*snip*
We live in a low income area. Most households are multi-generational in our neighbourhood so keeping the kids at home has actually been easier for them than middle class households as the grandparents have been doing the lion's share of the child care. Daycares began to open up around here last month - but they were opening at 1/4 capacity and with mandatory mask wearing/social distancing. Most daycares were unable to fill all the spots even at reduced capacity. It may be going on, but I certainly haven't seen evidence of 20 kids hanging out together in a 2 bedroom apartment.
I wanted to address this, specifically. It matches the situation in my location also.
By and large, the majority of folks who are clamoring to get their children back in school are the rich white people. These aren't just the people you see complaining on websites and facebook and at the school board meetings. The district has given SEVERAL surveys, asking parents if we should reopen, and if so, how (full on, hybrid).
The majority of poor parents preferred distance learning. The majority of Latinx families preferred distance learning (there is a great deal of overlap in our case).
The most recent survey just ended, and over half of all respondents said "no, do not reopen". This is despite the fact that the response rate among the Latinx population is lower than the response rate of the white population.
My children attend schools where 75% and 95% of the students are poor. My kids got free lunch for years because they just gave it to everyone (breakfast too). Many of these students live with their grandparents or other families. And some of the children are being raised by their grandparents.
Perhaps the survey results are due to:
1. The families are worried about the health of grandparents and at risk family members
2. The families have someone who is able to be at home with the students
3. The district has continued to provide food to all of the students (breakfast and lunch are grab and go). The daily class schedules are set around this.
4. The district has provided internet and devices to everyone.
That does not mean that these children won't fall behind over the school year. Some of them will. For this reason, our district has been working diligently to figure out how to reopen schools safely.
Recognize that what is safe is going to depend greatly on where you live -
and I think that nuance is very much lost sometimes on these forums. You simply cannot apply a "one size fits all" solution to every school or location. We are in California, our positivity rate is around 8%. We do not have enough widespread testing to safely open, and our case rate is still too high. The town I grew up in is small, and rural. My nieces are in high school, back at school - but with only 35 students per grade, total? That's not all that difficult. COVID is simply not that widespread there.
It's very widespread here, and many of our teachers are older or at risk. That is the reality of our particular location. And unlike other areas of the country - until recently, people have been compliant. My children have not seen friends since March. There are no playdates. The parks are closed, with yellow caution tape around all of the playground equipment. The beaches were closed for holidays. Several families I know have "pods" (one or two other families that they hang out with). Most camps were closed all summer.
I am only just now seeing the (rich, white) friends getting together to party with 10-15 other families, 30-40 other people, now that our cases are declining. I only hope this doesn't come back to bite us.
Once our case rate gets to the "red" level (an average of 4-7 cases per day per 100k population), and stays there for 14 days, the schools can reopen.
Our district is taking it slow. Once we have reached "red", they will prioritize the students most at risk. For our district, that means homeless children, English learners (45% of our elementary district), disabled students, and children on free/reduced lunch. If we are lucky, that could be as early as the end of the month.
Once we have reached the "orange" level (1-4 cases per day per 100k people), the district plans to reopen all schools with the hybrid model. (Cohorts on campus half the time).
Finally, "yellow" (<1). Modified fully in person model (masks, cleaning, etc.). This is actually really expensive due to busing requirements. More than half the students at our particular elementary school take the bus.
Unfortunately right now, the expense in getting started in a district with 14,000 students is going to be with testing and contact tracing. They are working on it. The slow startup (focusing on the most needy students) is the smart way to do it.