Muh Muh Muh My Corona (virus)

Stop, congregate and listen. Vi-ris ris baby.

 

Suge Knight should have let go.

 

I'm guessing—based on the end of the list—some of the studies being referred to were not conducted with US children. Not to immediately brush off what you are saying because there is truth to it. And rather than some other plans floated on this site about just going with a screw-it, kids need to be in the classroom, my county has a 23-page document with recommendations and requirements for when schools reopen. They include minimizing class sizes, efforts to prevent active contact with other kids indoors, possible barriers (like in stores) if room size prevents maximum distancing, recommendations for non-classroom settings, busing recommendations, face coverings and it goes on.

 

When the choices are "we dunno" and "we have plans," I'm going with "we have plans." But all the pages of plans may turn out to be completely useless when doors open and reality presents the things we still don't know.

The county we live in is basically "we dunno." They're still planning on starting up this month with little or no additional precautions. The county Gwen used to teach in is "we have plans." The plans look great on paper. But reality has a nasty way of wrecking the best-laid plans. And the schools around here have been built or modified to keep bad people out, so they're terrible incubators for little bitty molecules that carry diseases. The windows don't open. There are no doors to fresh air.

Of the few countries that have succeeded, none of them are as big and dumb as the U.S. of A. Nor do they have hundred of thousands of school districts, all trying to comply with local, state and federal guidelines that are contradicting and confusing. What's perfect for Petaluma won't play in Peoria. West Palm's situation is different than Wenatchee's.

I've seen a well-researched piece by an Atlanta suburban epidemiologist who is all but ready to throw her elementary school age children on the bus. But there are so many missing pieces in her logic -- as Spartan Squad just mentioned -- that maybe the well-to-do districts in Georgia might overcome, but heaven help the 98 percent of rural districts. You got limited budgets, limited space, limited employees, limited transportation and limited air flow in classrooms designed to cram as many kids as possible together because nobody wants their school taxes raised.

Would I want Gwen in that environment? No, no and hell no. And yet I know a lot of her colleagues are willing to gamble their health in order to restore semblance of "normal."

Do I have a better idea? I'll be the first to admit I have no viable, safer solution than four months ago. Wait and see? That's not much better than "we dunno."

But the overhaul of this country's public school system is drastically overdue. When you spend over half of your school budget on salaries and 20-25 percent on real estate at a time when the majority of our students still aren't receiving adequate education, something's wrong with the equation. And to be honest, the university system is a bigger boondoggle. That's just a pure cash grab.

What worked when we were an agrarian society flies in the face of today's high tech. We're falling behinder and behinder with "one size fits all" teaching to a standardized test.

 

You make some great points, maumann (welcome back, BTW).

How hard has it been to adopt even a modified "year round" or "balanced" school calendar to replace the traditional, agrarian society-based one we still use? It's been a losing battle for decades.

Yet we think in a month or two, we can come up with new plans that minimize the risk from COVID-19?

 

Here's the thing. Most of that costs money and schools don't have it right now. If anything, schools are going to be making cuts in most places. Barriers will cost money. Smaller class sizes require more space and more teachers, so that definitely costs more money. Busing is an issue, too. Students are going to push back on wearing the masks all day. Parents will as well. I got into this discussion with a close friend of mine who has a daughter entering high school next year. Her daughter has asthma and feels like she is having trouble breathing after wearing the mask for any length of time. If they can't be six feet apart and some students aren't going to wear masks, that's a serious problem.

 

I'm thanking the almighty I'm not in my sister's district. Her district does significant bussing and it's going to be a headache. My district only busses special needs kids.

And you're right, money is going to be a massive hurdle. Surprisingly my kids were amazing about wearing masks when they came to the school to pick up or drop off things. I think dealing with a large Asian population helps and an over all lower socio-economic statuses make them more likely to trust is when we say wear the damn mask. My sister's district has plenty of "you're risking your life putting on a mask, you can't take my kid's temperature" parents. I want no part of that.

But the I legit can't wear a mask group will have the option to do school at home. And the county admits elementary is going to have a bitch of a time.

We'll see. The various districts will come up with a plan and they will fuck it up.

 

sad school board trombone

 

Ice is back with a brand new infection,
Covid grabs a hold of me tightly,
Flows through my bloodstream daily and nightly.
Will it ever stop?
Yo, I don’t know.