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.

[cowboysandangels, BSN]

We have been back in-person for several weeks now and I am exhausted and stressed.  We are only allowed to exclude for fever, cough, chills, loss of taste/smell, and shortness of breathe.  I am in elementary and we have so many kids that are "ill" right now.  Of course, it is allergy and cold season as well so I may be nervous for nothing but the numbers in my district are rising. They had to shut down the high school this week due to clusters.  I am mostly exhausted from fielding questions.  My phone, emails and IMs never stop.  People are angry when they get sent home for being sick and even angrier when I have to send them home due to contact.  Our health dept. does not contact us for positives so we rely on the parents to be truthful. The battle between those that are petrified and those that think the virus is nothing is a constant fight.  It is awful to be honest.  I am a proud school nurse that usually loves her job.  I dread getting up and going to work this year.  Kids are stuck in classrooms all day.  Can't use cafeteria and no assemblies.  No field trips.  Feels like a prison sometimes.  Masks and no contact with others is wearing on the soul.  These poor kids.  The staff are scared to be near them and then when they are they are nervous if they sneeze.  I, for one, am not a proponent for face to face like this. 

 

[pineappleupsidedowncake, BSN, RN]

I work at a small (~384 students) Catholic school in Florida (in a pretty urban area). Our students can be back on campus FT or online learning, but more and more students come back every day. We have only had 2 covid cases (one student and one teacher) which did cause some panic among the staff. I think my school is doing the best they can, some improvements could be made though. 

I mostly feel bad for the teachers who have to prepare lessons plans for both their in person and online students... I know some of them are burning out. It is just an impossible situation, isn't it? 

[guest464345]

I give us maybe two more weeks with in-person (hybrid) classes. We're close to hitting the red zone again locally, and our district has made it clear that we'll be back to 100% virtual classes immediately when that happens. 

I'm sending kids home x 10 days for any symptom on the CDC list, and 9/10 parents have been great about it (the other 10%.....ugh). Public health is overwhelmed in my jurisdiction, and they've turned over school case investigations and contact tracing to school nurses.  COVID or could-be-COVID is 90% of what I'm doing right now.

Hybrid teaching seems awful for the faculty - I don't envy their job. There are simply no great answers right now.  Sadly, if people in the community refuse to change their behavior, we won't be able to provide the best experience in school. 

[HeyNurse MHR MSN RN]

SC: the county I am in is slowly allowing kids back in. Principals have strong say as to how their schools are letting students in. So, no, we are not back at 100% on campus. Still mixed learning, in school physically and virtual learning. The nice thing (have to be positive, is the virtual learner are following their classmates in real time.

As the numbers begin to increase (as predicted), it will be interesting how the end of 2020 plays out. School nurses here are working full time, in the schools. Stay safe & healthy, everyone!