is going.  If they move to their own house we might choose school for the kids over seeing them.  Homeschooling with grief and a full time job isn’t great, and who know whether we’ll be able to have an adult at home in the fall.  

I probably do need to sign up DS13 for online school in case.  

[prairiewindmomma]

Our state is rolling out slowly, and we are not getting enough vaccine. We also want our entire household to be vaccinated before returning to school outside of the home because of our specific health needs. We do not anticipate that they will be in the classroom fall term.

If we were in our previous Midwest state, I would feel more confident. They have already vaccinated their healthcare workers, and have started in on the elderly and teachers.

I think given that there are so many humans are hesitant to be vaccinated AND there are so many species that can host coronaviruses, we are likely to see continued mutation of the virus. There's just going to be a huge host reservoir.  Add to that the concern that immunity is probably about a year post-vaccination.....this is just going to be an ongoing and continual struggle at some level.  It's just going to find that balance point where benefit outweighs risk....and for us, I think dh will return to working in a building when he has to (we already know that won't be before fall), and kids will return to school once we are all vaccinated.

[Lecka]

Well, my kids went back to in-person school earlier this month.  We decided to only see relatives outside.  It’s been a warm winter.  Edit:  this is what we were doing anyway when my husband went back to work in-person, so it was not only the kids.  This brings up — are you avoiding family anyway if one of the parents goes back to work.  And then are you keeping kids out to protect vulnerable family members when you can’t see them anyway.  We couldn’t see them anyway so — it was a factor in it making more sense in them returning.  The main reason was one child really not doing well at home.  If he had done well at home I don’t know what we would have decided.  
 

As someone with kids in school — lunch is the most concerning to me.  Kids have masks off to eat.

 

They wear masks on the bus.

 

Another consideration is if your kids would be podded with one of your options but not others.  
 

Another consideration is if you would allow activities and if there is a difference in precautions with activities.  
 

Another consideration is how they would keep up with work if quarantined (what the school’s set-up is — here a lot are set up for kids to do online school from home to keep up while quarantined).

 

For me — the duration of not seeing people matters.  If you think person x is likely to be vaccinated within x months of your kids being in-person ——— it might make sense to think “it’s only this long.”  Or it might seem obvious it’s way too long.  

Edited January 24, 2021 by Lecka

[JennyD]

1 hour ago, Corraleno said:

If there are actions you need to take right now, then I would choose one best case scenario and one worst case scenario, and figure on just eating the cost of whichever one isn't needed when school starts.

I really like this advice.

[BusyMom5]

I'm hoping by fall the numbers will be way down due to vaccination and so many that have already had it.  I am planning to go back to co-op and would put $$ down on that.  My oldest is going off to college,  and we have our fingers crossed for in-perdon classes and clubs, ect.  

In your situation,  I think i would decide the best place for the kids, then work the rest of life around that.  

[Farrar]

Honestly, I think the risk for kids will be about the same as it is now. They won't be able to get the vaccine yet. No way when the trials on kids aren't even done yet. So if you don't feel safe with activities now, given the slow rollout and how people will probably get more loose as they get the vaccine... I would say you won't feel safe in the fall either. I hate that, but there it is.

[Terabith]

7 minutes ago, Farrar said:

Honestly, I think the risk for kids will be about the same as it is now. They won't be able to get the vaccine yet. No way when the trials on kids aren't even done yet. So if you don't feel safe with activities now, given the slow rollout and how people will probably get more loose as they get the vaccine... I would say you won't feel safe in the fall either. I hate that, but there it is.

The big difference I could see here is if vulnerable adults in your household might be vaccinated.

[ktgrok]

4 hours ago, maize said:

Will your vulnerable people be vaccinated before then?

 

Personally, I am concerned enough about the possibility of longer-term effects that I would rather my children not get covid. This means we will be maintaining fairly stringent protocols to avoid infection even after the most vulnerable household member is vaccinated. I'm not going to relax until we all get the vaccine.

same. 

1 hour ago, Farrar said:

Honestly, I think the risk for kids will be about the same as it is now. They won't be able to get the vaccine yet. No way when the trials on kids aren't even done yet. So if you don't feel safe with activities now, given the slow rollout and how people will probably get more loose as they get the vaccine... I would say you won't feel safe in the fall either. I hate that, but there it is.

yup.

At this point, what I'm hoping for by then is that we can find a group of homeschoolers, even one or two families, where the adults are all vaccinatd and the kids are not going to public school or other high exposure activities - so it would be unvaccinated kids, but with no/low exposure and vaccinated adults. That's the best  can hope for right now. And even then, sticking to outdoor activities. My goal is to find a low enough risk of kids, even if just a few families, so my kids can play unmasked outdoors with them. Anything more seems unrealistically optimistic or too risky depending on how you look at it. 

But I really don't want my kids catching it. 

Edited January 24, 2021 by ktgrok

[Drama Llama]

2 hours ago, Farrar said:

Honestly, I think the risk for kids will be about the same as it is now. They won't be able to get the vaccine yet. No way when the trials on kids aren't even done yet. So if you don't feel safe with activities now, given the slow rollout and how people will probably get more loose as they get the vaccine... I would say you won't feel safe in the fall either. I hate that, but there it is.

To be honest, I haven't made a decision about whether I feel safe with the risk to my kids from activities.  At this point, 100% of the decisions we've made for the kids have prioritized protecting their brother, and now their great grandfather.  But hopefully by the fall, their great grandfather will be vaccinated.

 

[BeachGal]

4 hours ago, FuzzyCatz said:

I really am hoping by like the April time frame the picture on vaccine rollout will be much clearer and we will have more data to work with.  I hope we see data on Johnson and Johnson's singled dose vaccine within a few weeks here which could make a huge difference in rollout.   Anyway - I feel like it's just too soon to be certain or to make unalterable plans yet but I'm crossing fingers.   

J&J’s data readout is supposed to come out very soon, within two weeks, and is looking promising from what I’ve read. It takes awhile to develop an immune response but it’s only one dose. (They are also testing two doses but that is not this trial.)

The difficulty will lie with meeting production and administering. We will have to wait and see how that transpires.

https://www.jnj.com/johnson-johnson-covid-19-vaccine-candidate-interim-phase-1-2a-data-published-in-new-england-journal-of-medicine

The Phase 1/2a interim analysis showed that the Company’s COVID-19 vaccine candidate induced an immune response and was generally well-tolerated across all study participants. Data demonstrated that, after a single vaccination, neutralizing antibodies against COVID-19 were detected in over 90 percent of study participants at Day 29 and 100 percent of participants aged 18-55 years at Day 57. These neutralizing antibodies remained stable through Day 71, currently the latest timepoint available in this ongoing study, in all participants aged 18-55 years. Data on durability of immune responses in trial participants aged over 65 years will be available in late January and longer-term follow-up to one year is planned. 

The Company anticipates announcing topline Phase 3 data for its single-dose Janssen COVID-19 vaccine candidate in late January 2021; however, as this trial is dependent on disease events, the timing is approximate. If the single-dose vaccine is shown to be safe and effective, the Company expects to submit an application for Emergency Use Authorization with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration shortly afterwards, with other regulatory applications around the world to be made subsequently.

 

[Drama Llama]

5 hours ago, FuzzyCatz said:

I really am hoping by like the April time frame the picture on vaccine rollout will be much clearer and we will have more data to work with.  I hope we see data on Johnson and Johnson's singled dose vaccine within a few weeks here which could make a huge difference in rollout.   Anyway - I feel like it's just too soon to be certain or to make unalterable plans yet but I'm crossing fingers.   

I get that. Unfortunately, that time frame doesn't work with application deadlines here.   Public school specialty programs have application dates in the next few weeks.  Private schools do too.  Testing needs to be done before application in some cases.  It looks like some of the online providers have hard dates for registering too.

 

[katilac]

45 minutes ago, BaseballandHockey said:

 But hopefully by the fall, their great grandfather will be vaccinated.

Is he not already eligible? 

[Drama Llama]

1 minute ago, katilac said:

Is he not already eligible? 

He has an appointment.  Our county is moving very slowly.   My point was that since we've been on lockdown to protect him, I haven't made decisions based on the risk to my kids.  But if we're talking about the fall, that risk may be much less unless there's some variant that the vaccine doesn't protected against. 

Farrar had said that if we aren't doing activities now, we probably won't want to in the fall, but I didn't make the decision about this year based on the kids.  

[Condessa]

I'm stumped, too.  I'd like to send them to the charter across the river, but we can't afford the out-of-state fees and it is unlikely that we will be able to find a place we can afford to move to there.  The horrible public schools on this side are an option, if they are fully open.  If the hospital & doctors go back to letting siblings come with for appointments, homeschooling is still a viable option.  (It is looking likely that my foster girls will be reunified before then, so this would be three older siblings doing schoolwork in waiting rooms, not five and a little).  I think that is probably unlikely to happen.  Trying to continue homeschooling kids left at home around the travel and cancer treatments and therapy activities is something I would really prefer to avoid, as it is just about killing me now.

Edited January 24, 2021 by Condessa

[Ottakee]

19 minutes ago, Condessa said:

.  (It is looking likely that my foster girls will be reunified before then, so this would be three older siblings doing schoolwork in waiting rooms, not five and a little). 

@Condessa  Did their case plan change?   

[Condessa]

11 minutes ago, Ottakee said:

@Condessa  Did their case plan change?   

No.  They never actually changed the case plan away from reunification, only the case workers were saying they didn't think bio mom was going to make it, and asking if we were interested adoption/guardianship if they were right.  

[Carrie12345]

@BaseballandHockey. I can definitely understand that kind of planning frustration.  Do all of the situations call for a decision now, in the last week of January, or are their other deadlines?  My anxious ADD self would probably make a chronological list and do my best to wait until the very last second for each forced decision. The situation continues to change rapidly (for better or for worse) and every day that goes by gives us a little more information to work with.

I don’t think there will be any clear cut answers for quite some time, but each little bit helps.

[kristin0713]

For my family, when the adults are vaccinated, we are going to start to return to a sort-of-normal as much as we can. We will continue to wear masks in public as long as it is required/recommended.  I will enroll my kids in extracurricular programs and we will begin to socialize again.  We will continue to homeschool because we always have, but I really hope and plan to get my kids involved with other kids again.  I am not going to screen people as to whether or not they have taken the vaccine.  

[ktgrok]

6 minutes ago, kristin0713 said:

For my family, when the adults are vaccinated, we are going to start to return to a sort-of-normal as much as we can. We will continue to wear masks in public as long as it is required/recommended.  I will enroll my kids in extracurricular programs and we will begin to socialize again.  We will continue to homeschool because we always have, but I really hope and plan to get my kids involved with other kids again.  I am not going to screen people as to whether or not they have taken the vaccine.  

And for those not worried about kids catching the virus this makes total sense. And most kids seem to do just fine.

I'm just too nervous about the virus - the cardiac and blood vessel stuff really worries me. I watched my ex husband get cardiomyopathy and be told the cause was a virus. That left me with enough PTSD to be at the far end of caution. 

[Junie]

35 minutes ago, kristin0713 said:

For my family, when the adults are vaccinated, we are going to start to return to a sort-of-normal as much as we can. We will continue to wear masks in public as long as it is required/recommended.  I will enroll my kids in extracurricular programs and we will begin to socialize again.  We will continue to homeschool because we always have, but I really hope and plan to get my kids involved with other kids again.  I am not going to screen people as to whether or not they have taken the vaccine.  

I think that's where we are, too.  Probably only one extracurricular and very little socializing, but enough to start getting back to normal.

I would like to get back to church in person, but I'm not sure if I'm comfortable with that level of weekly exposure.

[historically accurate]

Are we thinking teens will be getting vaccinated by fall? I don't have littles, so I think my kids will be able to be vaccinated. 

[mommyoffive]

I am hoping that by fall all adults will be able to get the vaccine. That rates will be lower and then I will feel more comfortable to let my kids back into some face to face activities.  I am hopeful that the kids vaccine trial will be done and that will be rolling out.  But I am not sure that will happen since the last I saw they were still trying to get kids into the 12-15 age trials.  While I do not want my kids to have covid, I want them to get back to some  normal life for their mental health.  We have been living like it is March this whole time.  I am hoping to go on vacation this summer, do outside distanced activities with others, and then face to face things in the fall.  

But everything can change so fast with Covid.  Hopefully lots of people will get the vaccine.  Hopefully the UK strain won't take hold.  I wouldn't put money down for fall that I couldn't afford to lose.   Schools in our city have been open since Sept. for face to face.  Same as in all the cities around us.  Sports are going on and have been since  Summer.  

[1234]

We’re choosing to be optimistic here. Dh and I have planned a vacation for October and both college kids have signed new apartment leases for August. Their university has said they have plans to administer the vaccine to students so I’m hopeful that happens so they can be back to all in person classes in the fall.  

[vonfirmath]

19 minutes ago, Dreamergal said:

I am hopeful and burying my head in the sand that all will be ok by fall as in classes full time for DS in person.

DH and I would definitely be vaccinated by then. It is the kids that is the worry. We hope to be living life like normal more in the fall not stay jailed at home all the time. It includes travel definitely for me and possibly DH to our native country. It would be two years almost by then last I saw my parents, they are not getting any younger so this is definitely something that is a must not a probably.

We have transitioned to working out, working and schooling and even a few activities at home. The Virtual Public has worked out for the most part. If the world opens up more, we might consider schooling in person and Virtual PS mix. DH can work FT at home, I work PT from home, DD is already  having a version of HS. It is DS who may need the in person schooling partially and I think more for mental health purposes. It has been ok so far but long term no.

We are evaluating risks according to needs for all of us. 

I am just working on their immune systems and ours until then. 

Will your schools be available for Virtual PS next year?

The district next to ours has already announced there will be no virtual public school next year.

[Drama Llama]

2 hours ago, ktgrok said:

And for those not worried about kids catching the virus this makes total sense. And most kids seem to do just fine.

I'm just too nervous about the virus - the cardiac and blood vessel stuff really worries me. I watched my ex husband get cardiomyopathy and be told the cause was a virus. That left me with enough PTSD to be at the far end of caution. 

For me, it's definitely not that I'm not worried.  I lost a child to a disease that is very very similar to advanced covid.  I have plenty of PTSD.  I've just also seen grief devastate my children.

And my kids really need to be in an environment that feels normal.  Homeschooling, with parents who are struggling with mental health, where every adult they interact with is grieved and stressed out, and the primary homeschooling parent is struggling to hold on to the job that keeps a roof over the heard, is not what I'd choose for them. 

We're going to try to keep a few options option for each kid.  I'm just trying to figure out which options.  This week the big decision for my younger kid is whether we do testing for the gifted program (which would mean a school bus).  For my older kid, it's whether we submit an application for the $30K/year private school with tiny classes and no school buses, or aim for our public school with 2K kids in a building made for 1K.  Also, whether we enroll in some online classes to hold slots in case we go that direction.  It seems like some providers start registration soon, so we need to at least sort out what providers we'd want.  

Edited January 24, 2021 by BaseballandHockey
brain fog

[mlktwins]

40 minutes ago, vonfirmath said:

Will your schools be available for Virtual PS next year?

The district next to ours has already announced there will be no virtual public school next year.

This can change.  Our district has gone back and forth all year on whether to stay all virtual or go hybrid.  Right now we have K-3rd in and the rest on hold.  I don't have a dog in the fight so don't care what they do really.  It's a big mess.  But...decisions made now are subject to change depending on so many things that no one can predict at the moment.

Edited January 24, 2021 by mlktwins
Eta: fix typing

[TravelingChris]

4 hours ago, Condessa said:

I'm stumped, too.  I'd like to send them to the charter across the river, but we can't afford the out-of-state fees and it is unlikely that we will be able to find a place we can afford to move to there.  The horrible public schools on this side are an option, if they are fully open.  If the hospital & doctors go back to letting siblings come with for appointments, homeschooling is still a viable option.  (It is looking likely that my foster girls will be reunified before then, so this would be three older siblings doing schoolwork in waiting rooms, not five and a little).  I think that is probably unlikely to happen.  Trying to continue homeschooling kids left at home around the travel and cancer treatments and therapy activities is something I would really prefer to avoid, as it is just about killing me now.

Gosh, I hadn't even considered how hard that would have been when my kids were little- I have been going to lots of appointments for most of my adult life as someone who has tons of chronic autoimmune illnesses.  I did take my kids to many appointments though I did arrange for care for some of them. 

I am so very sorry about your situation.  I can definitely see how this is very stressful.

[TravelingChris]

1 hour ago, mommyoffive said:

I am hoping that by fall all adults will be able to get the vaccine. That rates will be lower and then I will feel more comfortable to let my kids back into some face to face activities.  I am hopeful that the kids vaccine trial will be done and that will be rolling out.  But I am not sure that will happen since the last I saw they were still trying to get kids into the 12-15 age trials.  While I do not want my kids to have covid, I want them to get back to some  normal life for their mental health.  We have been living like it is March this whole time.  I am hoping to go on vacation this summer, do outside distanced activities with others, and then face to face things in the fall.  

But everything can change so fast with Covid.  Hopefully lots of people will get the vaccine.  Hopefully the UK strain won't take hold.  I wouldn't put money down for fall that I couldn't afford to lose.   Schools in our city have been open since Sept. for face to face.  Same as in all the cities around us.  Sports are going on and have been since  Summer.  

I don't know if it is the UK strain or some other strain but since mid Fall, the demographics in our area of who was getting it and who was being hospitalized has changed to younger people and that is one characteristic of the UK/SA mutations.  (Both the UK and South Africa had a similar mutation that increased both the transmissibility and seemingly, the age range of the virus but these were separate mutations- I also believe that one other area had that mutation too.

I think we have no idea about what types of strains we are having- there are only a few places in this whole country that are even attempting to figure it out with some random samplings of sick people.  But they can't even seem to agree in the UK as to whether it is more or less lethal than the original strain.

[ktgrok]

3 hours ago, BaseballandHockey said:

For me, it's definitely not that I'm not worried.  I lost a child to a disease that is very very similar to advanced covid.  I have plenty of PTSD.  I've just also seen grief devastate my children.

And my kids really need to be in an environment that feels normal.  Homeschooling, with parents who are struggling with mental health, where every adult they interact with is grieved and stressed out, and the primary homeschooling parent is struggling to hold on to the job that keeps a roof over the heard, is not what I'd choose for them. 

We're going to try to keep a few options option for each kid.  I'm just trying to figure out which options.  This week the big decision for my younger kid is whether we do testing for the gifted program (which would mean a school bus).  For my older kid, it's whether we submit an application for the $30K/year private school with tiny classes and no school buses, or aim for our public school with 2K kids in a building made for 1K.  Also, whether we enroll in some online classes to hold slots in case we go that direction.  It seems like some providers start registration soon, so we need to at least sort out what providers we'd want.  

I certainly didn't mean to minimize your situation - I'm so sorry if my words were hurtful at all. You have so much to balance, and so many extra stresses on top of it. I know you will do what is the best thing possible and I hate that you are stuck dealing with all this on top of your family's grief. 

[Drama Llama]

12 minutes ago, ktgrok said:

I certainly didn't mean to minimize your situation - I'm so sorry if my words were hurtful at all. You have so much to balance, and so many extra stresses on top of it. I know you will do what is the best thing possible and I hate that you are stuck dealing with all this on top of your family's grief. 

No, you weren't hurtful.  I just was trying to say that the fact that my first priority is our vulnerable family members doesn't mean that I'm ignoring the risks to my kids.  Just that when I'm making choices for my kids I have multiple factors at play.

I really hope that, by fall, with widespread vaccination of adults we'll see much less community spread so a classroom is much safer.  

[prairiewindmomma]

Fwiw, if the adults in my circle were vaccinated and the kids themselves were all healthy, I’d put them back in school in a heartbeat. The social toll (other good adults in their lives, independence, socializing with friends, etc.) has not been small.

I have kids who themselves are higher risk.

[Drama Llama]

12 hours ago, Condessa said:

I'm stumped, too.  I'd like to send them to the charter across the river, but we can't afford the out-of-state fees and it is unlikely that we will be able to find a place we can afford to move to there.  The horrible public schools on this side are an option, if they are fully open.  If the hospital & doctors go back to letting siblings come with for appointments, homeschooling is still a viable option.  (It is looking likely that my foster girls will be reunified before then, so this would be three older siblings doing schoolwork in waiting rooms, not five and a little).  I think that is probably unlikely to happen.  Trying to continue homeschooling kids left at home around the travel and cancer treatments and therapy activities is something I would really prefer to avoid, as it is just about killing me now.

I am so sorry you're in this situation.  When we were there, I had to scale way back on what my healthy kids got.  Now we're trying to dig out of that hole.  For my youngest, it's easy. For my oldest, I'm worried.  

Are private schools in person where you are?  I know that the private where my boys went would take the circumstances into account when offering financial aid.  It might be a cheaper option than moving or out-of-state fees.  

[katilac]

11 hours ago, historically accurate said:

Are we thinking teens will be getting vaccinated by fall? I don't have littles, so I think my kids will be able to be vaccinated. 

I think only if at least one more vaccine provider gets approved. 

[Condessa]

15 hours ago, BaseballandHockey said:

I am so sorry you're in this situation.  When we were there, I had to scale way back on what my healthy kids got.  Now we're trying to dig out of that hole.  For my youngest, it's easy. For my oldest, I'm worried.  

Are private schools in person where you are?  I know that the private where my boys went would take the circumstances into account when offering financial aid.  It might be a cheaper option than moving or out-of-state fees.  

The only private schools in our area are religious schools, Catholic and another Christian one.  Some individuals of other Christian churches have very strong feelings against our denomination.  I am hesitant to send my kids into a religious setting on their own if I don’t know how they will be received.

Edited January 25, 2021 by Condessa

[73349]

I plan to pay to re-join a group but not necessarily to attend indoor things in the fall. I do not think vaccine rollout among adults is going so well that I can expect my teen to be eligible this calendar year, and I do not think those of us who got it last spring are still immune.

If it helps, I have to compare high school options for my teen for the following year, and I made a spreadsheet to help me identify key characteristics and prioritize options. You could do that with covid risk as well as other factors. My rows include proximity, cost, cohort size, class size, admissions, achievement, accommodations, diversity, etc. I started color-coding, with gold as best and pink/red as undesirable. This gives me a visual and helps me see that some options have a few strikes against them, making them long shots, while a couple of options stand out as strong possibilities.

 

Edited January 25, 2021 by Carolina Wren