48 thoughts on “C-19 Chat Post – September 17 2021”

  1. Since school started there has already been 1,230 cases of COVID-19 among students in MA.

    I wonder if in hindsight, all students in the younger grades should have been put in remote learning while the middle and high schools in-person for this academic year? I bet it won’t be until after Christmas break before vaccination distribution for those early grades (K- 5/6) pending upon FDA approval.

    1. Did you see that in West Bridgewater, they are quarantining
      a whole class room keeping all those students at home.

      UMMM, if there are that many cases in that class, woudn’t
      it be more prudent to shut down the school or go remote
      for 2 weeks?

      Some one is NOT thinking with a clear head.

      1. I saw it. I’m working on the data base with numbers in school this week.

        I doubt they can go remote. Few schools are set up for it. See my last post from last night explaining why

        The first week, my guess was covid was being brought in from inside and not spreading in school. This clearly is now spreading in school. One school committee meeting member during a meeting last week said a district had to close both its kindergarten classes due to high numbers.

    2. We are seeing cases at all levels. You are correct about hindsight. But the fact that we saw this coming and treat it as if it is hindsight is beyond irresponsible by those that made the decision to eliminate a remote option

    1. With all the vaccine supply money can buy and then some, a nation on notice for the Delta wave, and a state-of-the-art healthcare system in many regions of the country, September 2021 will still likely rank as the 3rd deadliest month in the entire pandemic, behind January 2021 and December 2020. It’s conceivable that September 2021 even rises to 2nd place.

  3. School numbers for THREE DAYS ONLy this week. The chart covers school positives from 12/24/20 to date. Note that we now have the highest in three days that we had in that entire period. The two numbers that are close to what we had in the past three days were for an entire five day week

    https://imgur.com/a/eI9xZRZ

    I wonder if this is the education folks wanted that was cited as being better than a remote option.

  4. Why? See link below. Sad story. To cite documents from the 18th century as somehow justification for refusing a modern-day vaccine or proof of vaccination requirements strikes me as very, very, very odd. We have seat belt laws in virtually all states. Speed limits, too. Age restrictions for alcohol. Childhood vaccination rules. The list is endless of certain state requirements (or simply state-sponsored technologies) that could NOT have been envisioned in the 1700s. https://www.al.com/news/2021/09/alabama-pickers-couple-known-for-reselling-and-vaccine-opposition-both-dead-of-covid.html

  5. I believe that school officials who make all the decisions assumed too much that just “wearing masks” would offer the same protection as a vaccine until one becomes available. Not to mention social distancing pretty much impossible in a typical classroom or cafeteria, no matter how much plexiglass between desks or tables. The virus can travel great distances well beyond 6 feet as we now know.

    With so many cases overall (not only in schools) I am beginning to wonder how much good mask mandates really are.

    1. Philip I think you missed my comment yesterday. School officials had their responsibility for decisions taken from them. DESE’s commissioner Riley makes the decisions. School committees have no say since he took it away from them last spring.

      1. Then DESE Riley relied a bit too much on mask wearing. Specifically “who” made the final decisions is pretty much moot now. Hopefully cases eventually drop with time, and soon. I guess my point is that mask wearing is not the same as a full vaccination, which the younger grades desperately need, and ASAP.

        1. I agree it is moot except the school committees work really hard and are frustrated by this also.

          Riley announced last spring that there would be no remote this year. He did this before delta appeared but never changed his decision. Baker supports this.

          Your point, Philip, is excellent. Clearly masks help but are not enough.

    1. Last I heard, all Boston hospitals are in good shape and are not overwhelmed by cases. Let’s hope it stays that way.

      1. Not what I hear. We had a friend that had to visit the
        Brigham for a kidney stone just a matter of days ago and they were lining up patients in the hall ways.

  10. All is not lost at school.

    So, I have a few quarantining students at home.

    They are accessing our software that has our classes essentially on them, all notes are there, links to activities/worksheets/problems are there and I think most, if not all teachers are communicating with their quarantined students by email on a daily basis.

    Its not 100% as good, but rest assured, the kids aren’t just at home completely cut off from ongoing classes. 🙂 🙂 🙂

    2. Thank you, sir. Awesome news. Marshfield has done well. I know some school systems are doing well but also some are struggling because they dismantled the remote infrastructure. They are sending work home and home kids only need a half a day to qualify as a whole. Are your kids on their own or teacher led?

      On the whole, I have not had a problem with offering in school this school year. I have a very serious problem not offering both.

        1. You’re welcome but I’d go with Toms answer on that and not mine. I’m only familiar with what is happening out this way and in a few communities closer to Boston

      2. They are own their own as far as not receiving direct instruction. This is obviously not as good as receiving direct instruction.

        However ,,,,, so, for example, I am working on proportional reasoning. Definitions, the problems I am working on, videos with instruction, homework practice, and the answering of any and all student emails are how we are trying to keep them up. Then, of course, delaying assessments until after they return, allowing them to attend extra helps, etc.

        2. I had another thought. Are you as teachers set up to work via zoom even in a limited sense? As you know, five of my grandkids are being home schooled for at least this year. But the schools (two towns) are a tremendous support. Three have IEPs and are still eligible for zooms that address the reasons for IEPs.

          Sorry if this is confusing. The thought just popped into my head.

          Based in what marshfield is doing and knowing the kids are on their own which would be the third choice of in-school, then remote options but still doable, I wondered if Marshfield or any schools you are familiar with are thinking of setting up group zooms for kids in quarantine.

    3. Tom, out of curiosity, do you know if you have the tests necessary to implement the test to stay program. I have not checked out this way but have seen the media reports

      1. I don´t know, but I hope so.

        I signed up for that at my school.

        Now, If I don´t start to feel well later in the school day, I can get tested on the spot.

        If you don´t feel well when you wake up, then your not supposed to go to school.

        1. Interesting, Tom. Thank you. Maybe I’m in the minority, but the test to stay plan seems to be awfully risky. If you don’t feel well by EOD, then anyone that person was near for at least two days was exposed. Teachers I know are going to react ASAP if they do not feel well. But kids won’t.

    1. According to Dr Gupta on CNN this applies only to pfeizer. Folks who hand moderna and JJ need to wait to see what the decision is for them

  12. Tom, thanks for posting here. You, all teachers and staff as well as every child in school remain in my prayers every day.

    1. Ugh. I’m planning to get my first shingles shot Tuesday. I seem to recall some here had shingles and flu and may have reacted but were not sure to which one

  14. Sorry, I had to run to a field hockey game yesterday, then basically came home and fell asleep after dinner.

    Zoom: We are not zooming and I think its a negotiable duty that over the summer, was negotiated out of the most recent agreement, I´m guessing btwn most districts and their education associations.

    I know it might seem like it should be easy for teachers to add on the responsibility of creating the zoom link and dealing with what needs to happen to communicate to the in school students and the at home students at the same time, but it is its own cumbersome task, when we are already overwhelmed with what we need to do without the zoom responsibility. And, I think a lot of teachers might feel that way? I feel overwhelmed without the piece, as it is. So, I don´t know if Associations will agree to zoom, in a ¨full return to school¨ setup without something received back in return. Of course, if we had to hybrid, then that is a different scenario.

    1. Thanks Tom. Hope your game went well. I absolutely understand remote is difficult. I have been remiss by not being clear that I both understand and completely appreciate the tremendous burden on all of our teachers and school staff during this time. I sincerely apologize for that.

      There were a number of teachers in this area who opted to remain remote when schools opened last spring and who would still take that option. Some retired rather than return to school.

      Last I heard, there is absolutely no remote, even for snow days. That may have changed. I’ll have to check. Often qualifications for IEPs are considered medical which is the reason some zooms are offered for kids with IEPs.

      Where I differ is that I believe many children and/or families are at great risk because their kids are in school. Others worry about long covid which occurs in 11% of positive kids. To me it is wrong to have not put something in place for kids or their families at higher risk when we could have. There is at least one remote/virtual option that is acceptable to DESE. But it had to be adopted by school districts last spring….April I believe. Most want their kids in school. Those who do not have very legitimate reasons, yet they are being ignored

      The positives are just too high. The number in three days this past week topped every number in the first 21 five day school weeks of this year. Covid is now beginning to spread in the schools.

      With respect to remote. There are positives in that fewer children in school allows for more distancing in school and less kids on the bus. I know schools are discovering three feet just doesn’t work and putting new protocols in place to accommodate more distance. Sutton is one of them. I am curious with regard to extra work by staff to make these new protocols work.

      In short….which is something I seem incapable of being…. I have a difficult time in my head balancing safety for kids with an extra burden on you and all school personnel. I don’t know the answer and it is easy to sit back and see the pitfalls. The state had a summer to put plans in place but instead it focused on only one option and that option has predictably put too many kids in harms way. That just isn’t an approach I can justify.

      Good thing this is at the end of the thread.

      1. A quick follow up. There was no negotiation re zoom. DESE announced there would not be zoom/remote in spring and it was nonnegotiable. There was a brief loosening on August 28 for specific purposes when they saw there would be absences.

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