Fall school reopening plans by county (so far) (schools, closing)

[markjames68]

Originally Posted by bu2

That is a disaster for Clayton County. It takes a certain type of student to do online (ie, a minority of students).

My younger son really struggled learning from home. In fact, his experience doing chorus remotely was so poor he wants to drop it for next year.

My older son preferred remote learning.

[CCATL]

If the cases continue to increase as they currently are, we're going to start seeing the situation again down the road where hospitals will approach capacity. At that point, if it does happen, schools will have no choice but to shut down just to help save our health infrastructure and prevent otherwise preventable deaths. That was the point of the first shutdown - we have to shut down in order to maintain bed capacity and build our infrastructure. If we're going to choose not to take the preventative measures, like requiring masks, it's inevitable that it will (SHOULD) happen again. What will parents do in that case, when the state has basically focused on reopening the economy and therefore, everybody is expected to keep working - even as people are getting sick all around us - and our kids are home from school?

Even if we don't near hospital capacity, there are also concerns related to available infrastructure in schools, which I really haven't seen anybody discuss. What if multiple teachers come down with COVID and can't come to work for 2-6+ weeks, and there aren't any subs available? What if a teacher's spouse or other family member gets COVID? That teacher still won't be able to come to work. How can you maintain social distancing in schools without the necessary teaching staff? How about busses - how can kids maintain social distancing guidelines on busses without any additional financial resources for the school district, which will certainly needed greater transportation capacity if all students are returning at once? All the extra cleaning schools will need to do on a daily basis - they just had their budgets cut, so how can they afford the extra cleaning crews? Some districts have more money than others - I imagine all of this is going to be really tough on especially our rural school districts, where manpower and money are already falling short.

I agree with previous posters who are saying this is a failure of our leadership. Schools are the backbone of our economy, in the sense that without schools, parents really can't work. Most families these days don't, and can't afford to, have a stay at home parent that does not work. But our leadership is doing literally nothing to ensure that schools have what they need to reopen safely. This can't be a district by district decision - teachers live and work in different school districts. What happens if a teacher who lives in Clayton has their kids home 2-3 days a week, but that teach works in Forsyth, where they are expected to be at school everyday? Teachers might have to start quitting, and then again, you have a shortage of the workforce. What we need is either a state or regional approach. For example, all of the metro counties might want to join forces and come up with the same calendar so that situations like above don't happen. Or it needs to be done statewide, by order of the Governor. There is definitely a time for local control, but this is not one of those times.

[AtlJan]

Originally Posted by markjames68

My younger son really struggled learning from home. In fact, his experience doing chorus remotely was so poor he wants to drop it for next year.

My older son preferred remote learning.

My teens/tweens preferred remote learning--for all the wrong reasons. . Among the many losses I count for them was the loss of mentorship by their wonderful teachers and coaches. This would be especially important for our students coming from less-wealthy families and fatherless homes, etc. They also missed out on the service component--wiping off the tables in the lunch room is a bigger lesson than anything they can learn dancing to a TikTok song while their microphone is muted.

[markjames68]

Originally Posted by AtlJan

My teens/tweens preferred remote learning--for all the wrong reasons. . Among the many losses I count for them was the loss of mentorship by their wonderful teachers and coaches. This would be especially important for our students coming from less-wealthy families and fatherless homes, etc. They also missed out on the service component--wiping off the tables in the lunch room is a bigger lesson than anything they can learn dancing to a TikTok song while their microphone is muted.

And the social aspects of learning with peers. That can't be overlooked as well.

My older son entering high school is taking 2 virtual classes this summer, and is doing really well with them. He even got a big shout out from a teacher recently on how proactive he is.

It's going to be tough no matter how you look at it.

[aries4118]

The Case for Reopening Schools
https://www.wired.com/story/the-case...ening-schools/

[aries4118]

Many Doctors Expect Safe Return to School
https://www.cbc.ca/news/health/sickk...fall-1.5616344

[arjay57]

We took in one of the grandkids this spring and were able to do the schooling, but a lot of folks wouldn't have had as much time. We actually thought it was a pretty good experience.

However, there are benefits to a formal classroom experience, especially as the kids get older. I hope a good arrangement can be worked out.

And thanks for those links, aries. Very interesting!

[brownhornet]

Honestly, it seems more like people are just ready to get their kids out of the house more than anything.

[Gulch]

Originally Posted by brownhornet

Honestly, it seems more like people are just ready to get their kids out of the house more than anything.

When parents view schools as glorified daycare, it's not surprising.

[markjames68]

Originally Posted by brownhornet

Honestly, it seems more like people are just ready to get their kids out of the house more than anything.

Locked in the house for months? It’s for their best interests to socialize and learn.

How old are your kids again?