Are your kids back to school full time in person?

[MHDNURSE]

I would love to hear from you all who work in states/districts where students have been back FT in person for several weeks.  What have your numbers been like?  Have you had to shut down and reopen?  Has there been significant spikes in cases and hospitalizations in your area since the start of schools?

I am in MA where nearly every district is either fully remote or some sort of hybrid.  My own district which is "red" this week after being "yellow" the past several weeks is still planning on bringing back K-3 in November.  There is a big divide b/c the teachers are fighting to remain status quo which is remote other than our neediest students.  The school nurses are about 50/50 in terms of move forward with bringing back or remain status quo.  Admin wants to bring them all back. 

In my home district where my kids attend, they are hybrid- in person two half days a week.  As a parent I REALLY want them back in person as soon but safely and reasonably as possible. They are easily able to be more than 6" in the classrooms, classes are small (anywhere from 7-10 students), mandatory masks, one way hallways, etc., etc.   So far this has been working really well.  That being said, I think everyone is nervous about ruining a good thing.

I guess I am thinking if those of you who have been back FT (like those schools in GA that were all over the news in August) and the numbers/cases have remained steady, why would opening up more in the Northeast be any different.  Not sure if this is coming across correctly, hopefully it is.  Would love to hear your experience since being back FT- pros/cons, etc.

[Mavnurse17, BSN, RN]

2 hours ago, caliotter3 said:

 When I finally located him, hmmmph, he became a doctor.  Wonder if he found time for music while in premed, or just when did he quit? He could have played professionally.  Most likely would never have learned about his talent had there not been music in my city and county's schools.  

Not to flex on myself, but I was a phenomenal flute player throughout middle and high school.  I was usually 1st chair, picked to play big concert solos, represented my school in state competitions.  I had to give up music to focus my time on pre-nursing and eventually nursing school.  I really believe that learning music (whether it be in band, orchestra, or choir) rewires the brain in a certain way; my dad tells me I was horrible with math prior to starting 6th grade band but my grades greatly improved after I started.  I wonder if there's a correlation between musicians and higher education.  

[JenTheSchoolRN, BSN, RN]

37 minutes ago, Mavnurse17 said:

Not to flex on myself, but I was a phenomenal flute player throughout middle and high school.  I was usually 1st chair, picked to play big concert solos, represented my school in state competitions.  I had to give up music to focus my time on pre-nursing and eventually nursing school.  I really believe that learning music (whether it be in band, orchestra, or choir) rewires the brain in a certain way; my dad tells me I was horrible with math prior to starting 6th grade band but my grades greatly improved after I started.  I wonder if there's a correlation between musicians and higher education.  

I studied voice for years and years - reading music is like learning a new language and doing math at the same time. I was also a math nerd :).

Now I'm super active in my local community theater - in fact that is how I met my musician husband. And I have a lot of friends in that circle whose days jobs are in the medical field. 

[NutmeggeRN, BSN]

As a follow up to @londonflo I never meant to diss any course of education. At all. I appreciate all the educational offerings (and we are blessed to have many in our district). The point of the OP ? and my response was related to what is happening in our schools. Sitting here fielding Q & A from everyone at all levels, seeing kids, sending kids out for testing, tracking those who are out for their results, tracking those who are remote learners and not showing up for their classes, making sure that I am keeping everyone in the loop regarding all the above.... I shot off a quick response as to how we are dedensifying our environment.

And for some seniors (not all) that have met their graduation requirements, some classes taken, while beneficial for sure, are in fact schedule fillers to meet (previous) school board requirements that all students take a minimum number of credits.

[nurselyd]

On 10/16/2020 at 9:02 AM, JenTheSchoolRN said:

My school is not one of the these schools, but the Catholic schools in the area are. Most of them are doing surveillance testing now (1x week, all students and staff).

I spoke with a private school recently in MA that is back full in person, 5 days a week. Has been testing all staff and students since starting the weeks of August 31st. Following all the distancing and mask guidelines. Not a single positive case has occurred thus far at school (no positives from the surveillance testing, using a PCR test).

But hard to compare to an urban public school for me. Anyone here in NH or western MA, other NE schools that are full in person? I'm so curious. 

I'm the nurse at a private school (pre K-12) in Boston and we've been back full time since August!  Everyone does daily health screening (temps, symptoms, travel, etc.), but no one gets tested unless they display symptoms/have been exposed.  Grades are broken up into "pods" and the kids do a pretty good job of distancing/wearing masks.  We've had 3 positive cases so far that happened all at once, those grades stayed out for two weeks and are back now.  So far so good, all things considered.

On 10/19/2020 at 11:57 AM, caliotter3 said:

When I finally located him, hmmmph, he became a doctor.  Wonder if he found time for music while in premed, or just when did he quit?

Funny, one of my good friends is a well-known hand surgeon at one of our big hospitals in Boston and he also plays in a rock band.  My other friend is an ER attending here in Boston and is a very skilled carpenter and does that "on the side", LOL.  I guess if you love it you make time for it.

22 hours ago, JenTheSchoolRN said:

I studied voice for years and years - reading music is like learning a new language and doing math at the same time. I was also a math nerd :).

Now I'm super active in my local community theater - in fact that is how I met my musician husband. And I have a lot of friends in that circle whose days jobs are in the medical field. 

oooh me too, me too!  I was in the honors choir throughout high school, leads in our musicals, in the Boston College Chorale in undergrad, did community theater after college, I miss it SO MUCH!!!  I had hoped my kids (or one at least) would fall in love with theater and/or music but nope!

[schoolnurse61]

Central PA.... 9 school K-12, 2500 kids total...fully open since September 1st and only 1 positive kid at the HS level that we were made aware of.  Started the year with about 75% in school and 25% virtual/remote but most are back full time now. Social distancing of desks, eating breakfast and lunch in classrooms, designated playground areas to keep kids apart, temp checks each morning before entering building, periodic mask breaks, custodial staff doing extra cleaning of handrails, bathrooms etc, numbers down in nursing office.  Its really going very well, not what I expected at all. 

[scuba nurse, BSN, MSN, RN]

So the small town in MA I live in is Hybrid (and it is working out awesome!!). But the large city I work in is fully remote. But they are wanting to bring "complex significant disability" kids back on Nov.16. There are almost 1k of them, and out of the 45 schools in the district they can only go to one of the 10 "green" schools. They also want to bring the students back that go to the tech HS (grades 10,11,12 only as they have shop).  Honestly, the plan is so complex its crazy!

AND there is NO way any of this can happen. They color coded schools for what they need in terms of HVAC, my school was built in 1896 so its "red", meaning we will probably get some air filters (which are backordered and hard to get) before kids come back here (plan is in February).

PLUS the person who is the Covid director for the district...is a COP! (Because he is the "safety officer"). (I have nothing against the police, my husband is a cop). BUT they didn't involve nursing in much of the planning (there are 130 nurses in the district) so we have no clue, no input, no nothing....its crazy! I cant see it happening. AND the city is considered a "red" zone  by the state.   **sigh**

[JenTheSchoolRN, BSN, RN]

42 minutes ago, scuba nurse said:

So the small town in MA I live in is Hybrid (and it is working out awesome!!). But the large city I work in is fully remote. But they are wanting to bring "complex significant disability" kids back on Nov.16. There are almost 1k of them, and out of the 45 schools in the district they can only go to one of the 10 "green" schools. They also want to bring the students back that go to the tech HS (grades 10,11,12 only as they have shop).  Honestly, the plan is so complex its crazy!

AND there is NO way any of this can happen. They color coded schools for what they need in terms of HVAC, my school was built in 1896 so its "red", meaning we will probably get some air filters (which are backordered and hard to get) before kids come back here (plan is in February).

PLUS the person who is the Covid director for the district...is a COP! (Because he is the "safety officer"). (I have nothing against the police, my husband is a cop). BUT they didn't involve nursing in much of the planning (there are 130 nurses in the district) so we have no clue, no input, no nothing....its crazy! I cant see it happening. AND the city is considered a "red" zone  by the state.   **sigh**

This is the issue for so many urban school centers in MA right now. The kids that need the most support aren't getting it because these are the districts that need the most upgrades. Why the state isn't just finding money for these districts baffles me...especially since education is lauded as essential...

(I'm lucky that my school made me the COVID point of contact. It comes with a lot of baggage, but I feel appreciated and involved as all school nurses should be.)

[Jedrnurse, BSN, RN]

49 minutes ago, scuba nurse said:

So the small town in MA I live in is Hybrid (and it is working out awesome!!). But the large city I work in is fully remote. But they are wanting to bring "complex significant disability" kids back on Nov.16. There are almost 1k of them, and out of the 45 schools in the district they can only go to one of the 10 "green" schools. They also want to bring the students back that go to the tech HS (grades 10,11,12 only as they have shop).  Honestly, the plan is so complex its crazy!

AND there is NO way any of this can happen. They color coded schools for what they need in terms of HVAC, my school was built in 1896 so its "red", meaning we will probably get some air filters (which are backordered and hard to get) before kids come back here (plan is in February).

PLUS the person who is the Covid director for the district...is a COP! (Because he is the "safety officer"). (I have nothing against the police, my husband is a cop). BUT they didn't involve nursing in much of the planning (there are 130 nurses in the district) so we have no clue, no input, no nothing....its crazy! I cant see it happening. AND the city is considered a "red" zone  by the state.   **sigh**

Having a police officer coordinate the COVID response is...highly questionable.

To have said officer not know enough to tap expertise when necessary is...incompetent.

[turtlesRcool]

Well, we've had our first cases.  Two at the high school last week. Contact tracing done and close contacts asked to quarantine, but no change to the hybrid model. Then a case in one of the elementary schools (an adult) announced today, with only one class sent home to quarantine.  Unfortunately, it was my daughter's kindergarten class, so now we get to do virtual K until the 14 days pass.  And my other kids are mad this means no Halloween celebration (not that we were going to ToT, but we were going to get together with their cousins to carve pumpkins and watch spooky movies). Halloween is my middle kid's favorite holiday, too - he was going to be a plague doctor!

[NurseInTheHall, ADN, RN]

Private school, PS-12 grade, full 5 days per week since mid-August. Campus population of 1250ish (approximately 900 students). I am the COVID Response Team Coordinator. It's not an official title but it sums up the job so I'm taking the liberty of using it. 

Until last week we'd had fewer than 10 actual diagnosed cases (which could be traced to off-campus source or with no identified known exposure) and approximately 60 quarantines related to those cases and no on-campus transmission (non of the quarantined contacts developed symptoms or had a positive test during their 14-day quarantine). Admittedly, we've been lucky on the timing of discovering some of the cases, catching it early, and isolating them away from others. Unfortunately, we've had to quarantine 2 classes recently and are waiting for test results on others and to see if any additional cases develop within the quarantined groups.

Our elementary division is kept in classroom cohorts with no intermingling among other classes, even in the same grade. The other grades intermingle so contact tracing can be complicated. 

We have a team of tracers that meet regularly and as often as needed and have no doubt that this is what has kept us going this long.

Protocols: masks required by everyone on campus, desks arranged in forward-facing arrangements with as 4-6 feet between desks and maximized distancing between teacher and the students. 

Most have COVID fatigue and many are living their best lives off-campus with sports, social events, playdates, birthday parties, etc. I hear whispers and have no doubt that many are simply not reporting because they don't want to be isolated or quarantined or tested or even investigated. There is so much shame and blame and anxiety with COVID. It breaks my heart when a teacher calls crying because she has symptoms and is afraid she'll be in trouble or that her class might have been exposed.  

Good luck out there. Stay Healthy.