Fall school reopening plans by county (so far) (homes, homeschooling)

[evannole]

Originally Posted by ATLTJL

Seems relevant to this discussion....

Most of the current research seems to indicate COVID-19 is not spread by touching surfaces nearly as much as previously thought. Similarly, it does not seem to spread easily in outdoor settings.

Where is appears to spread quickly and easily is in indoor settings where people are around others for 15 minutes or more. It's especially bad in rooms with poor ventilation.

Maybe it's just me... but I'd be a lot more comfortable with a requirement that all teachers wear masks,desks be set apart 6 feet... and improvements made to HVAC systems that include better ventilation and ultraviolet lights in the ductwork. HEPA filters in each classroom probably also isn't a bad idea. Sanitizing things is pretty silly since they can become tainted again the moment a COVID droplet drops on them, and people are unlikely to get sick that way, anyway.

Of course... this could all change before school starts. I think it's too early to be announcing any plans.

How about a requirement that EVERYONE wear masks, including students? Even if you somehow manage to reduce classroom sizes to 15 students or so, having one out of 16 people in the room wear a mask is nearly pointless.

These school districts seem to be trying to wish the virus away, rather than pay attention to the current reality of the situation, which is both worse than it was in March and on a poorer trajectory. And as usual, all of the lip service being paid is to the safety and well-being of the students, with nary a word said about that of the teachers and staff who have to deal with the situation AND who apparently are going to have little choice but to put their health in the hands of the kids' ability and willingness to exhibit health-safe behavior and parents who choose to send their kids to school.

[ATLTJL]

Well, I was thinking in terms of teachers sitting in front of the classroom lecturing, spewing droplets everywhere.

But you're right, not every class is taught in that format, especially in elementary and junior high schools. It would be ideal for students to also wear masks. It's a pretty tall order, though, requiring masks in an environment where people are trapped for 7 hours per day. And how are they going to deal with cafeterias, and teachers on lunchroom duty? How about gym class?

And what about band? When you blow your brains out into a brass instrument, do some droplets come out the other end? Does anyone know?

[sedimenjerry]

Originally Posted by ATLTJL

Maybe it's just me... but I'd be a lot more comfortable with a requirement that all teachers wear masks, desks be set apart 6 feet... and improvements made to HVAC systems that include better ventilation and ultraviolet lights in the ductwork. HEPA filters in each classroom probably also isn't a bad idea. Sanitizing things is pretty silly since they can become tainted again the moment a COVID droplet drops on them, and people are unlikely to get sick that way, anyway.

You're not wrong, I just don't see how it'll be effective in schools. There's not enough room to keep desks 6 feet apart. Plus you have all the movement between classes. I mean maybe elementary school could stagger classes moving from location to location but middle school and high school would be a nightmare. There's no way you could get 6 feet between students while in the hallway. Some of our schools have over 3,500 students. You literally can't fit everyone in the building 6 feet apart. I remember back in high school, I probably came in contact or very close proximity with hundreds of other students every day. We would have literal traffic jams where you couldn't move for a couple seconds at a time. Freshman year I literally went from one side to the other every class. There'd be no way to keep students relatively isolated.

[ATLTJL]

There's a way. You just have to be creative.

Maybe what they do is schedule students in blocks of classes. What I mean is, students stay put in a classroom.. then teachers move between rooms. You'd have to figure out electives since not everyone takes the same classes... but I'm saying, thinking in terms like this can at least minimize the amount of movement. This is just one idea I just came up with on the top of my head. I'm sure if you got a room of really smart people together, in a few hours they'd have some pretty good solutions to problems that seem impossible right now. There just has to be a will to do so coupled with a willingness to think outside the box and the realm of "the way we've always done things."

[evannole]

Originally Posted by ATLTJL

There's a way. You just have to be creative.

Maybe what they do is schedule students in blocks of classes. What I mean is, students stay put in a classroom.. then teachers move between rooms. You'd have to figure out electives since not everyone takes the same classes... but I'm saying, thinking in terms like this can at least minimize the amount of movement. This is just one idea I just came up with on the top of my head. I'm sure if you got a room of really smart people together, in a few hours they'd have some pretty good solutions to problems that seem impossible right now. There just has to be a will to do so coupled with a willingness to think outside the box and the realm of "the way we've always done things."

I agree that some creativity will be needed to get through this. Unfortunately, I don't think having students remain in the same classroom all day and having teachers move around is a practical solution in most cases. Most students don't take the same classes throughout the course of the day; the students who are all together in Spanish III at 8 AM are probably largely scattered in different classes at 9:30- some might go to Chemistry while others might go to World History and still others might have Brit Lit. That model might work a bit better in elementary schools, where students tend to stay with one or two teachers all day long, but high school schedules tend to be really diverse.

Many teachers also have necessary, specialized, permanently installed equipment in their classrooms that can't be easily moved to other places - think chemistry and language labs. And most teachers have tremendous amounts of physical resources - files, textbooks, learning aids - that they have well organized in their classrooms and can't easily carry from classroom to classroom, day in, day out. My wife is a teacher and had to move classrooms at the end of the school year this year. She spent five full days at the school packing and organizing everything so it would end up where she wanted in a logical, easily accessed fashion when she does eventually return to her classroom. I never realized how many of those kinds of resources teachers have - and need - until I married one.

I do agree that the teleschool that was hurriedly thrown together in the spring, out of necessity, wasn't ideal, and hope that the school systems have spent a good amount of time and creativity over the last few months devising more comprehensive, designed-from-scratch teleschool plans, in the event that we need to revert to them again. The way things are trending, I can't help but think that we'll need to.

[Go Blue 99]

Gwinnett is mirroring Forsyth and Cobb and giving the option of in-person or virtual:

https://www.ajc.com/blog/get-schoole...SK4zELj88QeOK/

[mrarctic]

Fayette will have in person or virtual. If cases rise to moderate then they are going to do a rotational schedule where basically students will be broken into Groups A & B. Each group would go to school twice per week and then twice virtual. I personally think the rotational option sounds the best but that will only be used if cases rise to moderate which they haven't said how that will be determined.


Fayette has not said what in person school will look like. However, I don't think it is realistic for the school systems that basically want kids to sit at a desk for the entire day. Adults can't even sit at a desk all day long and it will just be a losing battle, especially for elementary school. Fauci, who I have always considered him to bet he most cautious when it comes to making statements, says that a vaccine will more than likely be ready by early 2021. I personally wish the rotational school was the in-person option and then reevaluate for spring.

[PKCorey]

Originally Posted by ATLTJL

Well, I was thinking in terms of teachers sitting in front of the classroom lecturing, spewing droplets everywhere.

But you're right, not every class is taught in that format, especially in elementary and junior high schools. It would be ideal for students to also wear masks. It's a pretty tall order, though, requiring masks in an environment where people are trapped for 7 hours per day. And how are they going to deal with cafeterias, and teachers on lunchroom duty? How about gym class?

Short answer: Everyday will be a Level 2 or Level 3 lockdown style in the classroom.

On the elementary level, lunch will be served in the classroom.

I assume, specials will be able to be held out doors.

[Patrick4096]

Fulton County Schools just announced they are reopening schools along with a virtual option.

[BobbyJayATL]

Originally Posted by PKCorey

Short answer: Everyday will be a Level 2 or Level 3 lockdown style in the classroom.

On the elementary level, lunch will be served in the classroom.

I assume, specials will be able to be held out doors.

The further detail Gwinnett sent out today makes it seem like even at elementary level, specials will be occurring outside the classroom, buses will be packed, and at least some subset of kids will be eating in the cafeteria.

Seems frankly like they half-assed a few bones to throw to concerned parents and teachers, bought a bunch of chlorox whipes, and are calling it a day.