Are you sending your kids to school next month?

[godisney14]

We just got word today, we are going back in person Oct. 1. As of now I've been working in the school building. We haven't gotten the full info about how the in-person will actually look, so that should be interesting! The district has also given the option for students to stay with online learning. (In our class we have 7 students who've chosen that option) The district has to also figure when the teachers will have time to be online with those kids as well as teach the in-person kids! (impossible!)

So, basically, the district/schools has decided to open up classes to take back kids with no plan on how to do it?

DD17 starts her hybrid next week. 2 days in person, 1 day synchronous classes remotely with the whole class, 2 days independent work.
I start teaching next week as well. 4 days in person, 1 day remote. Elementary Special Education
I give the school system huge credit. Everyone has been working nonstop doing whatever they can possibly do to make things work.
Parents had the choice of the in person hybrid plan or fully remote which is a separate platform and teachers. About 20% of parents chose fully remote.

Are the two groups of kids on different schedules or taught by different teachers? For example, do those 2 independent days align with the fully remote group?

 

[Kestryl]

Just remember that everything is still subject to change. You might be envious of another district getting in-person classes, but they could go back to remote at a moment's notice. The district where I work started with all classes in distance learning mode. They have been opening special ed classes as state and county guidance have allowed. Mine is still remote but tentatively schedule to go back on 9/21 (although less than half of our families are choosing to send their kids back in person). Our special ed director said the district wanted every class to get into a routine and have plans and procedures for teaching remotely. That way, we would be ready to switch back to full remote learning if the state or county guidance changes, or if we have an outbreak and are required to shut down for a period of time. The parents who are sending their kids back are being told that we will remain open as long as conditions and guidelines permit. The grass might look greener in another area, but can change on a dime.

This. Our district is chronically understaffed with subs- it’s gotten much, much worse this year. They’ve already shut down a middle school because of the number of teachers out sick and on quarantine. They don’t have subs to fill them. Parents are livid- how DARE the school shuts down?! They signed up for in-person learning! I don’t know, I wish there was a way to have these parents “volunteer” one day every two weeks to fill all the personnel out for sickness or quarantine. Maybe they would get why it’s happening...

To be a sub in the district, you have to pay $130+ for a class, background check, and fingerprints. Some subs make only $60 a day depending on position. Highest paid are certified teachers, but given the number of full time positions still available, there are no good certified teachers around here who would need to “settle” for a sub job if they wanted a full time one. And no benefits, of course. On top of taking over from a teacher who just got quarantined due to exposure from a student... It’s a mystery why the district is lacking on subs...

 

[mousefanmichelle]

If i had school aged children, I would be sending them. No if's and's or butts.

 

[TJA]

Thumbs up for first official week of school here in New York. Every other day in-school/remote. The in-school days were good according to my two Seniors (5-10 kids per class/desks more than 6 feet apart/plexi-glass-type material in rooms/masks/one-way walking in halls).

Remote days the kids are connected via camera with the actual classroom and other "other half" of the kids in the actual class. So it's a live stream of the class happening. The kids can all see each other, so they're trying to keep everyone connected even though they are all split up due to distancing.

So the learning part is going well and seems to be well thought out.

As far as Covid, there is a solid plan in place. Basically, any "cold" symptom requires the person to stay home. We have to fill out a form every single morning checking "no" for each question or else the kids can't get into school. Any "yes" requires the child to stay home. (questions like does your child have a cough? Temp? Etc.) Things will be tricky with allergies, common colds, etc., and it will be a learning curve for everyone.

School with do a reassessment on October 1 and the plan/hope is to add more in-school days until we have kids back all 5 days. I assume they'll still distance and wear masks, but we'll take it as long as they can be back in school and also playing sports.

 

[Boopuff]

So, basically, the district/schools has decided to open up classes to take back kids with no plan on how to do it?
Oh there's a plan. When they decide to fully pass on the info is the big question! Our district is notorious in holding back info until the zero hour and then yelling "GO!" At least in this instance they've given 2 weeks to prep classrooms.

 

[godisney14]

This. Our district is chronically understaffed with subs- it’s gotten much, much worse this year. They’ve already shut down a middle school because of the number of teachers out sick and on quarantine. They don’t have subs to fill them. Parents are livid- how DARE the school shuts down?! They signed up for in-person learning! I don’t know, I wish there was a way to have these parents “volunteer” one day every two weeks to fill all the personnel out for sickness or quarantine. Maybe they would get why it’s happening...

To be a sub in the district, you have to pay $130+ for a class, background check, and fingerprints. Some subs make only $60 a day depending on position. Highest paid are certified teachers, but given the number of full time positions still available, there are no good certified teachers around here who would need to “settle” for a sub job if they wanted a full time one. And no benefits, of course. On top of taking over from a teacher who just got quarantined due to exposure from a student... It’s a mystery why the district is lacking on subs...

$60/day? Are they paid just by the day or by the hours?

Even college students can make between $15/hr to $30/hr depending on the subject for private online tutoring right now.

 

[Kestryl]

$60/day? Are they paid just by the day or by the hours?

Even college students can make between $15/hr to $30/hr depending on the subject for private online tutoring right now.

By day. It’s about 7.5 contracted hours- so not “full time,” I guess, but half an hour shy isn’t saying much. $60 are for non-lead teacher positions- so things like TAs, paras, cafeteria workers, office aids. A lot of these are just going unfilled, which is a huge problem in classes with students who are supposed to be assigned TAs and paras via IEPs or special needs programs. In one school, students are filling in for office aids- meaning they are taking visitors’ temperatures and enforcing mask requirements. Teacher positions start at $76 and go up for there depending on whether the person is certified or a retired teacher from the district.

 

[quandrea]

If i had school aged children, I would be sending them. No if's and's or butts.

But why? I think every family is different. In our case, my husband is high risk and I’m already home, and I’m a certified teacher k-12 with a science and English background. By keeping my high school aged daughter home, I’ve ensured she has stability and continuity this year. We are already seeing breaks in learning due to quarantines. We took it a step further and withdrew our daughter from the system completely so she isn’t even at the mercy of the online platform. She is pursuing studies with our province’s independent learning centre, which has delivered distance learning since 1926. In school isn’t the best choice for everyone. I know without a doubt that my child will get continuous learning for her final year of school before university—vital for her success at the post secondary level.

 

[monsterkitty]

This. Our district is chronically understaffed with subs- it’s gotten much, much worse this year. They’ve already shut down a middle school because of the number of teachers out sick and on quarantine. They don’t have subs to fill them. Parents are livid- how DARE the school shuts down?! They signed up for in-person learning! I don’t know, I wish there was a way to have these parents “volunteer” one day every two weeks to fill all the personnel out for sickness or quarantine. Maybe they would get why it’s happening...

To be a sub in the district, you have to pay $130+ for a class, background check, and fingerprints. Some subs make only $60 a day depending on position. Highest paid are certified teachers, but given the number of full time positions still available, there are no good certified teachers around here who would need to “settle” for a sub job if they wanted a full time one. And no benefits, of course. On top of taking over from a teacher who just got quarantined due to exposure from a student... It’s a mystery why the district is lacking on subs...

The districts in here have assigned 1 sub per building. They are not allowed to go to any other building to reduce expose to all.

We've been short on subs for years. This year it is even worse because so many teachers took leaves due to health risks and COVID. One area district had 300 teachers bring in doctor's notes to request a leave. In my district they denied everyone who brought in a note. They are still short on teachers and subs so they brought several of us who retired back. The person I am "subbing" for took retirement because of his high health risk.

We are 100% in person or on-line. Parents who choose in-person signed an agreement acknowledging that if one person in a cohort tests positive, the entire cohort is quarantined for 14 days. We started August 20 and three schools have had to quarantine cohorts and those teachers. This has been a total of about 200 students and about 10 teachers. Parents have understood and have not complained.

 

[SmallWorld71]

So, basically, the district/schools has decided to open up classes to take back kids with no plan on how to do it?


Are the two groups of kids on different schedules or taught by different teachers? For example, do those 2 independent days align with the fully remote group?

The fully remote is completely separate and is managed by separate teachers (from the district, who requested due to significant medical reasons). We are a very small district with 3 schools: 1 elementary, 1 middle, 1 high school. For example, at the elementary level, about 60 students will be remote with 4 staff. 1 teacher and para for K-2 and one teacher and para for 3 - 5.

The 2 days hybrid schedule is at the middle school and high school and has to do with social distancing and space. In order to maintain the 6 feet between desks in a classroom, they divided the student population in half. Last names A - K are in one cohort and then L - Z are in the other. So, each class list is cut in half. Essentially, the classroom teachers will be teaching the same things twice each week, once to cohort A and once to cohort B. And, then on Wednesdays, they bring the whole class together online at scheduled times. Sounds like a bit of a nightmare for instructional planning purposes, but I don't teach that level so I don't know. The good thing is, I think DD will get a lot of bang for her buck on the 2 in person days because most of her classes were small to begin with. Now, her smallest in person class is 3 students and her largest is 10!

Due to an abundance of space at the elementary school, our principal choose to do things a little differently and instead is using support staff (reading specialists, etc.) who are also certified as classroom teachers to make the classes small. So, we will be going 4 days a week with all classrooms with 9-12 students. One day will be remote to 'practice' the technology in case we end up with everyone remote.

None of the hybrid teachers will be teaching any of the fully remote students. The one exception to this is special education which is on a case by case basis. Most of our students on IEPs opted for in person, but there are a some exceptions.

I think it's a solid plan. Time will tell if it is successful.

 

[Colleen27]

$60/day? Are they paid just by the day or by the hours?

Even college students can make between $15/hr to $30/hr depending on the subject for private online tutoring right now.

That's a big part of why there is a sub shortage, and why it is getting so much worse right now. When I sub, I make about $13/hr (as a lead teacher) if I break it down to an hourly wage. I do it because I like the flexibility. I work for a staffing group that provides subs to several area school districts, and I basically choose when and how much I work. If we're going to be traveling, I can mark myself as unavailable for the days we're gone. I can set one day a week as unavailable so I can do my mom's grocery shopping, laundry and errands without sacrificing an evening. If DD12 has a field trip that I want to chaperone, I just don't take a job that day. And since there are shortages, I can pretty much count on getting assignments on the days I am available, so the money is relatively steady for the amount of flexibility I have. I could make more in a full time gig, but I'd lose a lot of flexibility to do so and in this season of my life, the time matters more than the money.

But I haven't decided if I'm going to sub at all this year. Between the virus and my (high risk) mother leaning on me more since a hospitalization over the summer, the pay just doesn't seem worth the risks. I've picked up a couple of tutoring gigs already, at a higher hourly wage but obviously far fewer hours, and might just stick to that for this school year.

 

[SamFaniam]

Totally agree. In fact in elementary school I literally told the school that my DD had her inhalers on her person, they were NOT to touch them or remove them from her, that SHE has been fully instructed and trained in use and administration and THEY had not. These schools have a lot of nerve to try and insist that a kid who is STRUGGLING TO BREATHE wait for permission to USE their life saving med, and in fact even WALK a LOG DISTANCE WHILE IN RESPIRATORY DISTRESS to get it. Nope, not happening to my child. It was never an issue, but I phrased it as a "this is how it is" and not asking their permission. It was a smaller school and they knew that I am a masters prepared RN so there were no problems with any medical decisions I made for my child. Schools are for education. If parents decide a child needs a medication on their person, they should be allowed to have it. I am the parent, they are the teacher. I dont' interfere in how they teach math or reading, I support them in what they do. The same should be done for my role.

i’m not disputing your point of view about your child’s needs, but I think schools face three issues in the situation. First, if another child was to get a hold of your child’s medication and it caused an issue. Secondly, if your child was in such medical distress that they were unconscious, and paramedics needed to be called, the school needs to be able to tell them what medications have been taken. So if students are self-medicating, that could create an issue if there’s a medical emergency. Thirdly, we know that drug use is an issue in schools today. A student who is observed taking medication outside of the nurse's office, even if it’s legitimate, may be thought to have taken some thing illicit. I think schools are in a tough place at times as they function in loco parentis.

 

[siren0119]

Training for a corporation is nothing like managing a class of elementary school kids. Sorry. My experience outranks yours on this issue.

Did you feel better about yourself making that comment?

I've built virtual curriculum and facilitated learning (NOT webinar learning) for classes ranging from 10-15 virtual students, all the way up to 50-60 virtual students. I've facilitated 5 day a week, 7 hour a day curricula in the virtual environment. I can respect your perspective on in-class teaching, but unless you've actually worked successfully in a virtual environment you can take your pissing contest elsewhere.

 

[rjb123]

The way I read the new dining info says you must have a confirmed dining reservation if you are NOT and overnight guest. To me, that sounds like we will be able to make reservations at other resorts.

If I’m interpreting that wrong, I hope someone will chime in.

True. Very true.

i’m not disputing your point of view about your child’s needs, but I think schools face three issues in the situation. First, if another child was to get a hold of your child’s medication and it caused an issue. Secondly, if your child was in such medical distress that they were unconscious, and paramedics needed to be called, the school needs to be able to tell them what medications have been taken. So if students are self-medicating, that could create an issue if there’s a medical emergency. Thirdly, we know that drug use is an issue in schools today. A student who is observed taking medication outside of the nurse's office, even if it’s legitimate, may be thought to have taken some thing illicit. I think schools are in a tough place at times as they function in loco parentis.

Schools are there to educate, not parent or make medical decisions. Now if they want to lock up controlled substances, that is one thing. Telling a severely asthmatic child they can’t keep their inhaler on them and must walk to the office during an asthma attack is quite another. That is frankly dangerous and should never happen IMHO. Make the parent sign off that the child is able to self medicate if they want, get a list of drugs to keep on file but let’s be real, if a kid passes out in class the teacher has no clue what they took prior to school. And just because some kids are dealing and doing drugs in schools doesn’t mean you put medically fragile kids at risk by withholding their meds and preventing them from appropriately using them. I’ve heard literal horror stories about teacher who make kids wait extended periods of time before letting them go to the office for their inhaler. They didn’t want their lesson interrupted so they forced a child in respiratory distress to suffer. Not. Okay. Ever. Time is of the essence with asthma and many other conditions. This isn’t add where being late with meds just is an inconvenience. It’s life or death.

 

[SamFaniam]

Schools are there to educate, not parent or make medical decisions. Now if they want to lock up controlled substances, that is one thing. Telling a severely asthmatic child they can’t keep their inhaler on them and must walk to the office during an asthma attack is quite another. That is frankly dangerous and should never happen IMHO. Make the parent sign off that the child is able to self medicate if they want, get a list of drugs to keep on file but let’s be real, if a kid passes out in class the teacher has no clue what they took prior to school. And just because some kids are dealing and doing drugs in schools doesn’t mean you put medically fragile kids at risk by withholding their meds and preventing them from appropriately using them. I’ve heard literal horror stories about teacher who make kids wait extended periods of time before letting them go to the office for their inhaler. They didn’t want their lesson interrupted so they forced a child in respiratory distress to suffer. Not. Okay. Ever. Time is of the essence with asthma and many other conditions. This isn’t add where being late with meds just is an inconvenience. It’s life or death.

In my state and in the state where my niece and nephews go to school, children are legally permitted to carry inhalers and EpiPen‘s. I would agree that if a child is in medical distress, and a teacher denied them access to the school nurse, that is an issue. But, that’s not an issue with medications in schools, that is a personnel issue. I understand that you as an individual parent and your individual child may be able to reasonably create a plan where a child could carry medications of any kind with them. But, this is not true of every parent and every child and so by creating exceptions this creates a liability issue for the school. I’m sure there are terrible stories of children in medical distress because of not being able to get an inhaler right away. But, there was also a story of a child sharing her inhaler with another child thinking it would be helpful. And the second child then had a critical medical episode.

Yes, schools are not parents, but they do act in loco parentis. And due to this, they are justified in limiting some of the things that students have access to while on campus.

 

[lanejudy]

Our schools started back this week. The options were 100% virtual, which is taught by a separate set of our district's teachers -- I assume these are teachers who wish to remain home but I'm not sure. The virtual academy is not synchronous with the in-person, different teachers and likely different lessons. Families may request to switch (virtual to in-person or vice versa) but it will not be allowed frequently because it'll be like changing schools. Only about 10% of students are doing the virtual option. The rest are doing hybrid - 2 days in-person and 3 days remote, though since my DD is on an IEP she is allowed partial in-person on her 2 remote days (for 2 classes). All levels are following that same 2/3 split, pre-K thru 12.

At the high school, they are essentially following a block schedule, but only 4 classes for fall semester; they'll do the other 4 in the spring semester (continuing with block schedules). On remote days, the students use Google Classroom to connect to the physical classroom at the beginning of each period; the teacher may just take attendance and see if anyone has questions before excusing the remote students for independent work, or may teach to all. On Wednesdays everybody is remote so the schools can be deep cleaned, and students must connect through Google Classroom for each period. All assignments are done through Google Classroom, and they are prepared to go fully remote if necessary, though there is rumor we may shift to fully in-person later this fall.

DD had 2 terrific days in-person this week, and it's the happiest I've seen her in 5 months. It's not the same, but it's so much better than being stuck at home.

 

[monsterkitty]

Schools are there to educate, not parent or make medical decisions. Now if they want to lock up controlled substances, that is one thing. Telling a severely asthmatic child they can’t keep their inhaler on them and must walk to the office during an asthma attack is quite another. That is frankly dangerous and should never happen IMHO. Make the parent sign off that the child is able to self medicate if they want, get a list of drugs to keep on file but let’s be real, if a kid passes out in class the teacher has no clue what they took prior to school. And just because some kids are dealing and doing drugs in schools doesn’t mean you put medically fragile kids at risk by withholding their meds and preventing them from appropriately using them. I’ve heard literal horror stories about teacher who make kids wait extended periods of time before letting them go to the office for their inhaler. They didn’t want their lesson interrupted so they forced a child in respiratory distress to suffer. Not. Okay. Ever. Time is of the essence with asthma and many other conditions. This isn’t add where being late with meds just is an inconvenience. It’s life or death.

It's federal law that requires schools to allow students with proper documentation to carry life-saving medical treatment. The law requires that students who need inhalers, EPI pens, or other medication to be carried on them that parents and doctors complete the necessary paper work. So your child can carry their inhaler if you return the proper paper work to the school. This is on the parent to do their work as well.

 

[Hikergirl]

It's federal law that requires schools to allow students with proper documentation to carry life-saving medical treatment. The law requires that students who need inhalers, EPI pens, or other medication to be carried on them that parents and doctors complete the necessary paper work. So your child can carry their inhaler if you return the proper paper work to the school. This is on the parent to do their work as well.

Our doctor did not "sign off" on self administer until my kids were in HS, age 15 (even though both my ds's started HS at 14). It was his policy, he did it by age not ability and it was across the board for all his patients. Then I went to my kid's pediatrician to get them to do it but because my kids were under the care of another doctor they wouldn't.
So yes I took it upon myself to let my boys carry their inhalers and my one ds his epi-pen because I as their parent knew they knew when and how to use them. And if the school ever gave me any issue I would have hired an attorney and do what I needed to to make sure my children were never at risk.
That is me doing "my" work.

As far as school this year- my ds started his all online classes this past week.
I have the pleasure of listening in and wish I couldn't hear TBH. One of his first assignments was to send the teacher a picture of something you did over the summer and next class you can discuss it.
My ds is a Senior, and this was either in his pre-calc class, or his dual enrollment college English class, I'm assuming the latter.
The online classes are 20 minutes shorter than they would be in-person, and almost 10 minutes of that is ending up with the teacher taking attendance, because students can't be seen, or heard or participating through chat instead of video. So that leaves 15, maybe 20 minutes of instruction 4 days a week since one day a week is left for asynchronous learning. And we've got a teacher wanting to hear what 16/17 year olds did during their summer vacation, which will take 5 days to go through the whole class

 

[quandrea]

Our doctor did not "sign off" on self administer until my kids were in HS, age 15 (even though both my ds's started HS at 14). It was his policy, he did it by age not ability and it was across the board for all his patients. Then I went to my kid's pediatrician to get them to do it but because my kids were under the care of another doctor they wouldn't.
So yes I took it upon myself to let my boys carry their inhalers and my one ds his epi-pen because I as their parent knew they knew when and how to use them. And if the school ever gave me any issue I would have hired an attorney and do what I needed to to make sure my children were never at risk.
That is me doing "my" work.

As far as school this year- my ds started his all online classes this past week.
I have the pleasure of listening in and wish I couldn't hear TBH. One of his first assignments was to send the teacher a picture of something you did over the summer and next class you can discuss it.
My ds is a Senior, and this was either in his pre-calc class, or his dual enrollment college English class, I'm assuming the latter.
The online classes are 20 minutes shorter than they would be in-person, and almost 10 minutes of that is ending up with the teacher taking attendance, because students can't be seen, or heard or participating through chat instead of video. So that leaves 15, maybe 20 minutes of instruction 4 days a week since one day a week is left for asynchronous learning. And we've got a teacher wanting to hear what 16/17 year olds did during their summer vacation, which will take 5 days to go through the whole class

This is why my dd, 16 wanted out of the school system. So much wasted time.

 

[Hikergirl]

This is why my dd, 16 wanted out of the school system. So much wasted time.

Mine is feeling that way now. It's going to be a loooonnggg year.