In-Person ReturnIng Dance
Recently I have had conversations with parents about why they are leaning towards not returning to in-person instruction. First, my personal stance has two major reasons as to why I don’t think my kids should go back. We know of people who have fought Covid and some who have lost that battle. Either way the aftermath is heartbreak for all around these people. Because of this, my gut tells me, looking ahead, getting my kids into the car and dropping them off to in-person classes, our need to get our kids back in school is not considering the some key factors.
Most importantly, teachers. I am not sure about your school but a good portion of our teacher population are considered high risk. And some of those young teachers have young ones at home as well. Either way, I don’t know their medical conditions, and pushing my kids into an environment where there is a chance my child or and child in that class could infect them, is where I say no to going back. I can’t live with myself if any of my kids teachers get sick or even their loved ones at home. I know me, I can control me, and I know that the guilt of jumping on the in-person band wagon
Many schools are going back. And many districts are being pressured by counties and state government to suppress reporting on positive cases. For example, the Governor of Georgia has mandated all counties to not report positive test results or deaths to the public. The bulk of the states school districts are adhere to the mandate but many are going public and standing against the state.
Florida’s governor is publicly standing against district closing schools due to high rates of infections in the school. The Houston area has already seen 16 schools close in recent weeks and now they are reevaluating did they open to fast. State officials in Pennsylvania are already talking about closing all the schools in one county because their county numbers are alarming. I mean we can just keep going on and on. I know people think the immune, I know people believe its all hoax. History will show how wrong some of are.
Politics aside, the numbers are just not there. Our own district have over 40% of the teachers saying they won’t go back. While our district says they plan to reopen in January. I am more alarmed that infection rate mandated for closure by the district. The school positive case number has to reach 5%, for closure. That’s about 30 kids and staff test positive. The district closer percentage is 30%, which to me sounds extremely high.
All in all it feels like we are witnessing a dance around the truth. Many families want their kids back on campus and many others are fearful of the virus and getting it. After 7 months of dancing, the two step or box trot is getting old. Where do we go from here. Simply wait is all that I have right now. Wait and see where we are as society. It pains me to see so many running out do dinner inside restaurants or hanging around large groups outside not wearing a mask. I’ve done all I can to protect my family and the friends we socialize with. For now, I hope we can bounce back next month, and truly think about what we are thankful for when the holidays begin. At the same time, honor those we have lost during the crisis.
(This post was written in October and I’ve already heard from friends in NYC and France who’s kids schools have closed and move to distance learning for the remainder of the school year or plan to after the Thanksgiving Break. Our district recently reported that they were able to increase the number of teachers returning to over 80%. Which I find interesting because from the teachers I’ve spoken to, I am surprised that number is high. Although I hear more comments more and more, that we aren’t because the numbers just keep going up and up.)