Second Semester 2020/21 School Year

U.S. Department of Education drops latest school infection numbers: ‘People were actually asking for longer breaks’

So, the U.S. Department of Education just updated their app with the latest stats on how many students caught whatever is going around this past week. I guess California is still sitting at the top of the list for most infections, which isn't exactly a surprise... and right now, about half of the schools are stuck doing that 100% remote learning thing. During the Open Government session last night, Tomislav Paljak mentioned there were even requests to extend the holidays, but I suppose they’ll be sitting around analyzing everything over the next 11 days before making any real moves.

driftingtinker said:U.S. Department of Education drops latest school infection numbers: ‘People were actually asking for longer breaks’

So, the U.S. Department of Education just updated their app with the latest stats on how many students caught whatever is going around this past week. I guess California is still sitting at the top of the list for most infections, which isn't exactly a surprise... and right now, about half of the schools are stuck doing that 100% remote learning thing. During the Open Government session last night, Tomislav Paljak mentioned there were even requests to extend the holidays, but I suppose they’ll be sitting around analyzing everything over the next 11 days before making any real moves.

It all seems more and more likely that they'll end up extending the break, regardless of how much weight those grandstanding, self-important lectures might carry, I suppose.

urbantinker8 said:It all seems more and more likely that they'll end up extending the break, regardless of how much weight those grandstanding, self-important lectures might carry, I suppose.

The holidays aren't going to get longer; instead, everything is just going to stay online like it is now—and honestly, most other counties will probably switch to remote learning anyway.
It’ll likely happen a week or two after the break ends, especially for high schools.

( By the way, don't be so hard on those "lectures"... that's not really a lecture. It's more like "interactive, two-way communication using several excellent pedagogical methods..."
You have to do that stuff in person; there's no way COVID can stop that. 😉...)

It honestly feels completely nonsensical to suddenly extend school breaks after kids have already been out for ten days. If we’re operating under the logic that children are the primary "vectors" for spreading this stuff, then wouldn't it make more sense to schedule these breaks earlier on, just to keep them away from everyone else as soon as possible? It's like trying to fix a leaky faucet by waiting until the floor is soaked.

I mean, there's really no rhyme or reason to keeping them home for a week and then abruptly deciding they can't go back to class. Why the sudden shift? There are plenty of other ways to manage social distancing and reduce movement in public spaces without targeting students specifically.

At the end of the day, you have to ask yourself: are we prioritizing the state budget, or are we actually looking out for the mental well-being of our kids?

Nobody’s actually going to extend the break; instead, we’ll most likely just pivot to remote learning.

Does anyone else feel the same way about this? 🤔

As for whether any of this makes sense—honestly, these restrictions lost their purpose a long time ago, so why on earth are we still trying to find logic in how they decide to run classes...?🤔

urbantinker8 said:It all seems more and more likely that they'll end up extending the break, regardless of how much weight those grandstanding, self-important lectures might carry, I suppose.

You're a summer worker, huh? 😁

Got kids in the classroom and I'm just trying to wrap up this miserable (yet another) school year.

Cheers

Robert Hernandez11 said:The holidays aren't going to get longer; instead, everything is just going to stay online like it is now—and honestly, most other counties will probably switch to remote learning anyway.
It’ll likely happen a week or two after the break ends, especially for high schools.

( By the way, don't be so hard on those "lectures"... that's not really a lecture. It's more like "interactive, two-way communication using several excellent pedagogical methods..."
You have to do that stuff in person; there's no way COVID can stop that. 😉...)

I know, I really do.
I suppose it’s worth noting that not every lecture actually qualifies as one, if you think about it. Not everything presented as an educational moment carries that same weight or depth, I guess. I suppose I should probably mention that lecture, though I’m not entirely sure if it was worth the time we spent sitting there, or if it just felt like a long, drawn-out way to pass the afternoon. It was one of those things where you start off thinking there might be some actual substance to the discussion, but then you realize the speaker is mostly just circling the same few points over and over again, which is fine, I guess, if you have nothing else to do. It wasn't exactly a disaster, mind you—nothing catastrophic happened—but it lacked that certain spark, that sense of genuine insight that makes you feel like your brain hasn't just been idling for an hour. I found myself staring at the clock quite a bit, wondering if maybe I could have used that time to grab a coffee or just walk around the block instead, but then again, there’s a certain quiet dignity in just sitting through things, isn't there? Maybe I'm being too cynical, or maybe I just have a low tolerance for repetitive rhetoric, but I can't help feeling like we all walked away with more questions than answers, which is a bit of a letdown when you were expecting clarity.. 😁

mellownomad7 said:You're a summer worker, huh? 😁

Got kids in the classroom and I'm just trying to wrap up this miserable (yet another) school year.

Cheers

I’m really not a fan of it, I guess.
I have to say, I’m really not a fan of the whole online learning thing either, mostly because it feels like nobody ever asks for my input or anything. It's kind of like how you don't really ask me, I guess.

nimbleranger17 said:It honestly feels completely nonsensical to suddenly extend school breaks after kids have already been out for ten days. If we’re operating under the logic that children are the primary "vectors" for spreading this stuff, then wouldn't it make more sense to schedule these breaks earlier on, just to keep them away from everyone else as soon as possible? It's like trying to fix a leaky faucet by waiting until the floor is soaked.

I mean, there's really no rhyme or reason to keeping them home for a week and then abruptly deciding they can't go back to class. Why the sudden shift? There are plenty of other ways to manage social distancing and reduce movement in public spaces without targeting students specifically.

At the end of the day, you have to ask yourself: are we prioritizing the state budget, or are we actually looking out for the mental well-being of our kids?

The budget. Obviously. Why is this even a question? ☕

Later

Of course it’s the budget.

Everything goes toward the budget, yet we get absolutely nothing for it.

nimbleranger17 said:It honestly feels completely nonsensical to suddenly extend school breaks after kids have already been out for ten days. If we’re operating under the logic that children are the primary "vectors" for spreading this stuff, then wouldn't it make more sense to schedule these breaks earlier on, just to keep them away from everyone else as soon as possible? It's like trying to fix a leaky faucet by waiting until the floor is soaked.

I mean, there's really no rhyme or reason to keeping them home for a week and then abruptly deciding they can't go back to class. Why the sudden shift? There are plenty of other ways to manage social distancing and reduce movement in public spaces without targeting students specifically.

At the end of the day, you have to ask yourself: are we prioritizing the state budget, or are we actually looking out for the mental well-being of our kids?

Well, if things were truly that bad, they should have acted much sooner.

Actually, schools are still one of the few places in the US where they don't hide contact tracing. Instead, they go straight to large-scale self-isolation. With just one positive case in a classroom, you effectively sideline about 20 healthy students through restricted movement, plus there are usually another 20 parents staying home—sometimes up to 40 people total including siblings—and everyone else naturally starts being a bit more cautious...

The only issue is that people who don't understand the difference between quarantine and isolation think half the school is infected, when really half the school is just in self-isolation because of 10 positive cases spread out—like one per classroom. Unfortunately, we don't know how many develop symptoms during their isolation period or how many others are actually contagious. Not many people go to get tested while isolating, mostly because doctors won't send them unless they show at least two symptoms, and nobody is crazy enough to pay for a test that won't even let them leave isolation if the result comes back negative. It might be worth having it on record that you were positive (so you can complete a slightly longer isolation period starting from the positive test) and getting a clearance certificate to skip the next round of isolation... though those rules change constantly every 3-6 months, and of course, if you test positive without any symptoms, you're stuck.

Susan James said:anyway, lockdown starts April 1st.

anyone who needs a haircut better get it done before then

Susan James said:we need to save the season
and this info came straight from the county office

get to the barber while you still can😒

Tomorrow is April 1st.

So, what are we supposed to do with this "reliable chatter... oops, I mean reliable information from the county"? You aren't actually planning to hide behind these announced measures—which, frankly, have nothing to do with a lockdown...

Honestly, when will people get tired of hearing about the end of the world being constantly announced?

Nicholas King said:Tomorrow is April 1st.

So, what are we supposed to do with this "reliable chatter... oops, I mean reliable information from the county"? You aren't actually planning to hide behind these announced measures—which, frankly, have nothing to do with a lockdown...

Honestly, when will people get tired of hearing about the end of the world being constantly announced?

It's because it's clearly the only way they can feel important, but it's pathetic regardless. We've swallowed enough misinformation on this specific topic, let alone looking at this entire PDF.

Look, we aren't all out there knocking back beers on some backyard patio, so I guess we don't really have a shot at becoming those top-tier "expert" epidemiologists who claim to know everything about how these things spread.

It’s a relief that actual epidemiologists were there to shield us from the horrors of Covid, relying strictly on hard data rather than getting bogged down in baseless chatter or blind faith in mandates, isn't it?

I wonder what will happen—perhaps children will simply be deprived of those lectures from nimbleranger17...

Unofficial word: Easter break is being extended, while teachers might see smaller paychecks this April.

Is this some kind of April Fools' joke? 🤔

Robert Hernandez11 said:Is this some kind of April Fools' joke? 🤔

I find it hard to believe they are actually being that sadistic—I mean, children (and parents, for that matter) are already under enough pressure as it is.
If it turns out this was all just an April Fools' prank, then what follows? Are we going to be told that 4,381 people died from Covid today?

Paul Kern12 said:I find it hard to believe they are actually being that sadistic—I mean, children (and parents, for that matter) are already under enough pressure as it is.
If it turns out this was all just an April Fools' prank, then what follows? Are we going to be told that 4,381 people died from Covid today?

Look, calling it a joke... 🤦
is one thing, but whether it’s actually appropriate is a whole different story...

Honestly, I don't trust anything I read online anymore, but you can tell from a mile away that the stuff above is nothing but fake news...

But if you're asking me if we'll be stuck with remote learning again the week after the holiday? Yeah, I'm pretty sure that's a done deal...

If you need a little more context to wrap your head around this:

Quoting:

if you look at the actual mechanics behind this move, it isn't some sudden reaction to a public health crisis—as much as people love to jump to those dramatic conclusions—but rather a direct consequence of a crumbling economy and a massive hole in the federal budget that's left them unable to cover civil service salaries.

🤦 That really isn't something to take lightly, you should perhaps try to find some kind of way... though I'm honestly not quite sure what that might be