OT: Whitmer to keep schools closed for the rest of the school year
Kids will not report back to school. Schools will have to provide some form of remote learning. Seniors determined to be in good standing will graduate. Students determined to be in good standing will advance levels. Schools will not take a funding hit. This year's juniors will take the SAT in the fall as seniors.
First this must be said: So, so sad for the kids, and especially the seniors. The spring time of my senior year of high school was a most memorable time in my life...really just a joyous mood amongst classmates and much of the faculty too. No way to replicate that for the class of 2020.
With that being said, this comes as no surprise for two reasons.
1. While there is no way to know if it is an error or not at this point, an error on the side of caution is much more acceptable than putting kids, teachers, staff and even communities at risk by re-starting traditional programming too soon.
2. Making this decision now takes one big issue of the desk of the Governor. Whether you are a fan of our road fixer or not, she has a shit load of very significant issues to manage and signing off on this now puts one of those issues into the done pile.
I guess I would have liked to see if a return to school would have been possible with much progress against Covid-19 made through April, but the kids, and their parents do need to be able to make plans too.
Tough situation, no matter how you approach it.
Be well everyone. Bless those fighting this on the frontlines, and their families, as well.
All is lost. The country shall be in an economic depression within 6-9 months. It was fun while it lasted.
Glass is half full...cards will be reshuffled, the vermin who rose to the top of the shit pipe may lose everything, and when it rebounds the opportunity is there for those who work and want success. All those golden parachutes and corrupt companies...maybe their due has come
*1000
It ain’t gonna “rise to the top” for a long time. People’s lives are going to be ruined due to the overreaction to this situation.
Bernie! I didn't know you were on the Board.
My seniors had their last day and they didn’t even get to enjoy it. No prom, no commencement ceremony, no all-night party, no graduation parties most likely.
It was the right call, but damn, feel for these kids.
I hope this (seniors losing their prom/graduation party etc) is the worst thing to happen to them in their lifetime but it won’t be.
What is the purpose of this response?
This is awful for these kids. Full stop.
Are there worse things in the world? Of course! They could have a parent die, get leukemia, have a fire burn down their house, etc -- but literally no one alive today has gone through what they're going through; these kids have had something very real and tangible taken away from them.
Senior year of high school is one of the most meaningful and memorable times of anyone's life -- and I didn't particularly like high school. I still can remember well (sometimes fondly, sometimes not) events from parties, sporting events, classes etc, while if you asked me to remember a particular random year in my 30s, I'm not sure I could tell you a darn thing about it that had to do with how old I was (e.g., a birth of child is important; being 32 was not).
And I enjoyed my 30s plenty. But it's not nearly as big a turning point as senior year high school (or college, for that matter): it's a key marker in becoming an adult. And these kids had it taken away from them in basically a flash, through no fault of their own.
(BTW, I completely understand the decision; I just feel terrible for them).
March 30th, 2020 at 10:40 PM ^
Probably, but it sure feels like that to them right now.
Losing senior year seems bad but it’s not really that bad at all. My daughter is a senior. She actually seems fine about it. But she’s amazing and has a great attitude about just about everything.
I’m more concerned about her starting college in the fall. Will that even happen in the classroom?
What’s worse than seniors in high school losing their prom and other fun events, is that the seniors in college are now going to be graduating in to one of the worst economies ever. They won’t have a graduation ceremony. They won’t have a commencement. They won’t have a job. If you look at history, those seniors that were graduating college into a recession had a very different career path on average and those seniors graduating into a growth economy. That’s really tough luck.
March 31st, 2020 at 10:34 AM ^
This is the best opinion I've read so far on this board.
I don't understand how the helicopter parent opinion of "how much their senior has LAAAAWST" gains any sort of traction in public discourse. At the same time healthcare workers are literally being emotionally traumatized by a pandemic and chances of economic depression are very real.
Time to toughen these kids up a little bit, maybe? A look around the teenagers in my sphere of influence shows a callous disregard for human life or the betterment of society because staying in the house is just too damn hard.
Yeah, but to be fair, prom is generally one of the most overrated experiences ever.
When I look back on HS, going to the prom is somewhere in the low/mid 100s of the best memories I have. Most of my friends seem to concur.
The actual event if prom is usually not the greatest, but I know the build-up is what kids love. Dress and Tux shopping, having a date, taking a fun form of transportation, send-off, etc.
I didn't go to mine, because I couldn't get a date.
March 30th, 2020 at 11:28 PM ^
I only got to second base and it would have been better if I just hadn’t gone at all.
No surprise, but still just unbelievable.
A little more than 3 weeks ago almost no one believed any of this was going to happen.
Semantics...says she's ready to sign this week...seems like a no brainer choice.
Is this the Monday night drinking thread? If not it should be.
Labatt Blue Citra going down fast and furious.
I get it, but I am extremely sad. I have been missing my kids as is. I figured this was coming and have been pretty down about the idea of not seeing them before the end of the year. I know this is the right thing to do, but this stinks.
No decision has been made. Hearing from Dr Rice (State Superintendent) today, there is still a lot of debate over closing for the year and waiting to make that final decision. The decision will untimely be made based on the health concerns above all else. Many schools could not fully staff schools. Many staff members would have recommendations from their physicians to not be in a school environment because of their risk factors. Think about not having enough bus drivers or food service workers for example. We also have several students being raised by grandparents that will not risk sending them to school. This will likely carry into the fall. It’s a mess and a difficult time to be an educator as we miss being around our students and staff and might not have an opportunity for closure.
So this is a crazy idea, but your post made me think of it. Is there an economic opportunity for C19 survivors (assuming there is some long-term immunity) to be more highly sought after and selected for certain jobs? I feel like in the not too distant future people will be putting that on their resumes, or a job interview might have an antibody test. In the example above, a teacher or staff member that already had C19 can go back. Some private school that want to stay above water might pay higher salaries to get a critical mass of people who fully recovered from C19 and open back up faster.
There is value in making a decision, sticking to it, and starting to plan the next steps. Even if there is a possibility for re-opening schools in May or June, it would be hard on everyone to be in limbo until then. Good for everyone to get this done now and move on to what we can do in the meantime, and next year, to cope with the situation.
March 30th, 2020 at 10:03 PM ^
Virginia closed schools for the year last week, and just today issued a stay-at-home order until June 10. The school board has already made good use of Google Classroom and other on-line resources, along with making the teachers available via some chat utilities for students at certain times of the day. Nothing will be graded, or attendance marked, but there are plans to keep the kids busy and to help out parents who suddenly have to home school. They're considering loaning out laptops to the kids that don't have access to one at home, and are providing food distribution pickup points (most of the schools) so the kids in need can still get the breakfast and lunch they rely on. There are some kids that only eat at the schools, as sad as that is...
March 30th, 2020 at 10:12 PM ^
It's unfortunate, but, at this point, quite obviously necessary. Glad this decision isn't being put to the district's themselves.
March 30th, 2020 at 11:33 PM ^
Damn I’m a high school senior and I expected this and know it’s the right move but it still stings a bit.
March 31st, 2020 at 10:58 AM ^
I'm sorry to hear that, but, as a stranger on the Internet, let me offer a bit of unsolicited advice:
College/trade school/whatever adulthood path you choose is MUCH better than high school. Don't get me wrong I had a good time, but I think that high school graduation is WAY too exaggerated in society unless there is a specific reason you had a difficult journey (developmental disability, injury, loss of loved one, learning disability, etc.)
We also live in an age where you will undoubtedly stay in contact with friends for years to come. Some of my best friends to this day are from first grade, but even those I don't really talk to anymore are only a FB message away. You can keep your social circles far past school if you want.
As a recent college grad, trust me, you'll be fine.
Definitely the right call. The model we’re using at work - healthcare - predicts this doesn’t die down in Seattle until July. That of course assumes proper safety measures are kept in place and followed nationwide throughout the life of the pandemic. There will undoubtedly be some idiotic decisions that lead to more waves sweeping through for rest of this (and next) year.
March 31st, 2020 at 10:04 AM ^
My son is in the 2020 graduating class. He was supposed to do all the fun stuff that seniors do.
We need to practice economic distancing from the shit hole called China so this doesn't happen again.
I live outside Richmond, VA. Our schools start right after Labor Day and end in mid-June. Except this year of course, as last week the governor cancelled the rest of the academic year.
Shutting it down for this year is the right decision. The problem is 5 months from now, how is opening school back even likely?
This virus isn't stopping any time soon without mandatory PPE at groceries, big box, party stores, gas stations.
Clerks/Cashiers with no protection, and far to many customers behaving like a text book to continue transmission.
Most of us can't even find the recommended sanitizers, cleaning products at the stores, much less proper face masks and gloves.
Without the general public getting access to the the safety products required for flat lining, we are looking at some unimaginable new realities.
I think it's the right decision. There are so many educational platforms to have productive remote learning. My friends and I watch youtube educational videos, use freebooksummary to do our tasks, and read different articles and reviews. As a student, I often read some book reviews as I don't haven't enough time to read at all, so the last one has been lakota woman summary, and it's really good. I think that online education isn't bad, especially when the matter is safety.