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Coronavirus and the Schools

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AndyinPA
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Coronavirus and the Schools

#1

Post by AndyinPA »

https://www.msn.com/en-us/health/wellne ... r-BB1e7TZO
State education officials on Monday told lawmakers they are working on tools school districts will use to measure huge gaps in education progress caused by COVID-19 disruptions, even as urgent talks about teacher vaccinations continue.

Acting Education Secretary Noe Ortega, asked about study data that puts learning gains in some fields at two-thirds of normal or less, described the situation as “generational loss.”

He said, “This is not something that is just a loss that can be made up in a matter of months.”

The statements came during a House hearing on the Education Department budget, where it was clear teacher vaccinations are a central issue on discussions of in-person learning during the rest of the school year.
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Re: Coronavirus and the Schools

#2

Post by raison de arizona »

I wish there was some way to force states that are making schools open for in-person education prioritize teacher vaccinations as well, because doing one without the other just doesn't make any sense. I feel like the Biden Admin has been kinda wishy-washy and a moving target on education and opening up schools. Now that we have the education secretary confirmed finally (yay!), maybe they can release some sort of framework and guidelines for opening schools to in-person instruction. Which the states screwing this all up will ignore anyway. Arg.

We've had amazing success opening our schools in NYC, but we have very low thresholds for closing them (two unrelated Covid cases in a school closes the entire school down.) Also, we have resources that the vast majority of schools don't have, our per-pupil funding is out of their reach which would make taking the necessary measures for safe reopening near impossible in many cases. (As of last year (pre-Covid), we were at ~$29k/student, with all the stuff they have been doing this year to keep everyone safe, I suspect that number will go up.)

Is there anything earmarked in the $1.9T relief bill to provide funds directly to schools to aid in safely reopening? Maybe that would be a way.
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Re: Coronavirus and the Schools

#3

Post by AndyinPA »

They are prioritizing it in Pennsylvania right now. They are planning to do mass clinics and vaccinate about 150,000 in the next two weeks.

I am glad to see this. I have two grandkids who have not been in school for one year. One would have changed schools last September; the other was going from kindergarten to first grade. I'm happy for the teachers and the kids.

At the same time, I am pretty unhappy that the state is doing nothing to make it any easier for people in the 1A category (roughly, medical care workers, over 75, 18-75 with medical conditions, and now teachers). I have had my first dose, should be getting dose 2 next Wednesday. I lucked out (ha!) after many, many hours on the Internet in finding an appointment. A friend found one for my husband is Youngstown, Ohio, this Saturday. That's a 75-mile drive.
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Re: Coronavirus and the Schools

#4

Post by Volkonski »

In Texas it seems to be up to the counties. Our daughter teaches in a public school in the county to our east. Her school arranged for her and her fellow teachers to get the vaccine. Our county has not done this for its teachers.
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Re: Coronavirus and the Schools

#5

Post by LM K »

Oregon has been much more successful at limiting covid spread than most other states because our Gov has been very strict about reopening plans. Schools are still closed in most cities. As they should be.

My college might reopen for summer term. I'll be teaching online until Fall term, which starts at the end of Sept. I will have taught remotely for 18 months.

It's infuriating to see parents of K-12 claiming that educators are on paid vacation for the pandemic. College students aren't happy. But they're more capable of learning online than younger students.

No educator is happy right now. No student is happy. We educators sincerely miss our students. I'm so tired of educators being kicking balls for pandemic frustration.

Vaccinate teachers. We will gladly return to the classroom once we're vaccinated. We didn't become educators to work from home.
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tek
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Re: Coronavirus and the Schools

#6

Post by tek »

Biden just gave a speech/presser asking to prioritize teachers
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Re: Coronavirus and the Schools

#7

Post by p0rtia »

Biden is incredible. I cannot BELIEVE how in touch with reality he is.

Vaccinate the teachers!
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Re: Coronavirus and the Schools

#8

Post by sugar magnolia »

My daughter told me yesterday that if teachers aren't eligible in Brazil very soon, she's coming home to get hers. Teachers aren't eligible in GA yet, where she lived for years, but MS has no residency requirement for the vaccine and teachers are already on the list.
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Re: Coronavirus and the Schools

#9

Post by Volkonski »

tek wrote: Tue Mar 02, 2021 4:51 pm Biden just gave a speech/presser asking to prioritize teachers
Yep.



Weijia Jiang
@weijia
NEW:
@POTUS
is directing all states to prioritize teachers and school staff for the COVID vaccine using the program with pharmacies. He wants every educator to receive their first shots by the end of this month.
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Re: Coronavirus and the Schools

#10

Post by Volkonski »

Thousands of students reported 'missing' from school systems nationwide amid COVID-19 pandemic
A notable number of students are unaccounted for in schools across the country.


https://abcnews.go.com/US/thousands-stu ... itter_abcn
A notable number of students seem to have simply fallen off the grid, not showing up for online or in-person instruction, their whereabouts unknown by school officials.

Given the chaos caused by the pandemic, and the lack of data, it is difficult to truly determine the exact magnitude of the problem, which seems to be disproportionately affecting already vulnerable student populations – among them homeless students, children with disabilities, children of immigrants, children in foster care and children of color.

A recent study by Bellwether Education Partners, a non-profit that focuses on underserved communities, estimates that approximately 3 million of the “most educationally marginalized students in the country” may have been missing from school since March 2020, when the pandemic forced school closures. The group said it arrived at the number by calculating a “likely percentage of at-risk groups not in school, based on media reports and available data.”

ABC News contacted officials from the departments of education in all 50 states, and found that the problem appears to be nationwide.
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tek
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Re: Coronavirus and the Schools

#11

Post by tek »

Pretty sure Guvnah DeSantis is going to resist mightily. He is convinced that teachers and students don't need to be vaccinated, he was just on teevee today saying as much and gloating over how great he's doing.

#HesRunning
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Re: Coronavirus and the Schools

#12

Post by raison de arizona »

tek wrote: Tue Mar 02, 2021 5:21 pm Pretty sure Guvnah DeSantis is going to resist mightily. He is convinced that teachers and students don't need to be vaccinated, he was just on teevee today saying as much and gloating over how great he's doing.

#HesRunning
Florida teachers and first responders over 50 to get COVID-19 vaccines starting this week

ORLANDO, Fla. —
Florida teachers, police officers and firefighters ages 50 and over will be eligible to get the coronavirus vaccine this week in Florida.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed an executive order expanding vaccine availability on Monday. It takes effect on March 3.
https://www.wesh.com/article/florida-te ... e/35686357
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Re: Coronavirus and the Schools

#13

Post by Lani »

Teachers in Hawaii (and others who work in schools) are essential workers and most are now vaccinated. Schools are estimated to reopen on March 22.

Some families will opt out until people in the home who are at risk get their shots. Also, some kids have excelled since home schooling began, so they may choose to keep it that way or choose part-home, part-classroom instead.
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Re: Coronavirus and the Schools

#14

Post by LM K »

Volkonski wrote: Tue Mar 02, 2021 5:20 pm Thousands of students reported 'missing' from school systems nationwide amid COVID-19 pandemic
A notable number of students are unaccounted for in schools across the country.
This is so sad. And unfortunately, not surprising.
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Re: Coronavirus and the Schools

#15

Post by Volkonski »

Nevada-



Vanessa_Murphy
@Vanessa_Murphy
·
23m
.
@SuptJaraCCSD
giving update. Today marks the end of the first week of hybrid learning at the Clark County School District.

CCSD: 8 staff members have tested positive for COVID-19 since the start of hybrid learning. Some were working remotely, some were in schools. Children’s families were notified. I’ve requested the names of the schools. District spokeswoman said she’d get back to me with the info
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Re: Coronavirus and the Schools

#16

Post by SlimSloSlider »

We have now been one year in fully remote learning.
Honestly, my 11-year old prefers it.
He hates waiting around for slo-mos and needs to be challenged.
So I challenge him when he has the official stuff done.
We just wish teachers were recognized as essential workers.
I have a friend who teaches special needs in Mass.
She has had 3 positives in her classroom!
Fortunately she is now getting her “Fauci ouchie” on the 28th but, dammit, that is absurd.
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Re: Coronavirus and the Schools

#17

Post by LM K »

SlimSloSlider wrote: Fri Mar 05, 2021 5:49 pm We have now been one year in fully remote learning.
Honestly, my 11-year old prefers it.
He hates waiting around for slo-mos and needs to be challenged.
So I challenge him when he has the official stuff done.
We just wish teachers were recognized as essential workers.
I have a friend who teaches special needs in Mass.
She has had 3 positives in her classroom!
Fortunately she is now getting her “Fauci ouchie” on the 28th but, dammit, that is absurd.
And your friend won't be completely vaccinated until mid-April ... at the earliest!
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Re: Coronavirus and the Schools

#18

Post by Volkonski »

In our city. :(

WFISD mourning loss of beloved educator following hospitalization due to COVID-19

https://www.texomashomepage.com/news/lo ... socialflow
Jordan Darnell served as a special education teacher at Hirschi High School since 2015.

Darnell also served as a sponsor for the Hirschi HiLites dance team and a volunteer for teh Arc of Wichita Falls.

Jordan’s father, Scott Darnell, has served as a director for KFDX and Texoma’s Fox during the morning newscasts in the production department since 2003.

According to Darnell’s family, she had been hospitalized with COVID-19 and pneumonia.
They don't give an age but she looks quite young.
Image
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Re: Coronavirus and the Schools

#19

Post by LM K »

I just learned that 50% of my dept's classes will remain online beginning Sept, 2021.

I'll likely have taught from home for 21 months by Jan 2022. :shock:

In other words, I will have worked in pajama pants for 21 months! :lol:
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Re: Coronavirus and the Schools

#20

Post by zekeb »

LM K wrote: Thu Mar 11, 2021 9:58 pm In other words, I will have worked in pajama pants for 21 months! :lol:
That's what you'd like them to think. :lol:
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Re: Coronavirus and the Schools

#21

Post by LM K »

zekeb wrote: Thu Mar 11, 2021 11:35 pm
LM K wrote: Thu Mar 11, 2021 9:58 pm In other words, I will have worked in pajama pants for 21 months! :lol:
That's what you'd like them to think. :lol:
:shh:

I'm proud of myself when I remember to put on a non-pajama top for office hours! I've worn pj tops accidentally for Zoom office hours way too often.
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Re: Coronavirus and the Schools

#22

Post by Volkonski »

Duke University undergrads ordered to stay in place all week as Covid-19 cases spike

https://www.cnn.com/2021/03/14/us/duke- ... index.html
Duke University officials issued a stay-in-place order for all undergraduate students through next Sunday as the school tries to combat a rapidly escalating number of Covid-19 cases.

In a letter sent to students on Saturday, officials at the Durham, North Carolina, university said that more than 180 students have tested positive for Covid-19 and are in isolation, while another 200 are under in quarantine based on contact tracing.

The spike in cases is "principally driven by students attending recruitment parties for selective living groups," the letter said. This is the largest one-week total of positive cases and quarantines since the pandemic began, officials said.

All courses will shift to remote learning and students living on campus must stay in their room or apartment at all times outside of essential activities, such as getting food or for health or safety reasons. Off-campus students are not permitted on campus other than to participate in surveillance testing, seek medical care or to pick up food orders.
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Re: Coronavirus and the Schools

#23

Post by Chilidog »

On the upper end of the system, my son's education process is grinding to a halt. He'll graduate with a BS in Biology this May, but he has been unable to find a graduate school with research programs open. He wants to go into conservation biology with an emphasis in ornithology, but the major schools in the US that offer this option have drastically scaled back their programs for next fall and are only taking applicants with some work experience.

But no one is hiring either.

:mad:
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Re: Coronavirus and the Schools

#24

Post by Volkonski »

Long Island, New York-

COVID-19 outbreak pushes back West Islip High School’s phased reopening

https://longisland.news12.com/covid-19- ... -reopening
West Islip High School juniors will no longer be returning to full in-person learning on Monday as scheduled due to a coronavirus outbreak.

The district sent a letter to parents that said six new positive cases were found on Friday, bringing the total to 19 since Sunday. It says 135 students are now in quarantine.

"Most of the identified students are upperclassmen, some of whom returned to a five-day in-person schedule on March 8,” the district says.

As a result, juniors, sophomores and freshmen will continue their hybrid schedule next week.
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Re: Coronavirus and the Schools

#25

Post by Volkonski »

Our daughter's school district just tweeted-
Reminder: Masks are mandatory at the school and on buses. Students are required to have their id's as well. If they don't have a mask and id, they will not be allowed to ride the bus. Order a new id at http://.
Today was the first day back after spring break.
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