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

[atomheartbevo 89628]

58 minutes ago, swraith said:

We voluntarily complied with the district request. Kept both kids home. They are Having zoom calls today. Both kids would prefer to be at school. Wife is concerned about them getting bored. Of course they are going to get bored. 

We did as well - would like to have my youngest in class, but we ( I ) have the ability to watch the kids at home.

But I can't take too many more weeks of this.  It's turning into Groundhog Day.

 

[utee94 15807]

1 minute ago, atomheartbevo said:

This week is not about cases caught on campus, it's about meeting the Governor's requirements that occupancy be kept below 50% when hospitalization rates reach a certain point.  .

Yes I know.  That's why I commented that this is a rule that was put in place, before it was understood how little transmission is occurring on school campuses-- locally, nationally, and globally.  

[BrazilHorn 6586]

We kept both boys home today. We are sending 5th grader back tomorrow. He had just moved to an all in person class (school finally made this change in Jan) so his teacher was completely unprepared for this. Had 2 hrs of Zoom calls today and he is already done for day. Just a mess.

After keeping 8th grader home get email reminding us of basketball practice and the time/place for his game later this week at different middle school.

It is just so disjointed. Feels like AISD is only district in Travis or surrounding counties doing this.

 

[utee94 15807]

15 minutes ago, BrazilHorn said:

We kept both boys home today. We are sending 5th grader back tomorrow. He had just moved to an all in person class (school finally made this change in Jan) so his teacher was completely unprepared for this. Had 2 hrs of Zoom calls today and he is already done for day. Just a mess.

After keeping 8th grader home get email reminding us of basketball practice and the time/place for his game later this week at different middle school.

It is just so disjointed. Feels like AISD is only district in Travis or surrounding counties doing this.

 

We're in Leander ISD, and made no changes.  Those who were still in online classes, remained.  Those who were in-person, remained.  Right now for my kids' schools it's probably about 65-35 in-person vs. online.  

[atomheartbevo 89628]

Positivity rates for school-aged children higher than the general population.  That's a little odd/disarming.  So maybe it wasn't just the 50% occupancy

https://www.kxan.com/news/education/covid-19-positivity-rate-among-school-children-outpacing-the-rest-of-the-austin-community/

Quote

Austin-Travis County Interim Health Authority Dr. Mark Escott said the positivity rate among school-aged children is outpacing that of the entire community.

Austin Public Health said after testing 2,560 kids ages 3 through 18 last week, 19.8% of elementary-aged students came back positive, 20.2% of high schoolers came back positive and a record 27.1% of middle schoolers came back positive.

Quote

According to the City of Austin/Travis County dashboard, the current positivity rate for the entire area (all ages) is 17.8%.

“It’s going to be more and more difficult for us to control the outbreaks in schools,” Escott said. “If your child can learn virtually, if that is an option for your household, please choose it this week.”

 

 

[Anastasis 23463]

Were those kids randomly selected?  If not positivity can be a challenge to interpret and there are a variety of factors influencing the selection of those 2000 kids that will influence the positivity. But none of that really matters if your agenda is to effectively shut down the schools. 

[BrazilHorn 6586]

8 hours ago, atomheartbevo said:

Positivity rates for school-aged children higher than the general population.  That's a little odd/disarming.  So maybe it wasn't just the 50% occupancy

https://www.kxan.com/news/education/covid-19-positivity-rate-among-school-children-outpacing-the-rest-of-the-austin-community/

 

 

This is misleading. Kids are only getting tested if/when they’re showing symptoms or if a parent feels their child has been exposed. 
 

No doubt to me kids pos rate is high. I’d frankly imagine their Strep or Flu pos rates have historically been high as well due to fact they’re not getting tested otherwise. 

[BradInATX 9208]

This is misleading. Kids are only getting tested if/when they’re showing symptoms or if a parent feels their child has been exposed. 
 

Same for adults, for the most part.

[BrazilHorn 6586]

4 minutes ago, BradInATX said:

 

 

Same for adults, for the most part.

 

Agree by and large but adults can be mandated by work for regular testing that a kid wouldn’t. 
 

 

[utee94 15807]

1 hour ago, BrazilHorn said:

Agree by and large but adults can be mandated by work for regular testing that a kid wouldn’t. 
 

 

Yup, I know several folks in that boat.  Plus some who get tested before they travel each time.

 

[yoladu 4090]

20 hours ago, utee94 said:

We're in Leander ISD, and made no changes.  Those who were still in online classes, remained.  Those who were in-person, remained.  Right now for my kids' schools it's probably about 65-35 in-person vs. online.  

wow, that is surprising. I would not have guessed so many in-person.

Austin High is probably closer to 20-80 in-person vs. online and we get new COVID cases notifications once or twice a week.

[utee94 15807]

40 minutes ago, yoladu said:

wow, that is surprising. I would not have guessed so many in-person.

Austin High is probably closer to 20-80 in-person vs. online and we get new COVID cases notifications once or twice a week.

My kids are in 5th and 7th, that's probably part of it.  I imagine that the high school in-person attendance is lower.

I know for a fact that my neighbors' high-school kids that are engaged in sports/cheer/etc. have been "urged" by their coaches, to do online school, just to avoid any further risk and keep them active in their sports.  And since our high school is Cedar Park high, who is currently competing for state championships in both football and cheer, they're taking those "suggestions" pretty seriously.

 

But overall, yeah, we get a notice probably weekly for the middle school, and every couple of weeks for the elementary school.  Like I said, there's no way to control what people are doing at home, and then bringing in to the schools.  As far as in-school spread though, for my kids' schools, it's just not happening.

 

Edited January 13, 2021 by utee94

[Larry T. Spider 1746]

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.chalkbeat.org/platform/amp/2021/1/12/22227990/covid-teachers-school-reopening

Could be related to more testing but teachers are also testing positive more than their surrounding communities. I can’t say definitively that my teachers got it at school, but it would be quite the coincidence. Negative for 8 months then kids show up with covid and they get sick 3 days later. 

[Hefeweizen 5310]

Eanes apparently thinks they are the honey Badger since the new year.  Despite high positivity and lots of parents avoiding getting their kids tested it’s over 50 percent back even in high school.  We’re keeping our kids out of even extra curricular school activities for the next few weeks until this wave passes.

I am kind of surprised unless vaccination is just so out in front of everyone else (it’s not)

[gsoda3 3246]

28 minutes ago, Larry T. Spider said:

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.chalkbeat.org/platform/amp/2021/1/12/22227990/covid-teachers-school-reopening

Could be related to more testing but teachers are also testing positive more than their surrounding communities. I can’t say definitively that my teachers got it at school, but it would be quite the coincidence. Negative for 8 months then kids show up with covid and they get sick 3 days later. 

8 teachers at our school have tested positive since they went back in october.  only 1 of those cases was transmitted at the school.  the other 7 cases were from them going to parties during the weekend or meeting with friends.  all under 40 years old. 

[utee94 15807]

11 minutes ago, gsoda3 said:

8 teachers at our school have tested positive since they went back in october.  only 1 of those cases was transmitted at the school.  the other 7 cases were from them going to parties during the weekend or meeting with friends.  all under 40 years old. 

Yeah.  A huge number of people are being less careful now, than they were six months ago.  That teachers might be included among that group isn't surprising at all.  

 

 

[yoladu 4090]

3 hours ago, utee94 said:

Yeah.  A huge number of people are being less careful now, than they were six months ago.  That teachers might be included among that group isn't surprising at all.  

 

 

Which is crazy, as by all measures the spread is worse than ever.

but I am in my early 50s and married - being a hermit is easy.

if I was 25 and single again, the temptation to umm... socialize, would be much greater.

 

[Fuck Tim Beck 3815]

Not AISD, but I'm in Killeen ISD and an assistant principal just announced during our staff meeting that she's going to mexico next week. Wtf. 

[Larry T. Spider 1746]

11 minutes ago, Fuck Tim Beck said:

Not AISD, but I'm in Killeen ISD and an assistant principal just announced during our staff meeting that she's going to mexico next week. Wtf. 

Probably lower covid numbers there. Good safety move 😂

[CooterBrown 18004]

Not AISD, but I'm in Killeen ISD and an assistant principal just announced during our staff meeting that she's going to mexico next week. Wtf. 

She may not come back if she can’t find a COVID test before boarding her plane.

[Nolacycling 893]

Largest San Antonio district(Northside?) Super just told kids to stay home and go virtual through Jan.

[dingleberryswitzer 2724]

56 minutes ago, Nolacycling said:

Largest San Antonio district(Northside?) Super just told kids to stay home and go virtual through Jan.

Didn't "tell" but requested.  He fully admitted finding was tied to schools being open.  At least he was being honest about it.   He also was mostly referring to Elementary and middle.  The high school I work at is largely a ghost town.

 

[Your Mom 4805]

16 hours ago, CooterBrown said:

She may not come back if she can’t find a COVID test before boarding her plane.

People are coming and going from Mexico by the thousands every day right now.  Planes are mostly full.   It's nothing more than a temperature check or a walk through a thermal scanner on the Mexico side.  Coming back into the US is even easier... just the usual passport check and a verbal question about COVID symptoms.  

[gsoda3 3246]

13 minutes ago, Your Mom said:

People are coming and going from Mexico by the thousands every day right now.  Planes are mostly full.   It's nothing more than a temperature check or a walk through a thermal scanner on the Mexico side.  Coming back into the US is even easier... just the usual passport check and a verbal question about COVID symptoms.  

starting sometime before feb anyone coming back to the states is going to have to take a covid test and present proof of a negative test before they're allowed to board the flight.

[hayden_horn 11362]

On 1/11/2021 at 5:09 PM, BrazilHorn said:

Irony to this is CNN just ran a big deal today on how kids in school is a non-issue re: cv19 spread 

is that why i've gotten two emails in two consecutive days about new cases of covid at my sons' middle school?

[hayden_horn 11362]

two consecutive posts

Edited January 14, 2021 by hayden_horn

[hayden_horn 11362]

three consecutive posts

Edited January 14, 2021 by hayden_horn

[BrazilHorn 6586]

1 minute ago, hayden_horn said:

is that why i've gotten two emails in two consecutive days about new cases of covid at my sons' middle school?

The odds are they didn't catch it in school. My son's middle school has <100 students in person right now. Bear in mind that email can come from any positive test whether student is in school or not.

I am not saying CV19 isn't real, it is. I will say that it can be much more managed in a school setting where 100% are being temp screened and parents are super paranoid right now and not actively sending kids that are ill and they are testing kids that show symptoms.

[Anastasis 23463]

4 minutes ago, hayden_horn said:

is that why i've gotten two emails in two consecutive days about new cases of covid at my sons' middle school?

We've had same for MS kid (same class, did not meet close contact threshold).  Have you seen any indication of in school transmission?  We have not, and saw nothing last semester suggesting in school transmission was taking place among kids after the notifications, but out of abundance of caution are keeping how today and tomorrow to see what shakes out. 

Edited January 14, 2021 by Anastasis

[hayden_horn 11362]

1 minute ago, BrazilHorn said:

The odds are they didn't catch it in school. My son's middle school has <100 students in person right now. Bear in mind that email can come from any positive test whether student is in school or not.

I am not saying CV19 isn't real, it is. I will say that it can be much more managed in a school setting where 100% are being temp screened and parents are super paranoid right now and not actively sending kids that are ill and they are testing kids that show symptoms.

 

Just now, Anastasis said:

We've had same for MS kid (same class, did not meet close contact threshold).  Have you seen any indication of in school transmission?  We have not, and saw nothing last semester suggesting in school transmission was taking place among kids after the notifications, but out of abundance of caution are keeping how today and tomorrow to see what shakes out. 

here is my question though: does it matter if the covid case was caught in school? if the covid is in the school, eventually it will spread in the school, because we know the easiest means of transmission is to be inside for long periods of time with covid around. even if the kids don't get all that sick, my wife could, as she's in an aisd classroom as i type this. other staff could. 

why does covid evidently not spread that well in schools?

my kids are staying home as long as possible, and fuck the texas education agency for being so fucking short sighted. it's not ideal for my boys, as they are both adhd, but i view sending them to school as highly irresponsible. just my opinion. 

it's worse now than it has ever been. we are almost at hospital icu capacity. oh well, let's just pretend that isn't happening and send the kids to schools and head off to the bar. sheesh.

[Anastasis 23463]

1 minute ago, hayden_horn said:

oh well, let's just pretend that isn't happening and send the kids to schools and head off to the bar.

Conflating these two things is counter productive imo.

7 minutes ago, hayden_horn said:

why does covid evidently not spread that well in schools?

Host of reasons could explain why school-based transmission among children is not (apparently) broadly popping off. Mandated mask wearing, distancing procedures, mandated quarantining of positives and close contacts when they pop, transmissibility among children, transmissibility between children and adults, etc.   Comparing sending your child, and particularly elementary aged children to school, to cocktails at the bar is not appropriate, imo. 

 

5 minutes ago, hayden_horn said:

here is my question though: does it matter if the covid case was caught in school? if the covid is in the school, eventually it will spread in the school, because we know the easiest means of transmission is to be inside for long periods of time with covid around. even if the kids don't get all that sick, my wife could, as she's in an aisd classroom as i type this. other staff could. 

Of course it matters and is relevant to the discussion whether the transmission is occurring in school or in community. That's really the crux of the issue when discussing the risks associated with F2F in school.  Agree, that teachers in school are an issue...they should have been in the first wave of vax imo.  

[hayden_horn 11362]

5 minutes ago, Anastasis said:

Conflating these two things is counter productive imo.

Host of reasons could explain why school-based transmission among children is not (apparently) broadly popping off. Mandated mask wearing, distancing procedures, mandated quarantining of positives and close contacts when they pop, transmissibility among children, transmissibility between children and adults, etc.   Comparing sending your child, and particularly elementary aged children to school, to cocktails at the bar is not appropriate, imo. 

 

Of course it matters and is relevant to the discussion whether the transmission is occurring in school or in community. That's really the crux of the issue when discussing the risks associated with F2F in school.  Agree, that teachers in school are an issue...they should have been in the first wave of vax imo.  

i wasn't conflating them. i was relating our current policy on covid restrictions as compared to what's happening in hospitals. the whole idea of quarantine is to make sure our hospitals are not overrun. oh well. guess that doesn't matter any longer.

i think the main reason that school-based transmission has not been broadly popping off is because a ton of kids are still at home. my sons are filthy beasts. even if covid wouldn't effect them overly much i don't think, they could be super spreaders. 

and teachers should have been prioritized, yes, but after health workers and first responders, imo.

[gsoda3 3246]

32 minutes ago, hayden_horn said:

is that why i've gotten two emails in two consecutive days about new cases of covid at my sons' middle school?

 

32 minutes ago, hayden_horn said:

two consecutive posts

 

32 minutes ago, hayden_horn said:

three consecutive posts

maybe they email like you post.

[gsoda3 3246]

6 minutes ago, hayden_horn said:

i think the main reason that school-based transmission has not been broadly popping off is because a ton of kids are still at home. my sons are filthy beasts. even if covid wouldn't effect them overly much i don't think, they could be super spreaders. 

i think the diligence with which school staff have enforced their social distancing and PPE guidelines plays a large part.  at least in elementary.  other than hospitals, schools are the best controlled environment to observe how effective those guidelines are and from what we've seen they seem to be working.   

[Anastasis 23463]

23 minutes ago, hayden_horn said:

i wasn't conflating them. i was relating our current policy on covid restrictions as compared to what's happening in hospitals. the whole idea of quarantine is to make sure our hospitals are not overrun. oh well. guess that doesn't matter any longer.

i think the main reason that school-based transmission has not been broadly popping off is because a ton of kids are still at home. my sons are filthy beasts. even if covid wouldn't effect them overly much i don't think, they could be super spreaders. 

and teachers should have been prioritized, yes, but after health workers and first responders, imo.

Going to a bar is so far afield from the school discussion imo.  Out in my school district, my sense is that most kids are back in school. My kids went back after the initial 9 week period to F2F. We're not seeing in school transmission popping off in elementary or MS, which are the two that I keep an eye on.  So my perspective is a bit different as to the main reasons we are not seeing things pop with in school transmission. At least so far. Won't speak to HS.

My kids' elementary has 7 cumulative cases over course of year, 0 active. My kid's MS has 20 total cases, and 4 active. I keep a close eye on the MS cause I think that the potential transmission is higher in that age range and setting...and like I said we are keeping that one home for the rest of the week to make sure things shake out without any evidence of in school transmission after a couple cases showed up in class. My daughter is not really a filthy beast though, and has no reservation in telling some other kid to get their shit together and put on their mask or remove herself from the situation if she is not comfortable in any way. She is still at home for the next few days and I would have no reservation pulling the elementary aged ones if there was an indication of a problem. If there is a signal of a problem, I have absolutely no qualms shutting shit down.  We just haven't seen that signal in our case. 

Edited January 14, 2021 by Anastasis

[landman 559]

1 hour ago, gsoda3 said:

starting sometime before feb anyone coming back to the states is going to have to take a covid test and present proof of a negative test before they're allowed to board the flight.

what if you've had the vaccine - do you still have to have a test?

[gsoda3 3246]

20 minutes ago, landman said:

what if you've had the vaccine - do you still have to have a test?

yes.  

 

the link

 

Quote

The new policy requires all air passengers, regardless of vaccination status, to get a test for current infection within the three days before their flight to the United States departs, and to provide written documentation of their test results or proof of having recovered from Covid-19.

Proof of immunization will not be sufficient, because the vaccines have only been shown to prevent serious illness, said Jason McDonald, a spokesman for the C.D.C. Vaccinated people may still become infected, in theory, and transmit the virus on a flight.

 

[XYZ 2154]

When they say “get a test within three days of travel” do they mean the swab happened within three days, or you got the result within three days?

[gsoda3 3246]

2 minutes ago, XYZ said:

When they say “get a test within three days of travel” do they mean the swab happened within three days, or you got the result within three days?

the swab happened within 72 hours of your departure back to the states.

[rage-a-holic 4381]

2 minutes ago, XYZ said:

When they say “get a test within three days of travel” do they mean the swab happened within three days, or you got the result within three days?

You need to take the test within 3 days of travel and have the results in your hand to board the plane.

[jimmyjazz 45888]

McCallum Athletic Director sent out a mildly hysterical, poorly worded email asking parents to pressure AISD to not shut down athletics for the spring.  I laughed.  I mean, there are reasons to advocate for outdoor sports, and my kid played soccer all fall, so I'm hardly a helicopter dad, but his perspective was horribly one-sided, and poorly argued at that.  GO SPORTS.

[atomheartbevo 89628]

18 minutes ago, jimmyjazz said:

McCallum Athletic Director sent out a mildly hysterical, poorly worded email asking parents to pressure AISD to not shut down athletics for the spring.  I laughed.  I mean, there are reasons to advocate for outdoor sports, and my kid played soccer all fall, so I'm hardly a helicopter dad, but his perspective was horribly one-sided, and poorly argued at that.  GO SPORTS.

AISD sent out a note asking those parents who can keep their kids at home next week, to do so.   That AD needs to understand that nobody likes this shit, school districts are having to fight the fucking TEA, and I'd argue that AISD is bending over backwards to keep sports going - coaches are encouraging/pressuring kids to really keep themselves safe from the covid, to keep sports going, etc.

They are doing everything they can to keep covid from spreading in the schools, because the moment we see multiple cases from what looks like a decent-sized school outbreak, Next-door, Facebook, and twitter are going to fucking blow up with the Karens losing their minds.

Edited January 15, 2021 by atomheartbevo

[jimmyjazz 45888]

3 minutes ago, atomheartbevo said:

AISD sent out a note asking those parents who can keep their kids at home next week, to do so.   That AD needs to understand that nobody likes this shit, school districts are having to fight the fucking TEA, and I'd argue that AISD is bending over backwards to keep sports going - coaches are encouraging/pressuring kids to really keep themselves safe from the covid, to keep sports going, etc.

They are doing everything they can to keep covid from spreading in the schools, because the moment we see multiple cases from what looks like a decent-sized school outbreak, Next-door, Facebook, and twitter are going to fucking blow up with the Karens losing their minds.

We already pulled our son from soccer and stuck him in his (required) health class, thinking he could run track, which doesn't have a 0-7 class period.  If they cancel it, they cancel it.  Feels like we did the right thing.

[Anastasis 23463]

Not sure how reliable this is, but would love to see the contact tracing results. Interesting that she mentions bball and carpools but not in class learning. 
 

 

[jimmyjazz 45888]

My son played soccer with a kid whose dad is dean of the UT Medical School.  We had a big zoom meeting in August, and all the parents were peppering him with questions about safety, etc.  He was adamant that basketball would prove to be far and away the riskiest sport, and that soccer was fairly low risk.

Well, it looks like he was certainly right about basketball.

[atomheartbevo 89628]

1 hour ago, Anastasis said:

Not sure how reliable this is, but would love to see the contact tracing results. Interesting that she mentions bball and carpools but not in class learning. 

I kind of expected basketball to be a major problem.

And carpools, I can totally see the kids getting in the car and taking off their masks.

I would think she's probably reliable - KVUE has their moments, but I doubt she's going to fuck around with this one.

 

[dingleberryswitzer 2724]

Yea the whole sports thing is boggling my mind.  NISD basically begging students to stay home, but spring sports are going full speed ahead.  I'm not anti sports at all, but shit priorities are all fucked up. 

[atomheartbevo 89628]

8 minutes ago, dingleberryswitzer said:

Yea the whole sports thing is boggling my mind.  NISD basically begging students to stay home, but spring sports are going full speed ahead.  I'm not anti sports at all, but shit priorities are all fucked up. 

We're Texas!

Parents/Grandparents:  Is this football game going to be played or not?

District: If we hold the game and y'all are in person, some of you could catch covid and die.

Parents/Grandparents:  When's kickoff?

[Anastasis 23463]

10 hours ago, jimmyjazz said:

My son played soccer with a kid whose dad is dean of the UT Medical School.  We had a big zoom meeting in August, and all the parents were peppering him with questions about safety, etc.  He was adamant that basketball would prove to be far and away the riskiest sport, and that soccer was fairly low risk.

Well, it looks like he was certainly right about basketball.

Yeah.  Funny, late last year we were reluctantly considered letting the boy play basketball and were talking to him about it.  He said "Nope, let's sit this season out and stick with soccer, basketball is too covidy."  Close F2F contact, breathing all over each other, indoors with no masks. Not a good set up relative to baseball, soccer, or even youth football when there is no locker room involved. 

[mdmost 42999]

We just had the close call where our oldest complained of a sore throat to the school nurse so we had to come pick her up on Wednesday. Called the pediatrician who told us to come in for a swab test. Tested positive for strep and today tested negative for Covid. So that was fun. So I guess she can come out of her room now as she's already on meds for strep. 

Edited January 15, 2021 by mdmost