Is your county's school reopening a mess like mine?

[LovesTimone]

My friend is a teacher, and she said its a nightmare....

Not so much with covid she said that for the most part most of the kids are wearing mask, she has only 2 in her class that are not and they both have a note from the doctor... but the issues in the classroom with kids that have completely forgotten how to behave... roaming the room, talking, putting in their head phone or ear buds, disrupting other classmates, not standing in line on the floor markers, getting up to get snacks out of their back packs, pulling their phones out to play games...she said next week she will start taking them away, and mom or dad will have to come and pick them up.

She said that the difference in the kids is very noticeable on where they are all at. She said that trying to figure out how to teach to all of them is stressful, she said that she did some break out groups, and she has already had parents at her door wanting to know why little Billy is not in the good readers group... and why can little Sally can't have a snack, when she was at home she had snacks when she was watching the computer...


The school board in her district is not supporting the teachers at all... the take that they are selling is teach the lesson plan, and whoever can't keep up, will repeat the grade next year... She said on Friday she cried all the way home from work... This is a battle tested teacher, and she has had it... She said it just to much... She said on Friday that she felt like just getting her bag, and backpack and walking out...

God Bless all the teacher's out there... dumping a ton of pixie dust on you...

 

[MamaMermaid]

Teacher here. This is week 3 and it's a mess. We've gone from no masks, to masks but opt out optional, and today we are back to mandated masks. I'm tired, y'all.

 

[leahgoogle]

Rural school here. No masks, no contact tracing, no distancing. If a student tests positive in your child's class, the school will call and let you know and you can decide if you want to quarantine your child. Not a popular opinion here, but our county's cases are low and I am happy with the way our district is handling it. We never went to virtual school last year, had all sports and most activities (did masks and distancing). I know it's not possible depending on your population density and location, but the kids in our community had and are having a pretty normal school year. I hope everybody is able to have their children experience school in the safest and best way for them.

 

[GAN]

Rural school here. No masks, no contact tracing, no distancing. If a student tests positive in your child's class, the school will call and let you know and you can decide if you want to quarantine your child. Not a popular opinion here, but our county's cases are low and I am happy with the way our district is handling it. We never went to virtual school last year, had all sports and most activities (did masks and distancing). I know it's not possible depending on your population density and location, but the kids in our community had and are having a pretty normal school year. I hope everybody is able to have their children experience school in the safest and best way for them.

I could see it being much easier in rural communities -no question. But the virus doesn't really care. Good luck and hopefully no one you know has to sit home while their child lies alone in a hospital bed. That would bother me a lot more than anything else having to do with this thing....

 

[jrmasm]

School starts a week from tomorrow. Last Friday the superintendent proposed changes to the health and safety plan based on our county being declared a high transmission area. Biggest change proposed is requiring masks for all until our local transmission rate drops. School board meeting tonight to vote on the proposed changes. It’s going to be quite the event I’m sure.

 

[GAN]

School starts a week from tomorrow. Last Friday the superintendent proposed changes to the health and safety plan based on our county being declared a high transmission area. Biggest change proposed is requiring masks for all until our local transmission rate drops. School board meeting tonight to vote on the proposed changes. It’s going to be quite the event I’m sure.

I'd pay to see that. Grab some popcorn, sit back, and watch freedom ring....

 

[DisneyOma]

We had a whackadoodle at our school committee meeting - she threatened the members with all kinds of mayhem, including blackmail, over deciding to start school with masks for all. The state is in the process of setting up a mask mandate for all schools (MA) so she's going to have to go after the DOE next, I guess. I feel sorry for her children - they have now been labeled as the kids with "that mom".

 

[1GoldenSun]

My kids are in their third week in public schools in Hillsborough County, Florida, which according to the news is being pretty heavily hit. It's a big school district, so maybe that is happening elsewhere, but my kids' schools seem to operating fairly normally form what I can tell. My kids said that there are some students out of school after testing positive, but not that many. They both said that there are very few students who don't wear masks. I'm actually surprised at how well it's going and keep waiting for things to go downhill.

I teach at a university and we just started today. I've already gotten at least a dozen emails from students letting me know they won't be present this first week due to testing positive. Of course, I don't know for sure that some of them don't just want an extra week of summer vacation; it's not like I'm going to ask for proof.

 

[Skippy918]

Our district is having a board meeting to discuss Covid protocols and mask policy. They had to pause the meeting several times because the audience was getting out of hand with people yelling and screaming.

 

[Cannot_Wait_4Disney]

We had a whackadoodle at our school committee meeting - she threatened the members with all kinds of mayhem, including blackmail, over deciding to start school with masks for all. The state is in the process of setting up a mask mandate for all schools (MA) so she's going to have to go after the DOE next, I guess. I feel sorry for her children - they have now been labeled as the kids with "that mom".

As an ump, I see it on the diamond. The kids with THAT parent always have looks on their face like they want to wear a bag over their head. They look Soooo proud of their mom or dad /s.
Back to your whackadoodle at the school meeting. A lot of these whackadoodles, however, end up not even having kids in the district. The one in Williamson County TN we all saw making terroristic threats didn't even have a kid, let alone a kid in the district. He had no business even being there. They should have cuffed him and stuffed him.

 

[jrmasm]

I'd pay to see that. Grab some popcorn, sit back, and watch freedom ring....

I made a Bingo card to use while viewing the meeting virtually.

 

[LovesTimone]

My friend is a teacher, and she said its a nightmare....

Not so much with covid she said that for the most part most of the kids are wearing mask, she has only 2 in her class that are not and they both have a note from the doctor... but the issues in the classroom with kids that have completely forgotten how to behave... roaming the room, talking, putting in their head phone or ear buds, disrupting other classmates, not standing in line on the floor markers, getting up to get snacks out of their back packs, pulling their phones out to play games...she said next week she will start taking them away, and mom or dad will have to come and pick them up.

She said that the difference in the kids is very noticeable on where they are all at. She said that trying to figure out how to teach to all of them is stressful, she said that she did some break out groups, and she has already had parents at her door wanting to know why little Billy is not in the good readers group... and why can little Sally can't have a snack, when she was at home she had snacks when she was watching the computer...


The school board in her district is not supporting the teachers at all... the take that they are selling is teach the lesson plan, and whoever can't keep up, will repeat the grade next year... She said on Friday she cried all the way home from work... This is a battle tested teacher, and she has had it... She said it just to much... She said on Friday that she felt like just getting her bag, and backpack and walking out...

God Bless all the teacher's out there... dumping a ton of pixie dust on you...

I posted the above earlier, and I have update...

My friend went to work yesterday, she like's to get to school early, so she is walking by her one of the other 3rd grade teachers classrooms, and she said huh she not in yet... so she goes to her classroom and starts preparing for the day and week ahead... She said that she went to the teacher lounge and started the coffee, which she calls liquid courage... lol... So she walks back by the other classroom, and notice's that something is written all over the board... so she opens the door, and it is the teacher resignation...over the weekend she clean out her desk, and quit... So she immediately call the principle, who comes running down there, and is just besides herself... so they ended up trying to find a sub, which is basically impossible she said right now, so the principle ended up having to teach the class all day... At the end of the day, she said to my friend this is insanity, how on earth are you suppose to teach anything its a zoo in there, this is just ridiculous ... She said that's what we have been trying to tell you, and you have been blowing smoke up our skirts, we need teacher assistants, we need more hands just to help wash hands, and wipe everything down constantly.. The principle said, I don't know if I can get them .. the budget... what about parent volunteer ( the parent volunteers at her school all have back ground checks twice a year) ... She said as long as they are vaccinated and can show proof, more set of hands is necessary... they cleared it with the school board as long as they are on the parent volunteer roster, have had the background check, and had the vaccine they can use them, and adhere to the dress code while volunteering ... My friend called her lead room mom last night, and within about hour, now she has help during the morning, at lunch and afternoon for the rest of the week...

As well a emails, and a note on the school website, discussing behavior in the classrooms, and what is expected... I thought it was interesting, that once the principle had first hand knowledge of the problems, then something was done...

 

[Colleen27]

Our district is having a board meeting to discuss Covid protocols and mask policy. They had to pause the meeting several times because the audience was getting out of hand with people yelling and screaming.

Ours had that meeting last night and it stayed pretty civil... but mostly because the board took the position that they're elected to do what the parents/voters want, not what unelected and unaccountable health authorities say is best. So no masks, no distancing, no mitigation at all for the coming school year. Oh, and no quarantines or routine testing. I'm sure that's going to go well.

 

[FlightlessDuck]

In Pennsylvania, schools are at the county level. I think my county has 10 school districts. Each district is coming up with their own plan

 

[Colleen27]

On Facebook today from a teacher friend in Florida:

Tales from a Florida classroom:
A friend had a new student today in Kindergarten. While the teacher got the little girl settled with all the supplies and a name tag and everything, the new school reached out to the old school for information. The old school let the new school know that the new student tested positive for Covid last week and the family withdrew their student Friday.
So they enrolled her in a new school to avoid quarantine???

This school year might be a worse train wreck than the last.

 

[Skippy918]

Ours had that meeting last night and it stayed pretty civil... but mostly because the board took the position that they're elected to do what the parents/voters want, not what unelected and unaccountable health authorities say is best. So no masks, no distancing, no mitigation at all for the coming school year. Oh, and no quarantines or routine testing. I'm sure that's going to go well.

Nope. It won’t go well. Less than 2 weeks into the new school year and 400 cases of Covid so far. Some schools are worse than others. Masks are required but one can opt out and they are at a 10% opt out rate so far.

 

[GAN]

Ours had that meeting last night and it stayed pretty civil... but mostly because the board took the position that they're elected to do what the parents/voters want, not what unelected and unaccountable health authorities say is best. So no masks, no distancing, no mitigation at all for the coming school year. Oh, and no quarantines or routine testing. I'm sure that's going to go well.

I'm not sure what that proves ...sounds like they're really going to show those doctors and nurses a thing or two! I mean, they're so brave I'm enamored.....

 

[Colleen27]

I'm not sure what that proves ...sounds like they're really going to show those doctors and nurses a thing or two! I mean, they're so brave I'm enamored.....

I can't say a whole lot about it within DIS rules other than it is very "on brand" for my area. There's an organized parent group fighting to get the district to ban staff members from masking on the grounds that a teacher wearing a mask is communicating his/her opinions about masking, vaccination and the pandemic in an inappropriate way - they compare it to a teacher wearing a candidate shirt during an election season or hanging a BLM flag in the classroom. And they were most of the speakers at this week's meeting.

To be honest, the way the board is handling this whole thing has me seriously second-guessing sending my kid back into their mess next year, when we planned to transition her to public school, because the fact that the board has capitulated to mob rule by the least educated/most misinformed doesn't give me a lot of confidence in how they're likely to handle other issues that arise in the future.

 

[Kestryl]

There are very minimal (if any) covid protocols. No masks, no quarantines, effectively no contact tracing (if you get a call a week later, it’s too late), no enhanced cleaning (they claim they are, but reports say that there isn’t unless the teachers themselves are doing it). Parents are forming their own contact tracing groups and sharing if their kids are out sick.

Husband has had three teachers in his department alone at his school test positive since they started up. He’s heard of other teachers testing positive, but no info is shared by the school. Two of his students for sure are positive confirmed by the parents, two out on quarantine (parent elected, not required by the school), another five that are currently out for an extended time with no reason given...

The school is publishing district numbers, but we know the numbers given out are flat out wrong. They claim two staff are active cases. Absolute BS, unless out of the near 8000 staff members they are both members of my husband’s department...

 

[GAN]

I'm not over the top about this at all, although I definitely have my views -but is there a sane mind anywhere? We're talking about protecting the lives of children. It's despicable, if not criminal -and for what?