K-12 Schools & COVID

[Marquette Fan]

It's pretty funny (sad?) that vacations and camps would take priority over school after a year like we just went through.

There's money invested in vacations and camp - can't imagine people would be thrilled to throw that money out the window.  And for me my 3rd grader was face to face all school year and my 8th grader did fine with hybrid.  I hate that school doesn't start until Sep. 1st for us  and wouldn't mind it starting sooner in general - just hard to do suddenly when it was planned to have a Sep. 1st start.  They'd also have to do something in Wisconsin about the law they have in place that public schools can't start until Sep. 1st without an exception and they only have so many excpetions that they give out now.  Not saying it can't be worked around - it's just something that would have to be considered in Wisconsin.

[Marquette Fan]

Our school District eliminated quarantines for close contacts recently which now present a complication for the postseason for sports due to WIAA rules.  There's a chance they may try to remove the mask requirment this week - hoping that stays in place through the end of the 20-21 school year - I don't think it will extend beyond that - just want it in place through the end of this school year...

[ZiggysFryBoy]

Our school District eliminated quarantines for close contacts recently which now present a complication for the postseason for sports due to WIAA rules.  There's a chance they may try to remove the mask requirment this week - hoping that stays in place through the end of the 20-21 school year - I don't think it will extend beyond that - just want it in place through the end of this school year...

Keep the masks on for the rest of the year.  Finish the year on a good note, not going back to quarantined classes and remote "learning".

[mu_hilltopper]

There's like 19 days of classes left.   Just keep the damn masks on a tiny bit longer.

[jesmu84]

Keep the masks on for the rest of the year.  Finish the year on a good note, not going back to quarantined classes and remote "learning".

Agreed.

Get EVERYONE back to in-person in the fall

How do people feel about public schools making vaccines mandatory to return?

Apologies if this has been discussed and I missed it

[4everwarriors]

Ah no, give me less government, hey?

[Goose]

Get the kids back to school and people get back to their office. IMO, enough is enough and time to get 100% back to normal.

As 4ever noted, less government is a good thing, way less government is a better thing.

[jesmu84]

Ah no, give me less government, hey?

Do you feel the same about all vaccines for kids?

[4everwarriors]

Great question, at this point in time I would not be so quick to immunize my children if they were under the age of 12. Most importantly, young children, should they contract covid, may show symptoms, but are virtually in no danger of hospitalization or death. Flu is a far greater concern for kids than covid. Secondly, while the science shows the vaccine to be safe, we still don't know the long term effects on children. So, the short answer is no, hey?

[jesmu84]

Great question, at this point in time I would not be so quick to immunize my children if they were under the age of 12. Most importantly, young children, should they contract covid, may show symptoms, but are virtually in no danger of hospitalization or death. Flu is a far greater concern for kids than covid. Secondly, while the science shows the vaccine to be safe, we still don't know the long term effects on children. So, the short answer is no, hey?

I was referring to Polio, MMR, etc

[The Hippie Satan of Hyperbole]

Great question, at this point in time I would not be so quick to immunize my children if they were under the age of 12. Most importantly, young children, should they contract covid, may show symptoms, but are virtually in no danger of hospitalization or death. Flu is a far greater concern for kids than covid. Secondly, while the science shows the vaccine to be safe, we still don't know the long term effects on children. So, the short answer is no, hey?

Lol. Of course....

[Marquette Fan]

There's like 19 days of classes left.   Just keep the damn masks on a tiny bit longer.

Yes that's my philosophy exactly.  Our school board meets on May 12th and the last day of school is June 9th.  The administration had already said the mask requirement would remain in place until the end of the school year once the mask mandate was overturned in Wisconsin.  I didn't take their word for that though as I knew the school board can choose to do whatever they want about the masks and they don't have to listen to the recommendation from the administration.

[Marquette Fan]

You know I didn't realize Covid was over - our school board voted to remove pretty much any and all Covid restrictions immediately tonight.  It's beyond me why they couldn't have left the frickin mask requirement in place until the end of the school year on June 9th - at least give parents a chance to get 12-15 year olds vaccinated - those that want to do so of course.  And kids under 12 can't be vaccinated at all yet of course.

Oh wait I guess there is still one restriction in place - you are technically required to quarantine still if you are Covid positive but that's about all that's left - you don't have to quarantine even if someone in your household is Covid positive and close contact quarantines were done as of last week also (I have more of an issue with no quarantine required if someone in your same household has Covid than I do with getting rid of the close contact quarantines).

[The Lens]

Amazingly we made it until this week of the school year to get our first close contact.  A girl who sits next to my daughter (3 feet apart) tested positive.  The 3 other kids in her "pod / cohort" have all tested negative. 

Masks work.

[MU82]

Amazingly we made it until this week of the school year to get our first close contact.  A girl who sits next to my daughter (3 feet apart) tested positive.  The 3 other kids in her "pod / cohort" have all tested negative. 

Masks work.

Glad to hear your daughter didn't get COVID-19, Lens.

[The Lens]

Glad to hear your daughter didn't get COVID-19, Lens.

This was another W in the column of no in school spread.  We had cases pop up from time to time and for a while it was multiple a week but we never saw any student to student spread.  Cases always seemed to arise from adults letting their guard down and in turn passing it on to their children.

[Marquette Fan]

Amazingly we made it until this week of the school year to get our first close contact.  A girl who sits next to my daughter (3 feet apart) tested positive.  The 3 other kids in her "pod / cohort" have all tested negative. 

Masks work.

Hope your daughter stays healthy. 

Yeah I think masks were the most effective mitigation strategy and had wanted to see that requirement stay in place through the end of the school year to at least let parents get the 12-15 year olds vaccinated (those that want to get their kids vaccinated of course). 

[The Lens]

Hope your daughter stays healthy. 

Yeah I think masks were the most effective mitigation strategy and had wanted to see that requirement stay in place through the end of the school year to at least let parents get the 12-15 year olds vaccinated (those that want to get their kids vaccinated of course).

I should have stated that more clearly, she and the 3 others in her cohort all tested negative and their timeframe now puts them out of danger.  The point being, something I've preached from day 1...people should wear masks and kids should be in school.

[forgetful]

https://www.cnn.com/2021/05/20/us/texas-face-masks-public-schools/index.html

For the legal scholars amongst us, curious as to how something like this is legal.

If schools (and in some states any government entity) can't create their own facemask rule, why can they create dress codes, or forbid certain types of clothing (e.g. short skirts, gang colors).

If one is up to the schools for the purpose of safety, should't they all be up to schools. What if a school said their dress code policy required a mask?

[Marquette Fan]

I should have stated that more clearly, she and the 3 others in her cohort all tested negative and their timeframe now puts them out of danger.  The point being, something I've preached from day 1...people should wear masks and kids should be in school.

No problem - I just misunderstood as I often do . 

I agree and think the masks and other mitigation procedures in place were helpful for my elementary school student to be face to face all year and my middle school student to be face to face most of the year (a hybrid schedule for some of the year).  But I'm still very dismayed they removed the mask requirement now in our District - really think it should have remained in place through the end of the school year.

[MU82]

A season-opening, big-rivalry football game in Charlotte, scheduled for this coming Friday, was just canceled because of positive COVID-19 cases within one of the programs.

https://www.charlotteobserver.com/sports/high-school/article253535534.html?

[MU82]

Georgia being Georgia, lots and lots of school districts have no mask mandates, and Gov. Brian Kemp is dead-set against them.

Well ...

From the AP:

In Georgia, where in-person classes are on hold in more than 20 districts that started the school year without mask requirements, some superintendents say the virus appeared to be spreading in schools before they sent students home.

“We just couldn’t manage it with that much staff out, having to cover classes and the spread so rapid,” said Eddie Morris, superintendent of the 1,050-student Johnson County district in Georgia. With 40% of students in quarantine or isolation, the district shifted last week to online instruction until Sept. 13.

More than 1 of every 100 school-aged children has tested positive for COVID-19 in the past two weeks in Georgia, according to state health data published Friday. Children age 5 to 17 are currently more likely to test positive for COVID-19 than adults.

[Boozemon Barro]

I think they should extend the mask requirements just until the end of this year. After that let's open it back up.

[Hards Alumni]

I think they should extend the mask requirements just until the end of this year. After that let's open it back up.

I think we shouldn't put a time stamp on it, but instead keep it until school age children have had the chance to get vaccinated.

[MU82]

Florida judge throws out DeSantis' ridiculous, obviously political ban on school mask mandates.

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/08/27/us/florida-mask-mandates-school-ruling.html?campaign_id=60&emc=edit_na_20210827&instance_id=0&nl=breaking-news&ref=headline&regi_id=108420427&segment_id=67446&user_id=d36dcf821462fdd16ec3636710a855fa

A Florida court on Friday rejected an effort by Gov. Ron DeSantis and other state officials to prevent mask mandates in schools during the state’s worst Covid-19 outbreak yet.

Judge John C. Cooper of the state’s Second Judicial Circuit said that Florida’s school districts may impose strict mask mandates on students to curb the spread of the coronavirus, handing a defeat to Governor DeSantis, whose administration has vehemently insisted on leaving masking decisions to children’s parents.

In a lengthy ruling from the bench, Judge Cooper sided with parents of students in various school districts who had argued that Florida’s Constitution requires keeping schoolchildren safe and secure, and masks would help accomplish that in a pandemic. Florida had previously indicated that it would appeal any adverse ruling to a more conservative appellate court.

Lawyers for Mr. DeSantis, a Republican, and the Florida Department of Education had countered that a “parents’ bill of rights” enacted by state lawmakers earlier this year gave parents the right to decide if their child should wear a mask. Judge Cooper disagreed, saying the new law “doesn’t ban mask mandates” and in fact gives school districts the discretion to impose them.