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  1. #1
    Join Date
    Apr 2013
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    4,469

    Default School/Child Care Stress

    This is partly a vent and partly a sigh of relief.

    DS’s school won’t announce final decisions on what school will look like until August 17, which is 2 weeks before school starts. Because the state/department of education won’t tell them which of 4 possible reopening plans they are supposed to use until then.

    But it now sounds like the district will offer a distance option even if they are open. So we have decided to keep him home this year. If the distance learning option doesn’t pan out we will home school. (Not too worried because he is only in first grade and is ahead on most things now, but will probably opt for a canned curriculum if that happens). DD will be going to daycare because we really don’t have a choice. We can’t afford a nanny, and I cannot work with her home.

    Working from home with DS will be hard enough. My plan for now is to work from home 2-3 days a week, take him with me to my office (we can close the door and most people won’t even know he is there) 1-2 days a week. But my sigh of relief is that one of our favorite daycare teachers/babysitters has agreed to come watch him at our house once a week so I can have a day at the office alone. And, at least mentally, that makes all the difference in the world to me. I am now feeling like we can make it through.


    Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
    DS 2/14
    DD 8/17

  2. #2
    doberbrat is offline Diamond level (5000+ posts)
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    Aug 2005
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    MA
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    5,354

    Default

    I'm glad you have an option for 1 day - I cant imagine keeping a 6yo cooped up in an office all day while I'm trying to work. At least at home you can spread out, send outside in the yard etc.

    Out of curiosity, what are the 4 plans - open, hybrid and remote are what I've seen - what would be the 4th option?
    dd1 10/05
    dd2 11/09
    and ... a mini poodle!

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Apr 2013
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    4,469

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by doberbrat View Post
    I'm glad you have an option for 1 day - I cant imagine keeping a 6yo cooped up in an office all day while I'm trying to work. At least at home you can spread out, send outside in the yard etc.

    Out of curiosity, what are the 4 plans - open, hybrid and remote are what I've seen - what would be the 4th option?
    1) Full in person: intended by state to be 100% of students in school every day, but some of our districts have said that is impossible and are interpreting it as 100% of students in school some days. Some others have put it in their plans as intended but have said they can't do it safely.

    2) Partial in person: also intended by the state to by 100% of elementary and middle school students in school every day with high school in school some days, but again not being applied that way in many districts plans. The most common plan I've seen (that some districts are calling full and some are calling partial) is everyone is distance learning on Mondays due to the way the state's school calendar is set up this year, and then students are split in half and are in person 2 of the remaining days and distance learning the other 2.

    3) Limited in person: most vulnerable students (I believe this is intended to be english language learners, students with IEPs, and some transitional grades like kindergarten and first years of middle and high school) in person and others distance learning

    4) All distance learning

    So each district was to submit plans for all 4 of these scenarios, then on/around August 17 the state is supposed to tell districts which plan they are supposed to use. There's been some inconsistent messaging as to whether the whole state will use the same plan or if the decision will be made based on conditions in each district. I'm in RI so it's a tiny state, but there are districts that have a 2-3% test positivity rate right now and districts that have a 15+% positivity rate. There are also quite a few districts saying there will be a distance learning option for anyone, but some districts are saying that will only be an option for high risk students/families. And it's not clear if they can decide that individually or if that will be a state level decision. So basically it's a month until school starts and no one knows anything.

    There was an open Zoom meeting last week where the commissioner for education pretty much said that none of the people complaining understand the plan, but then she didn't actually explain what she thought that misunderstanding was/what the plan actually said... Governor and commissioner are very much pushing/hoping for full in person (which surprised me a little because overall our governor has done a pretty reasonable job of reopening in fairly appropriate phases), and they are getting a lot of pushback from people at every level. Especially about the part where full/partial reopening plans allow for "stable groups" of up to 30 in elementary and middle school classrooms without required masks or distancing within the classrooms.

    Edit: I'm a professor teaching online this semester, so days I take DS to work he would do school and/or play on electronics at a table in my private office while I worked some in my office, consulted with colleagues, possibly met briefly with a student or two, etc. We would pack lunch, I have a fridge and microwave. But we wouldn't be stuck there for 8 hours. It could just be a change of environment for both of us for 3-6 hours. In nice weather there's a bike path right outside my office building, and a playground on the way to the office to stop by for a few minutes before or after.
    Last edited by gymnbomb; 07-29-2020 at 09:41 AM.
    DS 2/14
    DD 8/17

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