I was talking to my cousin yesterday who is concerned about sending her teenage son back to school in the fall...she has a number of pre-existing health conditions that would make his acquisition of the disease potentially fatal for her. Other cousins have chosen to home school instead.

My two issues? He could skip this semester at university; it's not like he's graduating this time. I have underlying conditions. I still don't go to work in person and I work in medical research! We are going fast and furious to find the ways out of this, and I'm still not there physically. So he may bring it home to me.

Very interesting piece on TRMS: https://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show

See: University scientists offer a way out of coronavirus testing.

(Sorry I can't link directly to the video clip)

Ali Velshi interviews a scientist at UMich who is working on pool testing for cv of students as a way of identifying who has the disease while avoiding the resource constraints of individual testing. Would be wonderful if we could roll out such an approach nationally.

rob I know it's not what you want, but is there another home your son could go to during school breaks? Or will his university encourage students to stay in town, vs traveling and transporting the virus back/forth?

For parents -- or teachers, school administrators, bus drivers, etc anyone involved in education -- balancing personal health with a desire to help kids -- must be so incredibly hard.

I appreciate the thought the nickel. I can't think of any place he could go... that he wouldn't be a frontline worker's house. My siblings, his dad, etc. :( I can't talk sense into him, even though he really doesn't want to do this either, but he's a grown man and I will not put my foot down. It may all be very different in our household in the next few months.

I really worry for the small children, teachers, and school administrators facing idiotic decisions that are forcing them into this situation. Nine weeks isn't enough. One semester is likely not enough. We've got a very long road ahead of us.

Rob, there's no doubt your son loves you more than anything and will do his best to keep you safe. And he's a smart young man.

The saddest thing to me is to think: if most of us wore simple cloth face coverings, washed our hands, and kept away from breathing other people's air, nine weeks would be plenty to knock the virus down to a relatively manageable level. It's so simple.

The link below has the tracking info for School reopening plans. As you will see, it varies by state and by districts. And the info changes often.

Our daughter (K teacher) has received her request to teach remotely. She still does not know if she’ll be teaching from her empty classroom or her home.

One granddaughter, rising HS Junior, will be home with remote learning. The district gave students choices, online or brick and mortar. About 50% chose online.

The other granddaughter will be starting her Sophomore year of College not back on campus, but home with online classes. Her school is open, but all of her classes this term are online. She, with her parents, made the hard decision not to move her back to her college town. She is sad, but understands the reasonings.

I predict that most schools here (Florida) will close within the first month of brick and mortar classes.

https://www.edweek.org/ew/section/multimedia/school-districts-reopening-plans-a-snapshot.html?override=web&fbclid=IwAR1HP-WbJ_-ITMBFMCR2s8sKbnPBXRAVKnq0LoOAODu-vgGvOAwbiYwYWxU

No one can decide for another but given the likelihood of Universities closing up again within a few weeks I don't see the logic of bothering to start. There are many on line classed through each school or totally on line colleges. The students at the end of the line, with internships etc to do are the ones I feel for. To be so close and maybe not get done would be frustrating. Each community is different as this virus is not evenly spread geographically. I don't see why our high school that is offering both distant and in class isn't running with the on line but with kids in front of the teacher for those who choose so if we shut down again there won't be an interruption in learning. Seems like we would prep for pivoting vs waiting until it happens.

This is a very trying time. It has definitely been a roller coaster ride as the school systems and health departments continue to pivot between in person and virtual instruction. Parents select an option and then the opening plans shift. Here parents could have chosen all virtual or hybrid. Then the county pulled back and is offering only virtual. The vacillation is very disconcerting.

All my grandchildren will learn virtually at the start of the school year except for oldest who is a college freshman who will attend an in state school. All his classes are in person or a combo. He is ready to go and knows how to take care of himself. As a lifeguard this summer, he was trained on how to prevent the spread of the disease which hopefully helps him stay healthy. He has to take a Covid-19 test prior to moving into the dorm and the typical protocols of masks and temperature monitoring are required.

I'm appalled that the government is willing to sacrifice the lives of children and teachers in order to make someone look good on election day.

The following is from a TV affiliate in Georgia. I haven't seen it on national news yet, but I hope you have because more people should know about it. The last paragraph is rather significant.

RABUN COUNTY, Ga — A CDC report released Friday reveals that hundreds of campers at a north Georgia YMCA camp were infected with coronavirus in just days before the camp was shut down.

Channel 2 Action News has confirmed that the report documents COVID-19 cases at the YMCA’s Camp High Harbor on Lake Burton in Rabun County.

According to the report, of the 597 residents who attended the camp, 344 were tested and 260 tested positive for the virus. The camp was only open for four days before being shut down because of the virus, and officials followed all recommended safety protocols.

In total, the virus attacked 44% of the children, staff members and trainees who attended the camp.

The CDC said that what happened at High Harbor shows that earlier thinking that children might not be as susceptible to COVID-19 is wrong. According to the report, the age group with the most positive coronavirus tests was 6 - 10 years old.

My daughter whose son is a college freshman called me last week with much concern about having a plan if son gets sick. The college has not informed parents about plans of action if a student becomes ill with Covid-19. The school is a 3 hour drive from home.

We figured out that she would rent a large car like a Suburban. He would sit in the back away from the driver. Luckily we own a second home that has two houses on the property about 2 hours away from our primary home. He would quarantine in the little house cottage at the riverhouse while a family member lodges in the main house. The little house is furnished 1 bedroom, kitchen, 1 bath with a little front screened on porch. Food, meds can be left at the door and there are plenty of windows, so we can check on him. The only downside is the wifi is iffy, but that can be improved. There is medical infrastructure there, but home is within a reasonable distance and people head to our area for serious ailments.

Hoping and praying we do not need to use Plan A. and that all our families and loved ones have a healthy school year.

Depending on the school robb and I am making an assumption that your son is living in on campus housing. Contact the school now and see what they do for/with any students that do not have a place to go during breaks. Some schools have enough international students that they keep a small area open for them but do not advertise it widely. Second unless he must live on campus consider finding him off campus housing. With the number of students not returning you may find something. Ban him from coming home. Both of you will hate that but perhaps knowing this now he can make other arrangements throughout the school year.

Try to be realistic while allowing him to make his own decisions. He will come in contact with people carrying the virus as there is no way in any campus situation he will not. The hard part of being realistic is denying him the ability to come home. If and when he shows up on a whim tell him you love him but he has to leave immediately.

Danged if you do and danged if you don't.

My kids are college and public school age. The college age one is scheduled to go back shortly. He's been working remotely all summer. He needs to be there for some of the research next semester. I've been sewing masks and getting him prepared as much as he can. He's been home most of the summer with limited outings. Fortunately, his roommates are like him and are mainly staying home too.

My high schooler is my social one and most likely to bring it home to us. School will be online for several weeks. Extracurricular activities have started in person for some. There is a modified plan and they have reduced the sizes of the group and have a plan for keeping them distanced. They will be mainly outside and distanced with no physical contact. As much as I want to protect my child, she needs some interaction with others and this is her chance at putting in work for scholarships. It's junior year. Her instructors she is working with are really strict and it's a good group of kids for the most part. We will keep an eye on it, but I think the current plan is doable.

Looks to me like, our local grade school district will give parents a choice of remote or going to classes at the school. They will have to sign up for remote learning classes. I think this will last until someone tests positive and then they will close schools back up until further notice. That's just my prediction.

There are no breaks this year. All the universites here (public and private) have them attending from late August until late November, and not returning until January. Final classes and exams are to be virtual.

Personal opinion, they won't make it to November.

Where am I with it? My son thinks he can do this

Youngsters that age think they are invincible. But making their own decisions is what makes them responsible adults. Rob, you are obviously a thoughtful person and I think your son will be like you. Should he see cause for alarm at the campus I believe he will rethink his choices.

I am sad for the families who have politicized the safety measures, how will their sons and daughters be able to make an informed decision?

These are tough times we're living in. I wish everyone safety and good health. I appreciate all the participation on this thread. It means a lot.

One of my daughter’s school is starting back to school as usual on September 8. The other’s school is starting August 21st using the hybrid method...half of the class on M, Tu...other half Th, F ..zoom on Wed. to start. What a nightmare for single parents who must work and must get child care. If the kids are put together at a daycare, they are better off staying at school with the same group of students. Teachers are required to wear face shields and masks for students.

My college students...all are starting as usual August 17th with masks required. Classes for the semester will end at Thanksgiving and tests will be given on line.

REQUIRED--are they REQUIRED to return? Our students were given the option. Schools are mandated to educate ALL students. That being said if a family declares they are too vulnerable to attend IN the building the school has no choice but to provide alternative education for the children. Rob I heard the universities were hoping to keep the schedule you mentioned. I do not understand them. If COVID is thick then they will have to close sooner. How they think they can arbitrarily decide all will be well until November does not make sense to me.

If I had a kid K-12 I'd look up "responsible home schooling .org" and familiarize myself with my state's laws. Just in case.

Arcy, colleges are especially problematic. I think they are hoping/praying, but more importantly, planning and working to making it through to the traditional Thanksgiving break. The local uni is preparing to teach the heck out of these kids regarding how to be a safe community member in a covid environment. Great! They have testing and contact tracing plans, and dorm space reserved for quarantining. Will it be enough ... maybe, maybe not. Do they have a backup plan if it gets so bad they have to close early? that, they're not sharing but I would expect the top level administration has ideas.

It will be "interesting".

If I had children, I would not want them in a classroom. My late husband's daughter lives with his parents. I do worry about them and would prefer she studied online, but it is not my decision to make.

My expectation is that school boards and leaders who go along with in-person school attendance will soon find out that wasn't a good idea. Those advocating this must either be brain dead or blinded and guided by ignorant political dogma.

Time will tell.

I agree with Elmer. In person school is going to have a lot of problems. One school district I read about is encouraging teachers to go outside. What if it rains? Where will all the classes go if the fields are being used by gym teachers? How much time is lost transitioning outside and back inside? What about active shooter protocols for outside? These do not seem like well thought out plans.

Tough decisions ahead for a lot of parents. So many variables for everyone. So glad I am not in that situation. I honestly do not know what I would do, if put in that situation. Best of Luck to all!

I live 35 miles north of Boston. Boston has a plethora of colleges in and around the area. I am expecting a significant uptick in COVID cases as college students return to college. My children are grown and out of college so I do not have to deal with the isssue of them returning to shcool. Given our family health situation, if they went back to college in this environment, they would not be coming home for visits without a 14day quarantine first.

With regard to public school in person attendance, if I had kids of school age, it would be a cold day in h...ll before my kids would be attending. My grandson and his mom live with us. He just started back in private Pre-K. His class has 8 students and 3 teachers. The regimen the shcool goes through every day with disinfecting, the procedures and protocols for attendance and interaction are stringent and student or parent non-compliance results in expulsion. It's not perfect but I am reasonably comfortable with the set up.

Contrast that with what will happen in public schools where every rule has an exception so no one is slighted. I don't blame teachers for not wanting to go back. They have no power to protect themselves. There are factions of folks who don't believe in social distancing, let alone masks. I live in a very small town of 800 residents and there were 6 huge parties in town this weekend! WTH How are the students and teachers in public schools going to protect themseleves from secondary exposure brought on by risky behavior?

When are people going to be willing to make the sacrifices needed to get this crisis under control? A year out of your life is better than being dead.

Our high school Administration was asked to come up with a hybrid plan instead of all-online. They did, and attached the cost of having class on campus that meets the state school board requirements. It’s about $1,000,000. They did not mention the cost of heating the outdoor spaces come mid-October, that may have been included but not as a line item presented to the community.

I fully understand everyone is exhausted from dealing with this, and a good portion of our country would like to pretend if they just are allowed to live a "normal" life, then all will just magically be fine.

However the motto of my life has always been that it is far better to grasp the situation as it really is, than to persist in delusion...no matter how reassuring or self-satisfying that delusion may be.

Cases are exploding here in the states, and numbers are ramping up again in countries across southeast Asia where the number of infections had drastically tailed off. Covid is not going anyway anytime soon. It's just not going to happen.

Then you look at all the nasty local hotspots which arose due to simply one confirmed case. Just one case can set off a wave of infections, particularly if that one case occurs where there are large numbers of other people in close proximity.

I just don't see life returning to "normal" any time soon my friends. Anyone who thinks otherwise is fooling themselves.

An image I came across. It would be more useful it it stated where the statistics were from:

> My expectation is that school boards and leaders who go along with
in-person school attendance will soon find out that wasn't a good idea.

I agree. In many cases it seems that the school boards are meeting via zoom calls, for safety reasons, and deciding that its perfectly safe for the students and teachers to resume in person classes.

There is no humor in an epidemic. My view is that it is impossible to hold conventional school in a safe manner for the young (grades 1 through 8). Teaching could continue remotely for those who are lucky enough to have home computers and good internet connection. Unfortunately, there are many who can not do this. One possibility is to use home schooling kits. I have a niece and nephew who were home schooled and it is my opinion that it was not up to par to a conventional classroom with a teacher. In home schooling, there is not a good interplay between the teacher and student when the student has a question. Sometimes, this can be supplied in a home environment by the attendant adult provided this adult has the capacity; Some do not.

I fear this coming school semester is a lost cause for many. Conventional school should be delayed until it is safe to convene again. The alternative is to ignore the epidemic, continue life as usual, and accept the deaths. It would be a Darwinian outcome of survival of the fittest (resistance to the disease). Historically, that has happened before, The question is: Do we wish to repeat that outcome?

drewsmaga, the stats I found said that in Seminole County, cumulative deaths jumped nearly 20% in the past week, cases nearly 10% in the past week. What is it in that image are you trying to convey? That nearly half the parents in the county don't understand or don't care that sending their kids to school endangers them and the rest of the family?

I find the magical thinking disconcerting. I understand parents need to work and children need to be educated. The virus has a different agenda, and until we get a medical solution, the virus wins.

Teachers and staff are not expendable. Children are not immune and they most certainly are vectors, so schools should remain virtual. I imagine after infecting plenty of people, schools will shut their doors once again. It's a shame we could not do a proper confinement this spring like most of Europe did, and then plan for a safe return to school.

I am not a jealous person by nature, but seeing all my European friends enjoying their summer makes me pretty green with envy for their ability to have passed the Stanford Marshmallow Experiment.

I read today that the University of Ky in Lexington was opening up in a couple weeks. They've started testing all students. I don't know how they think this will stop the spread. It obviously didn't help in the summer camp in Georgia. Cases here are going up. They've closed bars for two weeks and went back to 25% capacity in restaurants. UK is a pretty big university. I think it's just going to make things worse in this area.

My grandson was so bummed he missed part of his last semester and graduation at college. Now he realizes how very lucky he really was to only have eight weeks affecting his four wonderful years of the college experience. My heart goes out to these kids from kindergarten to college age. Life will maybe never be the same. I read colleges are limiting one student per dorm room. How can that even happen? Most colleges are short on dorm space. I would be irked as a paying parent paying the same tuition for a student who is sitting on his couch doing online classes. It's a scary time for everyone for sure.

I don't have school-aged kids so I don't have that dilemma however I know people going through the agony of deciding whether to go back to work, go to school, etc. I have good friends whose daughter I'm extremely close to and she's compromised medically since a bad car accident 20 years ago. She happens to be a grade-school teacher and I am hoping she will not go back to classes but keep working online.

It's despicable what we've been put through, the number of deaths and sorrow for a political game.

There is a difference between what people threaten and what they actually DO. I guess the 'neighborhood' school model was being considered in my subdivision. Our teacher's union has that all buttoned up. In my State you can 'home school' your own child. You cannot teach someone else's child, unless you have a college degree. Doesn't matter which degree, you just have to have a four year of some sort. Doesn't matter if you are grandma or aunt or have the parent's permission. Our Dist. did 'distance learning' sooo poorly many families are completely turned off by any sort of on line learning. If these people would plug into official on line schools all would be fine. They want their elementary students to have books and paper pencil they are taught through. Not an option in group format here I guess. It appears as of now we are heading back full time in school. But these parents are protesting the wearing of masks for their children. In the end the mask is THE issue. Our county has had just 156 known COVID cases and no deaths.

The Washington Post ran an essay by a school superintendent in rural Arizona. The Post isn't generous about allowing non-subscribers to read. So instead of a link here are some quotes from the essay:

"The governor has told us we have to open our schools to students on August 17th, or else we miss out on five percent of our funding. I run a high-needs district in middle-of-nowhere Arizona. We’re 90 percent Hispanic and more than 90 percent free-and-reduced lunch. These kids need every dollar we can get. But covid is spreading all over this area and hitting my staff, and now it feels like there’s a gun to my head. I already lost one teacher to this virus. Do I risk opening back up even if it’s going to cost us more lives? Or do we run school remotely and end up depriving these kids?"

"I’ve been in the building every day, sanitizing doors and measuring out space in classrooms. We still haven’t received our order of Plexiglas barriers, so we’re cutting up shower curtains and trying to make do with that. It’s one obstacle after the next. Just last week I found out we had another staff member who tested positive, so I went through the guidance from OSHA and the CDC and tried to figure out the protocols. I’m not an expert at any of this, but I did my best with the contact tracing. I called 10 people on staff and told them they’d had a possible exposure. I arranged separate cars and got us all to the testing site. Some of my staff members were crying. They’ve seen what can happen, and they’re coming to me with questions I can’t always answer. “Does my whole family need to get tested?” “How long do I have to quarantine?” “What if this virus hits me like it did Mrs. Byrd?” We got back two of those tests already — both positive. We’re still waiting on eight more. That makes 11 percent of my staff that’s gotten covid, and we haven’t had a single student in our buildings since March."

"A bunch of our teachers have told me they will put in for retirement if we open up this month. They’re saying: “Please don’t make us go back. This is crazy. We’re putting the whole community at risk.” They’re right. I agree with them 100 percent. Teachers don’t feel safe. Most parents said in a survey that they’re “very concerned” about sending their kids back to school. So why are we getting bullied into opening? This district isn’t ready to open. I can’t have more people getting sick. Why are they threatening our funding? I keep waiting for someone higher up to take this decision out of my hands and come to their senses. I’m waiting for real leadership, but maybe it’s not going to happen. It’s me. It’s the biggest decision of my career, and the one part I’m certain about is it’s going to hurt either way."

The author's school district is the one where three teachers shared a large room for remote teaching, and all of them got the virus. One of them died. It was in the national news. I'll add what the superintendent said about this tragedy:

"Mrs. Byrd did everything right. She followed all the protocols. If there’s such a thing as a safe, controlled environment inside a classroom during a pandemic, that was it. We had three teachers sharing a room so they could teach a virtual summer school. They were so careful. This was back in June, when cases here were starting to spike. The kids were at home, but the teachers wanted to be together in the classroom so they could team up on the new technology. I thought that was a good idea. It’s a big room. They could watch and learn from each other. Mrs. Byrd was a master teacher. She’d been here since 1982, and she was always coming up with creative ideas. They delivered care packages to the elementary students so they could sprout beans for something hands-on at home, and then the teachers all took turns in front of the camera. All three of them wore masks. They checked their temperatures. They taught on their own devices and didn’t share anything, not even a pencil.

""At first she thought it was a sinus infection. That’s what the doctor told her, but it kept getting worse. I got a call that she’d been rushed to the hospital. Her oxygen was low, and they put her on a ventilator pretty much right away. The other two teachers started feeling sick the same weekend, so they went to get tested. They both had it bad for the next month. Mrs. Byrd’s husband got it and was hospitalized. Her brother got it and passed away. Mrs. Byrd fought for a few weeks until she couldn’t anymore.

"I’ve gone over it in my head a thousand times. What precautions did we miss? What more could I have done? I don’t have an answer. These were three responsible adults in an otherwise empty classroom, and they worked hard to protect each other. We still couldn’t control it. That’s what scares me."

Our DGS's grades went UP during this spring's remote learning in a STEM program within a Chicago Public High School. The same thing was true for his cousin, enrolled in a Salt Lake City public HS.

DGS's 'engineering' teacher took the school's 3D printers home when school closed. He had his students collaborate on designing plastic face shields, which he created and donated to the Red Cross.

OTOH, DIL was sad that her best junior high math student 'went missing' after school closed. His family may have lost their home; no forwarding address.

To some degree, this is a level playing field. Every pupil, in every nation, is going to have to learn 'differently' until the virus can be quelled.

" It appears as of now we are heading back full time in school. But
these parents are protesting the wearing of masks for their children. In
the end the mask is THE issue."

Really? Sounds to me like stupidity and slavish loyalty to ignorant political dogma dispensed by those who continue to deny the truth are the problem. The issue is those who are too dumb or too doctrinaire to heed the uncontroversial advice given by experts relying solely on science-based knowledge.

I am hoping that in seeing the number of children that are killed or suffer life long damage from the schools that open early that the majority of schools will decide it is not worth the risk. I am saddened that parents have to see their own children become ill before they realize that there is a health problem but seeing so many comments from supposed parents that think sending their children back to school is completely fine. There will be school age children that have to live with this stupidity for the rest of their lives.

See that's just in Elmer and mailfeur--the REALITY is we don't have COVID to any extent here and NOT ONE PERSON has died or has had any after affects so even though the Science says it's POSSIBLE--it ain't happening here!! THAT speaks louder than all you paranoid crabbiness.

I have not looked today but last week in the area hospitals there were 5 children that died from the virus. All but one had no preexisting conditions. Keep burying your head in the sand and hope it is no one near you that dies. Although death given the long term health problems after being "cured" could have been looked upon as a blessing.

Our county has had just 156 known COVID cases and no deaths.

"Having some states lock down and some states not lock down is like having a peeing section in the swimming pool." Simply because there are fewer cases confers NO protection to the others in the area, if people don't stay home, or if going outside is unavoidable if they do not distance and wears masks, it is only a matter of time before your area catches up.

Paranoid and crabby? No not hardly.

Were you not paying attention how all the places that began to reopen have now had surges in cases? Do you wonder why it happened? You won't learn why from watching Fox News or White House briefings where the experts themselves are muzzled and called disparaging names.

Am I tired of how many morons there are in this country? Yes, definitely tired of them.

I'm really completely tired of Trump but someone recommended a segment of an interview. Asked why he didn't go to John Lewis's funeral, he answered "he didn't come to my inauguration". The social graces and respect for others of a 3rd grader with slow social development. George W Bush attended and spoke. Even Mitch McConnell, who has caused a lot of damage and eroded American democracy, spoke and was gracious at Lewis' memorial in the Capital, I believe.

Asked if John Lewis had contributed to civil rights changes Trump said something like "Well maybe, but a lot of others did too".

He's such a small and petty man. One with few brains. Completely clueless.

As the old saying goes some people have to stick their hand on a hot stove before the discover that it is hot even when it radiates heat.

Taken from an article on schools reopening:

"Within the first week of reopening, a school district in Mississippi reported its first positive case and identified 14 other students who came in contact with the sick pupil. By Monday, two more students had tested positive, the district said on Facebook. After attending a three-day retreat to plan the upcoming school year, 11 school leaders who serve campuses in Chanute, Kan., tested positive for the virus by Monday."

The article's lede reads:

"Teachers returned to a Georgia school distract last week. 260 employees have already gone home to quarantine."

Our school districts have been seriously struggling for the last few years with not enough substitute teachers. I can't imagine how much more fun it will be if teachers start testing positive. In the past, when they couldn't get enough subs, they would combine classes. Now they won't be able to do that because of the need to keep the numbers low in the classrooms.

Currently a thousand a day are dying of Covid-19 in the US. If you don't recognize this in your neck of the woods, you will, because the virus is extremely contagious, especially as shed by people positive for it who look 'just fine'. It only takes one case to start the ripple effect. Unless everyone lives in a bubble with no exposure to the outside world, the virus IS coming to you.

The governor of Illinois has tried to regulate opening plans with an eye to where the disease is or is not currently active. The state is divided into zones, which are monitored for Covid-19 infections. In the spring, Chicago and Cook County were hit hard, while downstaters were asking, "What virus?" Now the more rural counties downstate and closest to Kentucky are hard hit because the virus hitchhiked in, and because the "It Can't Happen Here" crowd failed to mask or distance in the face of the reality.

This is not rocket science. Most of the world has realized there is a simple formula: masks and isolation = substantially fewer deaths from Covid.

It's almost as if there are those who want the deaths to continue here in the U.S.