Covid measures in school 21/22

[bcafe]

Protect your little ones, keep them home. I did.

You do realize that this is not a feasible solution for the majority of parents, correct? It is more important for my littles to attend school with an actual teacher and to learn. If this includes mask-wearing, so be it.

[PZMommy]

I wish I could keep my kids home. My son's doctor does not want him returning to school at this point. However, with both my husband and I being teachers and being required to return to work (no exceptions granted this year), we have no choice, but to send our kids back. I do not feel safe sending them back at all! At least my district requires masking, but there is no social distancing (35 kids in a small classroom), and ventilation, is iffy at best. We have good filters in the HVAC, but nothing really circulating air through the room. It is a disaster waiting to happen!

[Kestrel]

"It is more important for my littles to attend school with an actual teacher and to learn." More important that what? Getting sick?

I well know how much it sucks to have the kids stay home. Our household made a grand total of six thousand dollars in 2020. Would it suck having to have one parent stay home? Yes, of course. Would you loose income? Yes, of course! Is your child more important? Mine is.

Single parents get screwed again, but some have made it work... We have two families near us who sent all the kids to a third single parent for schooling so they could work, and then they paid that parent to watch all the kids. They made it work. Some sent their kids to the boys and girls' club for school. There are ways.

[basil]

Haven't heard from our school what will happen yet. Expect it will be quite similar to the end of last year - masked in school, masks off outside. Rough "spacing" but not 6 ft.

I have a different perspective on masks, since I've been wearing masks for 10-12 hour days for the past 15 or so years.

I find them more comfortable than a whole host of things no one really seems to object to. I'd rather wear a mask than heels, Spanx, pantyhose, a headband, a scratchy tag on my shirt, etc.

I also find that most safety equipment is not all that comfortable when compared to no safety equipment, but we (and our kids) get used to it. Seat belts, bike helmets, life jackets, wrist guards, etc. (actually, I think all this stuff is less comfortable than masks).

I'm not that worried about my kids getting intubated or dying from COVID. I do think that so very little is known about the long effects that it's best to avoid it for them though. I also have tremendous fear of quarantine. 10 days home would be a massive disruption that the ripple effects of would last months for me and my husband. I'll get the vaccine for them when I can if only to avoid that.

I also really dislike being sick, even "just a cold". I'll wear a mask in the grocery store and on the plane forever if it stops me from catching the 1 gross cold I seem to have gotten every year up until 2020.

I'll be happy with my kids in school in masks. It's exactly the same thing I said last year at this time. Surgical masks are cheap and comfy. Kids need to be in school.

For those whose kids are fine in a mask, I'm glad you have it so easy. Really, I do. Mine is miserable, can't concentrate, keeps fiddling with it constantly, coughs, says he can't get comfortable, is short of breath, has no attention span with it on. He's not going to learn that way. (We have tried ten different masks we couldn't really afford to buy. Nothing works.)

For those whose kids were fine being home, I'm glad you had it so easy. Really, I am. Mine were miserable, couldn't concentrate, kept fiddling constantly, said they couldn't get comfortable, had no attention span at home. They weren't going to learn that way.

[MSWR0319]

The irony is that those of us in states with high vaccine rates will have masking at school while the states with low vaccine rates won’t follow cdc guidance. It’s all very frustrating.

I would be fine if we had high vaccination rates and unmasked for those who were vaccinated. Instead we're the low vaccination rate who isn't following CDC guidance. It is incredibly frustrating!

[SnuggleBuggles]

"It is more important for my littles to attend school with an actual teacher and to learn." More important that what? Getting sick?

I well know how much it sucks to have the kids stay home. Our household made a grand total of six thousand dollars in 2020. Would it suck having to have one parent stay home? Yes, of course. Would you loose income? Yes, of course! Is your child more important? Mine is.

Single parents get screwed again, but some have made it work... We have two families near us who sent all the kids to a third single parent for schooling so they could work, and then they paid that parent to watch all the kids. They made it work. Some sent their kids to the boys and girls' club for school. There are ways.

I think it comes down to personal comfort. I would hate for my kiddo to get sick but I’m not really that afraid of it. So the benefits of in person school outweigh the risks. Kids are exposed to so much at school, pre-covid. While the virus has long term health uncertainty, I do think that for most kids it’s like a cold or minor flu. We don’t change our lifestyle in flu season. Others might. I glad our school is doing masks. That works for my comfort level.


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[jgenie]

Just got our email. We’re returning to prepandemic school (their words). Doesn’t even sound like contact tracing will happen. WTF? We’re in one of the highest counties in the state, cases are going up, and county vaccination rate is 37%. 3% for 0-19. I knew this was coming, but now I’m really pissed.

Same here in Iowa. No notification if the child next to yours tests positive. And no masks or distancing of course

I’m so sorry! I can’t begin to imagine what schools are thinking.

[mikala]

"It is more important for my littles to attend school with an actual teacher and to learn." More important that what? Getting sick?

I well know how much it sucks to have the kids stay home. Our household made a grand total of six thousand dollars in 2020. Would it suck having to have one parent stay home? Yes, of course. Would you loose income? Yes, of course! Is your child more important? Mine is.

Single parents get screwed again, but some have made it work... We have two families near us who sent all the kids to a third single parent for schooling so they could work, and then they paid that parent to watch all the kids. They made it work. Some sent their kids to the boys and girls' club for school. There are ways.

Our family put in significant effort to keep kids learning at home last year when in-person was an option. It was really really hard, especially with a special needs kiddo for which the 3rd parent, boys/girls club type solutions you offer simply wouldn't have been a choice for several reasons.

But at the same time I realize how very lucky we were that we could still keep enough income to make our mortgage payments, keep up with health insurance and co-pays for necessary treatments, keep food on the table. Not every family has those same choices and can realistically choose to keep a child home without risking a huge financial spiral. Many employers are now forcing employees to come into the office instead of working virtually and some careers simply can't be done remotely.

A dear friend was diagnosed with cancer during Covid. She's now vaccinated but they aren't sure how much protection she has because of her immune system right now. She's a single parent and her health insurance is through her employer. She needs the health insurance to continue cancer treatments. She needs to be able to send her kids to school because her work requires her to be in-person and one of her kids has special needs and regressed significantly when in-person school services and therapies stopped due to pandemic.

We owe it to the under 12 set and every other vulnerable family to take every precaution we can to make school a medically safe place. We owe it to families to not force them to choose any more then they absolutely have to between education/socialization/developmental progress and the health of their children and immunocompromised family members.

[bcafe]

I think it comes down to personal comfort. I would hate for my kiddo to get sick but I’m not really that afraid of it. So the benefits of in person school outweigh the risks. Kids are exposed to so much at school, pre-covid. While the virus has long term health uncertainty, I do think that for most kids it’s like a cold or minor flu. We don’t change our lifestyle in flu season. Others might. I glad our school is doing masks. That works for my comfort level.
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Yes. I am not afraid of my children getting sick. I AM afraid of them falling so behind in school. We will not sacrifice our employment for this, sorry if this sounds harsh for y'all. I am not a trained teacher, nor am I willing to "practice" on my children.

[bcafe]

I think it comes down to personal comfort. I would hate for my kiddo to get sick but I’m not really that afraid of it. So the benefits of in person school outweigh the risks. Kids are exposed to so much at school, pre-covid. While the virus has long term health uncertainty, I do think that for most kids it’s like a cold or minor flu. We don’t change our lifestyle in flu season. Others might. I glad our school is doing masks. That works for my comfort level.
Sent from my iPhone using Baby Bargains

Yes. I am not afraid of my children getting sick. I AM afraid of them falling so behind in school. We will not sacrifice our employment for this, sorry if this sounds harsh for y'all. I am not a trained teacher, nor am I willing to "practice" on my children.