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

[Guest Lobo]

I understand the 3-5 day "reveal" timeframe.  What worries me is that so many kids were exposed this kid in a tight space, many with no masks.  The other worry is that many of these kids were all together up until Friday of last week, on campus, with one another at all the myriad camps that just ended (many of them indoors---gymnastics, art, Spanish, and music camps).  Most of her class was also at a birthday party indoors at one of those tumbling place's private party rooms on Saturday.  Meet the teacher and orientation class on Monday and Tuesday.  75% of these kids have been with each other for 6 of the last 7 days.  

It is somewhat possible that this kid is just the first of a few more in the next few days.  Or not, as I hope.  They can get it anywhere, this little cohort though seems to be together more than most.  Just wish we as parents did what we could before school started and taken the shots.

I don't set the fucking school policy man.  I'm just a worried dad who recognizes that there's no plan for how the quaranteed kids are gonna learn while stuck at home for 10-15 days each.  They're gonna spread to it each other, or pick it up at home, or hanging out at the Southern Border apparently.  I just hope for a pivot to stubborn state policy that allows for contact tracing when possible, and more importantly-a way for the kids to still learn remotely if/when their time to quarantine happens.  Why not be a proactive state for once instead of just behaving like Arkansas with more money?  

Edited August 19, 2021 by Lobo

[Wulaw Horn 19,152]

43 minutes ago, Lobo said:

I understand the 3-5 day "reveal" timeframe.  What worries me is that so many kids were exposed this kid in a tight space, many with no masks.  The other worry is that many of these kids were all together up until Friday of last week, on campus, with one another at all the myriad camps that just ended (many of them indoors---gymnastics, art, Spanish, and music camps).  Most of her class was also at a birthday party indoors at one of those tumbling place's private party rooms on Saturday.  Meet the teacher and orientation class on Monday and Tuesday.  75% of these kids have been with each other for 6 of the last 7 days.  

It is somewhat possible that this kid is just the first of a few more in the next few days.  Or not, as I hope.  They can get it anywhere, this little cohort though seems to be together more than most.  Just wish we as parents did what we could before school started and taken the shots.

I don't set the fucking school policy man.  I'm just a worried dad who recognizes that there's no plan for how the quaranteed kids are gonna learn while stuck at home for 10-15 days each.  They're gonna spread to it each other, or pick it up at home, or hanging out at the Southern Border apparently.  I just hope for a pivot to stubborn state policy that allows for contact tracing when possible, and more importantly-a way for the kids to still learn remotely if/when their time to quarantine happens.  Why not be a proactive state for once instead of just behaving like Arkansas with more money?  

I get it man. I'm not minimizing it at all. I've never argued for anything other than lets do a cost benefit analysis of everything we do and really figure out what this thing is doing.  I don't get all the hand wringing about "oh noes- it's the first day of school and X number of people tested positive" and then a diatribe about masks or schools being a petri dish or what have you.  That's not school or mask policy, that's our control group. 

Agreed completely about the shots- it's so incredibly stupid.

  And yeah- totally cognizant of all that shit you are talking about with going to the tumble places and trampoline parks and all that shit around friends. We have 1 in piano, 1 in jazz dance, 1 in ballet, all 3 of them take golf lessons (outdoors) and then they have Sunday school and church. In addition of course is birthday parties and play dates and schlepping along with their mom on whatever errands she is running etc.  That's lots of exposure outside of school, so unless and until we find out school is actively spreading worse than normal life I'm not going to worry any more about them at school than I worry about them elsewhere.  But yeah- there needs to be a proactive thing that they can do when they quarantine- whether they get it at school or, seemingly more likely, from somewhere else.  Looking at the kids set ups the desks aren't right on top of each other, they have room to spread out, the cafeteria is pretty big and lunches are broken up by class and house- YMMV at your kids school but it doesn't look like an unreasonable set up to me that my kdis are going in.  

[Captainant 27,772]

13 minutes ago, Wulaw Horn said:

We have 1 in piano, 1 in jazz dance, 1 in ballet, all 3 of them take golf lessons (outdoors) and then they have Sunday school and church. In addition of course is birthday parties and play dates and schlepping along with their mom on whatever errands she is running etc.  That's lots of exposure outside of school, so unless and until we find out school is actively spreading worse than normal life I'm not going to worry any more about them at school than I worry about them elsewhere.

I don't think there's a more COVID-y place you can take your kids to than church. At least from the folks I'm still in touch with from my church-going days, more than half are militantly unvaxxed.

[midtown 3,348]

God protects anyone from getting covid at church?

[Guest Lobo]

Yeah, there were a dozen things we could have all done differently in the community (adults, schools, teachers, politicians, health officials, et. al.).  But that's done, the school year has started.  They're gonna catch it in different places and transfer it in other places.  I get it.  I'm over it.  All we can do now is mitigation again---distance when masks are off, mandate them whenever possible, good hygiene, vitamin D, plenty of sleep, play outside whenever possible, all the basics we know.  One other mitigation to broadcast louder is if your kid tests positive, or is feeling sick (lots of RSV going around the area right now)...just stay the fuck home.  It's one thing to send them back to school in February with the flu in a normal year (I don't condone it but we all know it happens)...but for right now with this burner wave...keep 'em at home.  

At this point, all we can do is prepare proactively.  I'm not asking people to panic, not asking for campus to shut down, not asking for infringement of freedoms.  I'm proposing one simple plan be devised---if X number of kids have to quarantine for 10-15 days, let's have a classroom/campus-wide/district-wide plan (or all 3) for how those X number of students can work remotely from home and stay current on all materials/assignments/lessons.  That's it.  Something that stays within the letter of the funding requirements.  Not proposing remote learning is an option for healthy folks.  But if multiple kids (settle on a number in a class room or percentage) are out for such a long period of time, they can stay engaged on Day 1 of quarantine with a few pushes of some buttons (all the screens and cameras are still in the classrooms from last year).  

It's infinitely better for the kids if they have to stay at home.  And think about the logistical help that'd be to the teacher.  You get 3 kids that are 5 days behind, 3 kids that are 10 days behind, and 3 kids that are 15 days behind to along with 12 kids who are current in class........how in the fuck is the teacher gonna juggle all that as the kids come back in waves?  There's no fucking way they can do that.  Allowing kids under a quarantine order to dial in remotely and follow along is the only reasonable solution.  And only if it gets to be multiple kids at a time (or a certain %).  It's a very simple idea, it's very easy to execute on, and it'll help maintain academic pace and staff sanity.  

So naturally, it'll be shouted down by politicians and parent groups.  I'm not saying we need it tomorrow, not panicking.  But we need to have the framework in place to flip a few switches and get whatever consent the day 4 or 5 or 8 kids are home under quarantine.  And you have to be home (or god forbid, hospital) under quarantine protocol, you can't just opt-in from Cancun or some shit.

[Wulaw Horn 19,152]

5 minutes ago, Captainant said:

I don't think there's a more COVID-y place you can take your kids to than church. At least from the folks I'm still in touch with from my church-going days, more than half are militantly unvaxxed.

We don't go to church within our school district.  I'd be sort of surprised if the Vax was much worse than the community as a whole in our particular church but having done a lot of church shopping before going back to our old church 45 minutes away, yeah, this is 100% spot on in most places I'd bet.

[atomheartbevo 89,799]

2 hours ago, Hefeweizen said:

It’s a disaster and I don’t see it getting  better.  I do wonder what elite colleges are going to think…

Not that it would matter, but it would be funny to show these colleges what their dipshit parents are doing and saying.

Well, I guess they could look at social media and see some of it for themselves.

"So Thomas J. Bigglesworth III, your dad's Facebook page says he doesn't believe any of that, and I quote, bullshit science and math that's coming out of those Ivy League schools.  You do realize that this is an Ivy League school, correct?"

[Guest Lobo]

Pos rep. 

"Dad continues, 'Those fagtards at Columbia worked with the U.N. and the CDC to cover up the Kung Flu origins so they could control our lives and our children.'  I think you get the point Mr. Bigglesworth.  You shouldn't suffer the sins of the father, but you realize we look for open minded students on our campus, and most of the likes he gets are from you." 

Thomas:  "I dunno, it seemed like Dad needed a win after what happened to him last year at the Cracker Barrel." 

"You know what?  I'm not even gonna ask.  We'll be in touch."  

 

It actually has nothing to do with politics, but rather about seeing if a young person has critical thinking skills.  Or, at the very least, wishes to learn critical thinking skills.  In our round of scholarship interviews this past March (on zoom obviously), after the cliche questions like "How was Covid-19 effected your education and your future plans", some panelists did veer into topics like Fake News/Disinformation, evaluating scientific data for non-scientists, etc.  Not directly taking on the politicization of the epidemic, but dancing around those kinds of questions.  I didn't feel it was appropriate then, but probably will next time around.   Thankfully most of the students just shared their concerns over disinformation and how powerfully dangerous it can be.  They're much more benevolent than the assholes raising them.  You know?......US

 

 

Edited August 19, 2021 by Lobo

[UT_OB1 2,225]

2 hours ago, Wulaw Horn said:

783 kids hospitalized with Covid from 7/1-present.  That is in comparison to 5800 from March 2020- present.  That's an average of 322 a month for the pandemic compared to 565 in this past sample size.  So, that's a what 80% increase in hospitalization?  That's not great- but from another perspective there are roughly 7.5 million kids in Texas.  So, the total pandemic saw 0.0043% of kids hospitalized (1 in 23,200 kids if my math is correct) while the recent 6 weeks has seen 0.0075% of kids hospitalized (1 in 13,333 kids in the state hospitalized).  I don't have any breakdown by age (this was just Children 0-17) but I'd think that my 6, 9 and 10 year olds would be less likely than from the population of the entire state to get this.

in 2018 66 kids in Texas died of the flu (I went to the last pre Covid year). Accounting for increase in the number of kids we'd normalize that number at 70 with todays population.  I can't find how many kids have died of Covid during the pandemic, nor more specifically of Delta, but read a Tech doctor say (twice as likely to die) so that's 140 in a year out of 7,500,000 instead of 70 a year.  I don't know where the numbers would have to get for me to check my kid out of stuff like that, but I'd think death rate near 1/10,000 would give me pause?  right now it's near 1/55,000 vs 1/110,000 during a regular flu season if the TT doctor I read is correct at "twice as many". 

By contrast there are 50 kids deaths in swimming pools in Texas a year, there are likely around 60 traffic deaths a year (counting only kids under 13- so riding along with a trusted adult) and overall there are something like 4,000 kids deaths a year in the state.  So, Covid would account for 3.5% of kids deaths vs normal flu something like 2%

32 kids in Texas died of accidental shooting. I don't have guns at my house (or rather we locked my wife's gun in the gun safe and the key was lost so it's inaccessible) b/c I fear the idea of them accidentally getting shot- so this isn't strictly rational I suppose that I'd fear that 32 more than the 70 for the flu or 140 for COVID, but that was probably how I was raised in a very strictly no guns house.  Many people think this is weird but we are certainly a product of how we are programmed.  

None of this is to say that this is "no big deal" for kids.  You just said look at the numbers so I did. If I got those numbers wrong it wasn't unintentional or obfuscation- it was error in googling or sourcing on my part.   

The numbers are so staggeringly in favor of vaccination that people who don't really fail at cost benefit analysis.  Masks have little (but not zero) cost for elementary school children and they aren't a magic bullet to stop at all, but a winner at the margins. I think reasonable people can disagree over the need to wear them for elementary school kids but I know that's an unpopular take. I'm watching the data and ready to change my mind if it starts running hard the other way.  

Only 378 have died since the begging of the pandemic across the contrary. I think the 140 just for Texas in a year is a high estimate. 
 

https://downloads.aap.org/AAP/PDF/AAP and CHA - Children and COVID-19 State Data Report 8.12 FINAL.pdf

Edited August 19, 2021 by UT_OB1

[atomheartbevo 89,799]

23 minutes ago, Lobo said:

I didn't feel it was appropriate then, but probably will next time around.   Thankfully most of the students just shared their concerns over disinformation and how powerfully dangerous it can be.  They're much more benevolent than the assholes raising them.  You know?......US

They need to all watch the Social Dilemma documentary on Netflix.

 

[atomheartbevo 89,799]

So AISD roughly doubled exposures/cases from yesterday.  These would probably have to be positives that happened before school started, since it's only been 3 days.

https://www.austinisd.org/dashboard

Edited August 19, 2021 by atomheartbevo

[Wulaw Horn 19,152]

1 minute ago, UT_OB1 said:

Only 378 have died since the begging of the pandemic across the contrary. I think the 140 just for Texas in a year is a high estimate. 
 

https://downloads.aap.org/AAP/PDF/AAP and CHA - Children and COVID-19 State Data Report 8.12 FINAL.pdf

Like I said- I couldn't find those numbers where I was looking (thanks).  When I can't find exactly what I'm looking for I shade numbers against my POV- acting as a worst case scenario. I literally just went by an article where a doctor was saying this is twice as deadly to kids as the flu (and that kills 70 a year in Texas).  Maybe he was talking about Delta specifically.  

It's mind numbingly sad to think of any kid dying.  And it seems like you hear about it all the time.  But 3800 kids in a state as big as Texas dying isn't as big a number as I would have thought.  That's 1 in 1980 kids. So, pretty much 5 or 6 kids a year dying in a normal suburban town.  I mean, not great, but that's car wrecks, cancer, suicide, gun violence, drowning, eating disorders, child abuse etc.  I'd have thought it was a little higher to tell the truth.  

[CleverNickname 1,321]

6 hours ago, Samson's Wig said:

Which air purifiers did you get?

Germ guardian - 2x of the smaller ones. Room might be 20x20, so pissing in an ocean.akes me feel better anyway.

[Jiggy-Z 3,435]

10 minutes ago, Wulaw Horn said:

I mean, not great, but that's car wrecks, cancer, suicide, gun violence, drowning, eating disorders, child abuse etc.  I'd have thought it was a little higher to tell the truth.  

What, no reefer madness?

[Wulaw Horn 19,152]

Just now, Jiggy-Z said:

What, no reefer madness?

That was dumb of me. Drug overdose should absolutely have ben a thing. Not reefer madness of course, but that's got to be a pretty significant part of kids dying/death statistics.  

[Brisketexan 105,337]

Really feeling for all of you parents of youngsters.  This is a stressful period, and I wish you all the best.  And yes, if your little ones get it, it's almost certainly going to be super-mild/asymptomatic.  But it pisses me off that y'all have to worry about it as much as you are.

And of course, the secondary risk isn't the kids -- it's those they bring it home to.  When mom or grandpa dies because little Johnny brought home COVID, that devastates a family.

So, y'all keep doing the best you can -- have them wear masks, keep a close eye on how they feel, and hope that this surge burns out quickly.

[atomheartbevo 89,799]

TEA backs down.

https://www.kxan.com/news/education/set-for-school/texas-says-schools-now-must-notify-families-of-a-positive-covid-19-case-in-classrooms/

Quote

Texas school districts must now notify teachers, staff and students’ families of a positive COVID-19 case in a classroom or extracurricular or after-school program, the Texas Education Agency announced in an updated public health guidance Thursday.

Quote

 In its guidance, the TEA also states that Abbott’s mask order is not being enforced because of ongoing litigation.

When the TEA initially released guidance on Aug. 5, it was met with backlash from parents and health experts who didn’t understand why districts wouldn’t have been required to tell parents about a close contact.

Quote

The TEA is also allowing schools to conduct rapid tests on staff to mitigate the risk of asymptomatic individuals being on campuses. With written permission from parents, students also can be tested. 

 

[atomheartbevo 89,799]

24 minutes ago, Wulaw Horn said:

I'd have thought it was a little higher to tell the truth.  

Law of Small Numbers or Anchoring Effect depending on your viewpoint.

For those of us who are 80s kids, many of us remember how quite a few parents started freaking out a little bit when Adam Walsh was kidnapped and decapitated by a stranger from a mall. This desire the fact that the vast majority of children being kidnapped are being nabbed by relatives/family friends/non-custodial parents, and strangers randomly kidnapping a kid are extremely rare.  Later on toss in the Halloween candy scares, the Tylenol scare, etc., and all of that was being blasted nation-wide by the news/cable networks, and now you have a shit-ton of helicopter parents.

[smoky 840]

Since it was discussed up thread, from AISD's e-blast just now:

Students in extracurricular activities, including athletics, won’t have to wear a mask when outdoors and socially distanced or when engaged in vigorous physical activity.

- Vigorous physical activity could include marching band, indoor volleyball or football.

- This applies to recess at the elementary level as well.

Why it matters: Masks are an important tool to prevent the spread of COVID-19, and are required at Austin ISD. The district is looking to balance the need to protect students from COVID while also following some common-sense guidelines about when it’s feasible to wear a mask.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines say people don’t need to wear a mask when outdoors and socially distanced.

Yes, but: For the most part, students need to wear a mask when at Austin ISD, including schools, classrooms, and facilities.

You should know: If too many athletes quarantine to field a team, that team will lose in a forfeit.

Most of our student athletes qualify to receive the vaccine, which is still the best way to fight COVID-19.

[Guest Lobo]

50 minutes ago, Wulaw Horn said:

Like I said- I couldn't find those numbers where I was looking (thanks).  When I can't find exactly what I'm looking for I shade numbers against my POV- acting as a worst case scenario. I literally just went by an article where a doctor was saying this is twice as deadly to kids as the flu (and that kills 70 a year in Texas).  Maybe he was talking about Delta specifically.  

It's mind numbingly sad to think of any kid dying.  And it seems like you hear about it all the time.  But 3800 kids in a state as big as Texas dying isn't as big a number as I would have thought.  That's 1 in 1980 kids. So, pretty much 5 or 6 kids a year dying in a normal suburban town.  I mean, not great, but that's car wrecks, cancer, suicide, gun violence, drowning, eating disorders, child abuse etc.  I'd have thought it was a little higher to tell the truth.  

Fair point.  Obviously so many other things can kill kids in larger numbers than Covid.  Which is what blows my mind about mitigation and masking.  

Kids will always die in accidents, cancer, suicide, guns, drowning, etc.  But if I brought you a suite of techniques and tools that would reduce the chances of your child dying from one of those 5 things by half........and they were't terribly cumbersome...would you use them?  And then after that, I brought you a shot (well, two shots actually) that you would take and eventually give to your child at the right age...and it would reduce dying from one of those 5 things by 95-99%...would you take it/give it?  

I'm not talking to you, I'm talking to the jackasses in my school district.  I get that life can be dangerous for a kid.  You can't shut down the world for them, they have to navigate it and grow.  But what I'm offering in the first wave is a way to cut uncessary deaths by over half.  My second toolbox can almost completely eliminate it, wouldn't people want to wear the mask and the band-aid for awhile for that kind of protection? 

If there  was a shot tomorrow morning that was approved by the FDA for emergency use that would protect kids with childhood cancers from dying from that cancer with 99% certainty, would anyone at Dell Children's refuse it because of conspiracy theories, freedom infringement, or wait for another year of clinical data?  Nope.  But we do it with Covid.  If I had a super special drowning mitigation technique, once you use it---your child is 99% assured not to drown...would you use it?  If I had a device that made it so no child, even with two hands, could possibly fire a handgun with 99% certainty just in case it wasn't stored properly...would you install it on your weapons?  If I had a staircase that could catch your child after they fell down the second step to protect them from falling all the way and dying and I would only charge you gas money for the parts and installation---would you let me put it in your home?  

Why is Covid vaccine so different?  Because stupid people said it was.  That's it.  That's the only reason.  All that said, when the 6-12 green light is given later this Autumn, we're gonna stew over it long and hard and cry and drink.  

[atomheartbevo 89,799]

23 minutes ago, smoky said:

You should know: If too many athletes quarantine to field a team, that team will lose in a forfeit.

This is the one that should have a lot of school districts thinking about how they are handling all of this.

[Brisketexan 105,337]

29 minutes ago, atomheartbevo said:

This is the one that should have a lot of school districts thinking about how they are handling all of this.

It's truly the only way this will get through many Texans' thick skulls -- jeopardize their precious football, and that's a bridge too far.

Of course, they'll just get pissed that their team got booted because of a hoax, fake news, their kids aren't even really sick, those test results are faked by the deep state, etc.  So....it won't actually help our situation here.

[JesusSweatDuck 17,810]

https://www.texastribune.org/2021/08/19/texas-schools-covid-19-cases/

Quote

Texas school districts must now notify teachers, staff and students’ families of positive COVID-19 cases in classrooms or extracurricular or after-school programs, the Texas Education Agency announced in updated public health guidance Thursday.

Spoiler

Texas school districts must now notify teachers, staff and students’ families of positive COVID-19 cases in classrooms or extracurricular or after-school programs, the Texas Education Agency announced in updated public health guidance Thursday.

This is a change from the TEA’s previous guidance, which didn’t explicitly require school districts to notify parents of a close contact with the virus.

Districts must still report positive cases to their local health departments and the state. Local health officials are also allowed to investigate COVID-19 cases in schools.

While school districts across the state issue mask mandates, the TEA maintains that it will not issue guidance on mask requirements until legal challenges get resolved related to Gov. Greg Abbott’s order banning such mandates in schools. In its guidance, the TEA also states that Abbott’s mask order is not being enforced because of ongoing litigation.

When the TEA initially released guidance Aug. 5, it was met with backlash from parents and health experts who didn’t understand why districts wouldn’t be required to tell parents about a close contact. The agency’s initial reasoning was that “the data from 2020-21 showing very low COVID-19 transmission rates in a classroom setting and data demonstrating lower transmission rates among children than adults.” But this left health experts questioning the rationale since the more contagious delta variant was not prominent last year.

The TEA is also allowing schools to conduct rapid tests on staff to mitigate the risk of asymptomatic individuals being on campuses. With written permission from parents, students also can be tested. Parents and school officials are to continue keeping students out of classrooms if they have COVID-19 or are exhibiting symptoms. Parents also can choose to keep their kids home for 10 days after learning their children had close contact with someone who contracted the virus, according to the new guidance.

The guidance still allows for remote conferencing for up to 20 days for students who are sick with COVID-19 or have been exposed to it. If more time is needed, schools can apply for waivers. Longer-term remote learning has largely been defunded after it was offered at the start of the pandemic, and efforts to allocate funding for it have so far failed in the Legislature this year.

 

Remote conferencing differs from virtual learning in that conferencing is done live with a teacher going through material while virtual learning is done through modules or online portals where the teacher isn’t necessarily present.

 

[JesusSweatDuck 17,810]

1 hour ago, atomheartbevo said:

So AISD roughly doubled exposures/cases from yesterday.  These would probably have to be positives that happened before school started, since it's only been 3 days.

https://www.austinisd.org/dashboard

I think LISD is a good indicator on how AISD will track.  For the first week (really just 2 days other than staff), we had 38 cases.  Now in the second week we're starting to see transmission in the schools and we're up to 169 with 1 day of counting left.  A 440% increase, and if that continues into next week we'll see around 750 cases and the district start to consider shutting down.  I forget the R0 value of Delta, but if I remember correctly it is around 4 which adds up to the spike in cases as well.

 

 

Link - https://www.leanderisd.org/covid19dashboard/

Edited August 19, 2021 by JesusSweatDuck
link

[Snake Diggity 4,627]

I spent some time working as a contractor in Iraq from 2005-2007.  Before deciding to take that job, I did some back of the envelope math and figured my odds of getting seriously injured in that war zone were roughly 1/10000.  That seemed like a reasonable risk at the time, considering the pay, so I took the job.  
 

Doing similar back of the envelope math for sending my daughter to kindergarten, I figure she’s got about a 1/10000 chance of being hospitalized with COVID this year.  That’s fucked up.

[midtown 3,348]

I wonder what the stats are on how many kids who are getting sick sat out all of the last year at home. And I know the media isnt reporting it but how many really sick kids are unhealthy? They were quick to point out that this older person died due to health reasons but that seems to be lacking in the kid arena

[Hanrahan 1,306]

There been many cases filed by local governmental entities - counties, ISDS and cities - arguing that Abbott does not have the power under the Disaster Act to forbid local mask mandates. Almost all trial court have ruled in favor of local control.

The Texas Supreme Court, which is 100% Republican, stayed those orders in Dallas and San Antonio earlier this week (or late last week). There was another case out of Austin involving Harris County and some school districts. Like before, the trial court ruled in favor of the local governments and against Abbott. Also like the other cases, it ended up before the Supreme Court, although there was no stay issued.

This evening, the Supreme Court ruled against Paxton and Abbott and dismissed the state’s “appeal.” (Appeal is quoted because it was technically a different legal vehicle, but had the same effect of getting the case before the Pub Supreme Court). There is no opinion so I’m not sure if it’s a procedural ruling or a merits ruling, but it was certainly unexpected that the Supreme Court would deny Abbott relief and rule in favor of Harris County being able to enforce mask mandates.

[Pods 7,586]

Even if Delta is no more severe, it is clearly MUCH more contagious and many more kids are going to contract and spread it. Pediatric hospitalizations are already up sharply, before you add any of this unmasked in school stupidity.  

If you look at the recent hospitalization trends from the CDC, it's clear as day that Delta is very different than OG, or previous variants for kids.

[atomheartbevo 89,799]

 

[atomheartbevo 89,799]

@immamac can you rename this to the "Texas Schools and Covid" thread or something, since there's a lot of districts around here and we're all facing the same issues with our kids?

[Wulaw Horn 19,152]

2 hours ago, Snake Diggity said:

I spent some time working as a contractor in Iraq from 2005-2007.  Before deciding to take that job, I did some back of the envelope math and figured my odds of getting seriously injured in that war zone were roughly 1/10000.  That seemed like a reasonable risk at the time, considering the pay, so I took the job.  
 

Doing similar back of the envelope math for sending my daughter to kindergarten, I figure she’s got about a 1/10000 chance of being hospitalized with COVID this year.  That’s fucked up.

I got 1/13,333 hospitalized for all kids- my supposition is if she’s not got medical issues it’s probably more like 1 in 15 or 20k.  That’s a really really really unlikely outcome. I’d have guessed your chances in Iraq were worse than that. It’s a lot easier to take chances for yourself than with your kid. 

[TexEx15 17,568]

Good lord.  Let’s hope Texas does better.

[Born to Run 6,569]

Good lord.  Let’s hope Texas does better.

We tend to not get bested by Mississippi for being shitty, but its always way too close to call,, sometimes it rains and Rice wins on a Sunday.

[conVINCEd 21,469]

4 minutes ago, Born to Run said:

2 hours ago, TexEx15 said:

Good lord.  Let’s hope Texas does better.

We tend to not get bested by Mississippi for being shitty, but its always way too close to call,, sometimes it rains and Rice wins on a Sunday.

Too soon.

[Born to Run 6,569]

Too soon.

Agreed. Did Mackovich's kid GTFO, that guy kinda sucked IRL and on here.

[MonkeyDoughnut 10,356]

Rice University has gone online to start, but they are also "requiring" locals to NOT show up on campus for move in. Telling anyone else who can to not come.  Word getting spread that the plan is for fall semester to completely be online.  Apparently they also sold off the buildings they were using last year for quarantine so they don't have any place to quarantine mass students anymore.

 

[SquishMitten 10,435]

If you are two days in and testing positive on a virus that lies dormant for 5 days then none of these tests have fuck all to do with school opening, do they? Isn't any positive tests in the first week of school essentially a control group for how many kids are running around with this thing when not in school?  Or did I miss something and have yall been in school more than 2 days?

Technically, that’s correct. But there were also lots of back-to-school events and end-of-summer parties that had a lot of kids congregating the week before school started. We did several of those events as well, and came into closer contact with a lot of folks we don’t normally spend time with. So, yes, these infections likely occurred prior to the start of school, but many of them were because of school starting…if that makes sense.

[gsoda3 3,282]

i don't remember if this is Houston ISD policy or just my nieces' school's policy, but all kids have to mask.  if they refuse they go to a special room separate from everyone else until they do mask.  if they still refuse, they get sent home.  they can't come back until they agree to mask.  if they refuse they must take the remote learning option.  i don't know who's enforcing it but that's the communication they received yesterday. 

[Wulaw Horn 19,152]

24 minutes ago, SquishMitten said:

Technically, that’s correct. But there were also lots of back-to-school events and end-of-summer parties that had a lot of kids congregating the week before school started. We did several of those events as well, and came into closer contact with a lot of folks we don’t normally spend time with. So, yes, these infections likely occurred prior to the start of school, but many of them were because of school starting…if that makes sense.

Yeah, that is certainly true to a point.  Question becomes is school safer- or is it safer to have a birthday party at the trampoline park?  My guess would be school is slightly safer as most of the time the kids will be inert sitting at desks, that are spaced more or less 6 feet from each other I'd think.  And you have less indoor running and jumping around.  Seems like that would portend slightly less spread but who knows  at this time- it's all pretty much guess work until we get a large data sample.  Then- if it's a wave with crests and troughs you are looking at the possibility it's a 2 or 3 week thing where it climbs and gets bad and then back to normal ish, whatever that looks like 18 months into this pandemic.  

[Poe It Up 126]

I guess Conroe ISD was holding onto all the Covid contact emails until last night. We have a lot of young kids on our street and they’ve all been in contact with someone that’s positive at school. It’s fucking everywhere here, so it’s only a matter of time until we’ve all had it. 

[SquishMitten 10,435]

On 8/18/2021 at 10:03 AM, SquishMitten said:

Not sure where this news is coming from that all the teachers are required to wear masks in Eanes. One of our neighbors has a disabled child who is severely immune compromised. Even pre-COVID, it wasn’t uncommon for her to end up in the hospital if she caught something. But they found out yesterday that a couple of her special ed teachers at Barton Creek refuse to wear a mask. Each of them would only be around her for about 20 minutes/day, but they all said it was their choice and they absolutely wouldn’t wear one. It was quickly escalated to the principal and then the school board. Nobody is doing anything. Now, they’ve hired an attorney, but they can’t start school until it’s resolved. They’ve contacted every private school within an hour’s drive, and there aren’t any available that can deal with her disabilities. It’s heartbreaking. The mom can hardly stop crying, the girl can’t stop crying, my wife and daughters are crying about it. I’m infuriated. Those teachers are despicable human beings and have no place in a teaching environment.

ETA - when I say it’s common that she was hospitalized, I’m not exaggerating. The parents are basically numb to it. Their concern isn’t that she MIGHT have to be hospitalized, but rather they know she will and there may not be an ICU bed for her when it happens.

So their story was featured on the news this morning. Hopefully that adds some pressure to the powers-that-be and speeds up the process for the district sorting their bullshit out. Also, upon re-reading, I realized I blamed this on Barton Creek Elementary, when in fact it is WHS. My apologies to Principal Phelps. 

[conVINCEd 21,469]

8 hours ago, Born to Run said:

9 hours ago, conVINCEd said:

Too soon.

Agreed. Did Mackovich's kid GTFO, that guy kinda sucked IRL and on here.

I didn’t know him well, but his kid seemed ok, and he handled his dad’s firing while he was a current student about as well as you could expect anyone to handle that.

[Johnny Sack 8,397]

1 hour ago, conVINCEd said:

I didn’t know him well, but his kid seemed ok, and he handled his dad’s firing while he was a current student about as well as you could expect anyone to handle that.

Also, didn't he start and maintain the ponzi scheme involving gold thread on hornfans?  Was awesome.

[conVINCEd 21,469]

1 minute ago, Johnny Sack said:

Also, didn't he start and maintain the ponzi scheme involving gold thread on hornfans?  Was awesome.

I believe that is correct.

[hayden_horn 11,365]

1 hour ago, conVINCEd said:

I didn’t know him well, but his kid seemed ok, and he handled his dad’s firing while he was a current student about as well as you could expect anyone to handle that.

 

17 minutes ago, Johnny Sack said:

Also, didn't he start and maintain the ponzi scheme involving gold thread on hornfans?  Was awesome.

 

16 minutes ago, conVINCEd said:

I believe that is correct.

it is correct, and i thought he was a great poster, even when faced with the ire we had for his father. i don't understand why people hated him.

[hayden_horn 11,365]

14 hours ago, atomheartbevo said:

@immamac can you rename this to the "Texas Schools and Covid" thread or something, since there's a lot of districts around here and we're all facing the same issues with our kids?

done.

[HornOnTheBayou 8,946]

2 hours ago, Wulaw Horn said:

Yeah, that is certainly true to a point.  Question becomes is school safer- or is it safer to have a birthday party at the trampoline park?  My guess would be school is slightly safer as most of the time the kids will be inert sitting at desks, that are spaced more or less 6 feet from each other I'd think.  And you have less indoor running and jumping around.  Seems like that would portend slightly less spread but who knows  at this time- it's all pretty much guess work until we get a large data sample.  Then- if it's a wave with crests and troughs you are looking at the possibility it's a 2 or 3 week thing where it climbs and gets bad and then back to normal ish, whatever that looks like 18 months into this pandemic.  

Um, have you ever been in a public school classroom? I've got 32 students in my 2nd period. Social distancing is not happening this year.

Edited August 20, 2021 by HornOnTheBayou

[JesusSweatDuck 17,810]

1 minute ago, HornOnTheBayou said:

Um, have you ever been in a public school classroom? I've got 32 students in my 2nd period.

Yeah, and then the lunch rooms.  My kids say they're sitting elbow to elbow with very little space due to crowding of schools.

[Wulaw Horn 19,152]

20 minutes ago, HornOnTheBayou said:

Um, have you ever been in a public school classroom? I've got 32 students in my 2nd period. Social distancing is not happening this year.

Man, that's a lot. Wasn't like that when I taught a decade ago (at least for me), and isn't like that anywhere my kids have attended. Maybe we are just lucky (also they are little, so...)

Any chance you are getting rid of some of those kids?  first week numbers were always kind of wonky I felt like and kids would get moved in and out for a week or so. I don't think I ever had more than 28. I had 17 and 19 in a couple classes. The class with 17 though had 14 boys and 3 girls. It was sort of a shit show. 

[HornOnTheBayou 8,946]

It's an AP class so some of the students will drop it in the next couple of weeks. There are a handful that I need to gently nudge out the door.