Well, the superintendent sent out a message this evening stating that if the number of positive cases don't stop rising by next Tuesday we will go back to virtual learning. I know it's the safe option but my K students are learning more in person.
She did state that schools are not an area where the virus is being spread but in the community. We are a large district of almost 90,000 students and over 6.000 teachers. Currently, almost 300 teacher have tested positive. Contact tracing has shown they were in contact with someone outside of school. She has asked that we all follow the CDC guidelines about Thanksgiving so that we may continue in person learning.
Her letter went out to the media to warn the parents that it may be coming. My guess is to also warn them that they need to rethink their holidays.
My super tried sending out a very similar letter about a month ago. Didn't work. Numbers skyrocketed. We went remote the first week of Nov. A few other neighboring districts tried to stay open based on the fact that it wasn't really spreading in schools. They got to the point where they had so many out for quarantines, they just couldn't stay open either.
As you can see, both the U.S. and Europe have been coping with severe outbreaks, with caseloads rising even faster in much of Europe than in the U.S. during much of this fall. But over the past two weeks, France, Germany, Spain and Britain have managed to reduce their growth rates.
What is Europe doing differently? It is cracking down on the kind of indoor gatherings that most commonly spread the virus. England closed pubs, restaurants, gyms and more on Nov. 5 and announced they would remain closed until at least Dec. 2. France, Germany’s regional governments and the Catalonia region of Spain have also shut restaurants, among other businesses.
“I’m sure the Europeans didn’t want to restrict their activities any more than we do,” Janet Baseman, an epidemiologist at the University of Washington, told me over the weekend. “Everyone is tired and ready for this to end, but we have to accept the reality of the data before us.”
Many Americans have resisted accepting that reality. Across much of the country, restaurants remain open for indoor dining. Last week, New York State announced a new policy that public health experts consider to be a bizarre middle ground: Businesses with a liquor license can stay open until 10 p.m.
My DD is studying for her Masters degree at Trinity College in Ireland. They are in week four of a six week complete lockdown. She is living in isolation. But...the numbers are going down.
Districts around here that have tried going back in person and/or hybrid were finding that between quarantines and illness that they did not have enough adults to staff buildings.
My own district is remote only, but has seen so many cases among staff working in the buildings (we could work from our rooms if we wanted) that the super said everyone but principals should work from home.
Secretaries, front desk supervisors and security will work on a rotating basis.
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11-16-2020, 08:29 PM
