AISD's (and other districts) Plans for Schools Starting August 18

[atomheartbevo 89619]

15 minutes ago, XYZ said:

Does anybody know anything about this rumor that next Monday a bunch of Austin ISD teachers will just not show up?

There’s a few hundred staff and teachers who are waiting on medical exemptions.  AISD says they are working rough the backlog.   

There is also about 5,000 kids that didn’t show up this school year, which means a few hundred teachers and staff could get laid off, and the superintendent has mentioned that.

So if a bunch of teachers do not show up on Monday, after being told to, then that will solve the problem of laying off staff/teachers.

[Your Mom 4805]

I’m generally supportive of teachers, I’m friends with lots of them, I’m constantly praising just about every teacher my kids have ever had. Their work is important and not nearly as easy as most people think. But they need to get to work. There are plenty of workers in other industries whose work cannot be done from home, and who are out and about, around people, and at risk in the course of doing their jobs.  I have thousands of coworkers who would certainly rather not be out in crowded public spaces right now but simply staying home isn’t an option. If you’re staying home, you should be using up your own sick time, using up some short or long term medical disability, or losing pay.  

We get it. You’re job has risks.  The education  of an entire generation of kids is at stake and it’s worth the risk.  I’m sure at-home schooling is going swell for all of us who are lucky enough to organize pods, hire tutors, have a parent stay home and help out, etc.   but there are millions of kids out there right now home by themselves trying to get through this with very little resources. The education of those kids is worth the risk that teachers will have to take in the classroom.  If they aren’t up for that then move on to a different career, same choice millions of other at-risk workers are facing all over the world right now.  

[texasdago 7562]

I've been a very cautious person throughout most of this and while I originally supported virtual learning, some kind of in-person learning has to take place.  Just put appropriate measures in place and make sure guidelines are followed but it will be better for kids and parents if we can get them back in school.

[atomheartbevo 89619]

So some teachers who are teaching F2F are also going to be dealing with Zoom kids, even after all of the F2F kids come back.  Not a fan of that - surely they can work out teachers who need to stay home teaching those kids, even if it means those teachers changing grades.  Hell, they moved teachers between grades at my kid's school last week with short notice.

[atomheartbevo 89619]

AISD, and a lot of other districts, are going to continue to provide free breakfasts/lunches for kids, thanks to Texas Dept. of Ag.   That's a good thing in my view, putting aside all of the people that are hurting financially, it could help streamline breakfast and lunch operations as far as sanitation/covid stuff.  Also available for kids who are at home (everybody should have gotten an email about it).

Quote

The Texas Department of Agriculture recently announced an extension of current school meal programs through the 2020-21 school year. Through the federally-funded program, all Austin ISD students will receive free school meals through June 3, the last day of school.    

Austin ISD students participating in on-campus learning will receive free breakfast and lunch in the classroom or socially-distanced cafeteria.

 

Edited October 16, 2020 by atomheartbevo

[atomheartbevo 89619]

My kid's school has a positive.  No idea what grade or if it was staff or student, just a note saying that everybody around that person, or who came into contact with them, has been contact traced and asked to quarantine, and the areas they were around were thoroughly cleaned.

Meanwhile, when jogging this evening, I saw our neighborhood park in full swing, although some kids did have masks, but most didn't, and most adults didn't either.  I wouldn't give a fuck as long as they aren't the ones bringing it into schools/stores/workplaces and fucking things up for everybody else.

Because I do not want my kids home again.

[atomheartbevo 89619]

Austin ISD dashboard, updated daily now.  We seem to be doing okay if there's only 8 students and 2 teachers testing positive this week.

https://www.austinisd.org/openforlearning/dashboard

COVID-19 for Week of Oct. 26 - Oct. 29

These numbers do not include students or staff in remote settings.

Updated 10/29/20

AUSTIN ISD COVID-19 DASHBOARD

⁺

TOTAL NEW POSITIVE CASES: 10

• Students: 8
• Employees: 2
• Other*: 0

⁺

TOTAL NEW EXPOSURES: 121

• Students: 100
• Employees: 21
• Other*: 0

A lab-confirmed case is a new, reported case either by the individual or the health department. Exposure is a person who came into prolonged contact with an infected person.

[atomheartbevo 89619]

If you click on that link above, and scroll down, you can look at individual campuses, they are tracking everything.

[smoky 840]

That dashboard really needs a denominator.  Without knowing how many kids are back in person, it's good info, but not a whole lot of help.

[atomheartbevo 89619]

1 hour ago, smoky said:

That dashboard really needs a denominator.  Without knowing how many kids are back in person, it's good info, but not a whole lot of help.

Next week, they are opening wide up, so should have a good number then.  Still doing masks and distancing where possible, but anybody who is not back, and wants to be back, can come back.  Although some schools are currently running under-capacity and won't see much difference.  There's more parents keeping their kids home than I would have expected.

[atomheartbevo 89619]

Furk, this week not going well.

TOTAL NEW POSITIVE CASES: 27

• Students: 12
• Employees: 15
• Other*: 0

TOTAL NEW EXPOSURES: 188

• Students: 139
• Employees: 49
• Other*: 0

[atomheartbevo 89619]

Well, this week is escalating a little bit

TOTAL NEW POSITIVE CASES: 35

• Students: 15
• Employees: 19
• Other*: 1

TOTAL NEW EXPOSURES: 295

• Students: 228
• Employees: 67
• Other*: 0

[atomheartbevo 89619]

https://www.kxan.com/news/local/austin/austin-high-school-shifts-to-remote-learning-after-steady-rise-in-covid-19-cases/

Quote

“After a gradual but steady rise of positive COVID-19 cases” on campus, Austin High School will move completely to remote, off-campus learning from Monday through Wednesday, according to an Austin ISD letter sent to parents.

The campus will be closed to on-campus learning and extracurricular activities for the upcoming three school days. No staff or students will be allowed into the facility, the letter says.

Quote

Drive-thru COVID-19 rapid testing will be available for the Austin High School community, which includes on-campus staff, students and remote off-campus learners participating in in-person extracurricular activities, from 12 p.m. until 3 p.m. on Monday, according to AISD. 

AISD reports it has completed contact tracing to isolate the groups affected and doesn’t believe there is immediate evidence of community spread. However, the district will reassess the need to extend virtual learning after Monday’s test results with consultation from Austin Public Health.

Basically, if you're an Austin High parent, get your kid tested - the more they test, the more they get a handle on whether they can re-open the school on Thursday.

Edited November 15, 2020 by atomheartbevo

[jimmyjazz 45879]

I haven't been keeping up -- is there a district-wide plan for the spring?  Is it still "optional" in-class, hybrid, at-home?

[HornOnTheBayou 8904]

I don't know if an official plan has been announced, but I assume it'll continue on like this. Either that or go back to all virtual if things get worse. There's no way they can go back to all in-person.

[atomheartbevo 89619]

6 minutes ago, HornOnTheBayou said:

I don't know if an official plan has been announced, but I assume it'll continue on like this. Either that or go back to all virtual if things get worse. There's no way they can go back to all in-person.

They are now allowing all kids to return to in-person, who want to return.  Plenty of parents still keeping kids at home, but it seems like both of my kids' classes are picking up more and more students every week.

18 minutes ago, jimmyjazz said:

I haven't been keeping up -- is there a district-wide plan for the spring?  Is it still "optional" in-class, hybrid, at-home?

I think it's basically close to where we are at now - check your email, as they've been rolling out info on how they are doing things.

I think Austin High has them spooked - they are only listing 4 cases, but I'm guessing they had a bunch of kids or staff or something stay home due to illness recently.  They aren't spending the money to test all of those folks just for shits and giggles.

[HornOnTheBayou 8904]

17 minutes ago, atomheartbevo said:

They are now allowing all kids to return to in-person, who want to return.  Plenty of parents still keeping kids at home, but it seems like both of my kids' classes are picking up more and more students every week.

Sure, but they're still going to allow kids to do virtual learning. They have to unless they want attendance numbers to plummet even worse than they have.

And the school I teach at is seeing in-person numbers decline over the last couple of weeks. We've had four positive cases, which means a bunch of kids having to quarantine. Most of those kids who quarantined have decided to just stay at home.

Edited November 15, 2020 by HornOnTheBayou

[yoladu 4090]

 

2 hours ago, HornOnTheBayou said:

Sure, but they're still going to allow kids to do virtual learning. They have to unless they want attendance numbers to plummet even worse than they have.

And the school I teach at is seeing in-person numbers decline over the last couple of weeks. We've had four positive cases, which means a bunch of kids having to quarantine. Most of those kids who quarantined have decided to just stay at home.

yeah, they will offer virtual learning for the rest of the school year to those who choose that.

in person attendance will fluctuate depending on cases and the comfort level of parents. You can pretty much pull them out whenever you want.

*oh and what's scary is Austin High is not like teeming with students right now.. averaging only 3 to 4 kids per classroom currently... and they still had a minor outbreak.

Edited November 15, 2020 by yoladu

[yoladu 4090]

3 hours ago, atomheartbevo said:

They are now allowing all kids to return to in-person, who want to return.  Plenty of parents still keeping kids at home, but it seems like both of my kids' classes are picking up more and more students every week.

I think it's basically close to where we are at now - check your email, as they've been rolling out info on how they are doing things.

I think Austin High has them spooked - they are only listing 4 cases, but I'm guessing they had a bunch of kids or staff or something stay home due to illness recently.  They aren't spending the money to test all of those folks just for shits and giggles.

4 new cases.. Austin High have had 13 total cases since they started in person classes 2 weeks ago. Not great.

[atomheartbevo 89619]

53 minutes ago, yoladu said:

4 new cases.. Austin High have had 13 total cases since they started in person classes 2 weeks ago. Not great.

That's what I meant.  I'm guessing they had a bunch of students or staff out this last week just as they got those 4 cases.   Because not everybody is getting tested, and they will not let you in if you have a cough that's not tied to a pre-existing condition.

Edited November 16, 2020 by atomheartbevo

[Your Mom 4805]

1 hour ago, yoladu said:

*oh and what's scary is Austin High is not like teeming with students right now.. averaging only 3 to 4 kids per classroom currently... and they still had a minor outbreak.

I don't believe they have shared the details of the contact tracing but it's likely the kids and staff caught the virus elsewhere.  If someone catches it away from school but is also attending in-person school it counts just the same as if they caught it at school.  My understanding is that's the case more times than not in general, but I haven't read that about these AHS cases specifically.  

[yoladu 4090]

22 minutes ago, Your Mom said:

I don't believe they have shared the details of the contact tracing but it's likely the kids and staff caught the virus elsewhere.  If someone catches it away from school but is also attending in-person school it counts just the same as if they caught it at school.  My understanding is that's the case more times than not in general, but I haven't read that about these AHS cases specifically.  

I believe this is the case, or this is what AISD has implied in their notifications.

 

[Gardner Barnes 1562]

4 new cases.. Austin High have had 13 total cases since they started in person classes 2 weeks ago. Not great.

Uh. Dude. Westlake has had 62 cases. They usually average 6-8/week.

4 is nothing.

[Armybrat 40818]

18 hours ago, atomheartbevo said:

https://www.kxan.com/news/local/austin/austin-high-school-shifts-to-remote-learning-after-steady-rise-in-covid-19-cases/

Basically, if you're an Austin High parent, get your kid tested - the more they test, the more they get a handle on whether they can re-open the school on Thursday.

My AHS grandson has not been back in the school this semester and has had no physical contact with his friends either, so he’s not getting tested yet. Same for his 5th grade brother (Zilker Elementary).

[Mappable 37]

We got a quarantine email from AISD Saturday for our 15 year old kid who attends Austin High.  
he has no symptoms and is pissed about being on lockdown.  
wife took him to ARC for COVID test yesterday   Waiting for test results.  

 

[atomheartbevo 89619]

I’m going to make sure both of my kids are bringing their iPads home starting Wednesday or Thursday.  I’m feeling like things will close down after Thanksgiving.   That Halloween bump kind of screwed things up a bit.  Maybe we can get our hospital admissions down this week though. Maybe.  

[yoladu 4090]

11 hours ago, Gardner Barnes said:

Uh. Dude. Westlake has had 62 cases. They usually average 6-8/week.

4 is nothing.

with 13 cases in first two weeks of on campus learning, AHS is averaging 6.5 a week

not to mention, AHS has nowhere near the amount of students back as Westlake HS does.

Edited November 16, 2020 by yoladu

[Nolacycling 893]

A lot of supposition here, that school will go virtual Turkey>Jesus.

[Guest Lobo]

Not Turkey, he was from modern day Syria 

[atomheartbevo 89619]

3 hours ago, Nolacycling said:

A lot of supposition here, that school will go virtual Turkey>Jesus.

It's based a strong belief that many of our fellow Texans will fuck this all up.

[hayden_horn 11362]

1 minute ago, atomheartbevo said:

It's based a strong belief that many of our fellow Texans will fuck this all up.

already did. we already did.

[Samson's Wig 3189]

4 hours ago, hayden_horn said:

already did. we already did.

No doubt.  We're living with Halloween jackassery now.  Halloween will be Thanksgiving's bitch.    Indoor get-togethers of multiple households will be happening all over the place, and the virus is licking its chops.

[atomheartbevo 89619]

Well, shit, this is why Austin High shutdown - they just updated the dashboard for the 9th - 15th - these are cumulative for the whole district

COVID-19 for Timeframe of Nov. 9-Nov. 15

These numbers do not include students or staff in remote settings.

Updated 11/16/20

TOTAL NEW POSITIVE CASES: 54

• Students: 23
• Employees: 30
• Other*: 1

TOTAL NEW EXPOSURES: 741

• Students: 623
• Employees: 117
• Other*: 1

[atomheartbevo 89619]

Austin High shows 7 cases and over 300 exposures last week.  No wonder they are doing the tests today and having everybody stay home through Wednesday.

741 students and staff had to isolate last week for however long.  Wouldn't take another week or two of this before it's kicking over 1,000 every week, and if they are out for two weeks, well, yeah, Thanksgiving - Christmas is going to be virtual.

[Your Mom 4805]

3 of those AHS cases were from the free testing they did for anyone at the school who wanted it today.  250ish tested and 3 positives, with contract tracing showing all 3 new cases being transmitted away from campus.  

[swraith 345]

At the elementary level, things are still going well at my kid's school.  We have been enjoying in-person school and the kids prefer in-person rather than being at home on zoom.  

[atomheartbevo 89619]

2 hours ago, Your Mom said:

3 of those AHS cases were from the free testing they did for anyone at the school who wanted it today.  250ish tested and 3 positives, with contract tracing showing all 3 new cases being transmitted away from campus.  

That's not bad, and I don't think they have found any community transmission at the schools.

[atomheartbevo 89619]

Leaning towards reopening the school on Thursday.

https://www.kxan.com/news/education/superintendent-leaning-toward-reopening-austin-high-on-thursday-after-coronavirus-closure/

Quote

Elizalde said during a board meeting Monday night that the low number of new cases found during rapid testing was promising that the school could reopen on Thursday.

“Given what I know right now, I would not be leaning towards closing Thursday and Friday,” Elizalde said. “But we still have two more days, at least tomorrow, before I would want to reevaluate and make a final decision with regard to Austin High.”

 

[yoladu 4090]

14 hours ago, atomheartbevo said:

Leaning towards reopening the school on Thursday.

https://www.kxan.com/news/education/superintendent-leaning-toward-reopening-austin-high-on-thursday-after-coronavirus-closure/

 

Seems misguided to open school back up for Thursday and Friday and then go on a week long Thanksgiving Break.

[Guest Lobo]

Do you even 2020 bro?  Take every opportunity to make horribly bad decisions to show others you don’t live in fear.  
 

why the fuck hasn’t surly resurrected that “No Fear” rear window decal from the 90’s?  We could make it in burnt orange and make enough cash to fund tailgates for a decade.  We’d be swimming in cash. 

[babysdaddy 2719]

I haven't looked but why are people assuming Halloween is the trigger event for the current caseplosion?

[InkaUtexas 25856]

16 minutes ago, yoladu said:

Seems misguided to open school back up for Thursday and Friday and then go on a week long Thanksgiving Break.

Could be tied to funding. Do schools get more for in class vs. virtual? 

[atomheartbevo 89619]

1 hour ago, yoladu said:

Seems misguided to open school back up for Thursday and Friday and then go on a week long Thanksgiving Break.

43 minutes ago, InkaUtexas said:

Could be tied to funding. Do schools get more for in class vs. virtual? 

I think it's as much about the parents as anything - this shit has been a real pain-in-the-ass, and caused a lot of problems for a lot of parents, including financial.  And those parents do let the district know how much of a problem it is.

Plus, as this thread and the others have mentioned, a lot of kids do worse in school, and that is bad for the districts.

 

Edited November 17, 2020 by atomheartbevo

[atomheartbevo 89619]

43 minutes ago, babysdaddy said:

I haven't looked but why are people assuming Halloween is the trigger event for the current caseplosion?

Because social media was full of photos of kids and young adults partying then (it was on a Saturday), and their age groups have gotten hit pretty hard.  The teens, it could be tied to simply being back in school, but there was a bump after Halloween.

[Gardner Barnes 1562]

Leaning towards reopening the school on Thursday.
https://www.kxan.com/news/education/superintendent-leaning-toward-reopening-austin-high-on-thursday-after-coronavirus-closure/

Elizalde said during a board meeting Monday night that the low number of new cases found during rapid testing was promising that the school could reopen on Thursday.
“Given what I know right now, I would not be leaning towards closing Thursday and Friday,” Elizalde said. “But we still have two more days, at least tomorrow, before I would want to reevaluate and make a final decision with regard to Austin High.”

 

Volleyball playoffs start Thursday. AHS prob has a football game Friday.....so...

[Texas Jeff 1942]

3 hours ago, Gardner Barnes said:

 Volleyball playoffs start Thursday. AHS prob has a football game Friday.....so...

Austin High football plays Westlake Friday night, so yes they have a "game" on the schedule .... if you define "game" to mean a predetermined blowout.

[atomheartbevo 89619]

Got this email the Superintendent sent out to the district today

Quote

As we monitor the situation throughout Austin-Travis County, we are evaluating the option of temporarily transitioning to remote-only instruction for the week following Thanksgiving Break: Nov. 30-Dec. 4. We will keep you informed and release a message no later than Wednesday, Nov. 25 that includes a firm decision. 

The fact that she brings that up, makes me think we will be virtual.

They are trying to keep from having to reduce capacity at all fo the schools, and/or quarantining hundreds more students/staff (That aren't already) so this will probably be the right call.

[atomheartbevo 89619]

This week's AISD stats:

34 New positives (19 students, 15 employees)

439 new exposures (369 students, 70 staff)

They probably have a thousand students/staff from the past few weeks, who had been doing in-person, but are now tied up at home/in quarantine.

[Homercles 10205]

Cant believe we are back here again already.  Costco had no TP today either.  

[utee94 15797]

Just now, Homercles said:

Cant believe we are back here again already.  Costco had no TP today either.  

People are the worst.