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.

[BeckyESRN]

Our elementary schools are back in person 4 days a week and we've had 1 positive in nearly 900 students. Our county numbers have been low since August and have continued to stay at that "green" level. Our classes have between 16 and 22 students; about 4ish + ft between desks, masks at all times except when walking outside around the track for mask breaks, classes are staying put and teachers are switching as needed for different subjects, no materials are being shared

[JenTheSchoolRN, BSN, RN]

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. 

[NutmeggeRN, BSN]

NH  Middle of the state

Back full time since Sept with about 25% opting for remote. No hybrid. But we also allowed seniors who are on track to graduate to take what they need and not be here for filler classes. Open campus for Jr and Sr with a lower GPA needed.

In school has not been an issue, it is ALL around us and I'm just waiting for the other shoe to drop. One way hallways, scheduled mask breaks, expanded lunches are some of out mitigation efforts. As well as a very low threshold for referral for testing. Of course my numbers are down, cause they are avoiding me like the plague...

Community transmission is what is going to do us in. We have a local hockey rink that has been a ? show.

[JenTheSchoolRN, BSN, RN]

1 minute ago, NutmeggeRN said:

Community transmission is what is going to do us in. We have a local hockey rink that has been a ? show.

This is what I fear as well. We cannot control what happens outside the school building. 

[SueZQ66]

Hey there.  I am in Georgia (metro Atlanta) and we have been really sucessful in my school district.  We started with K-2 after Labor Day. And added 3-5 Oct 5th.  We have had no cases (knock on wood!!) We add the middle schoolers at the end of this month and high schoolers Nov 9th.  I truly feel like that will be the real test.  Our community numbers are also dropping so I am hopeful that by the time we add the high schoolers it will be okay.  Our students all have the option of remaining virtual or attending in person school.  In my elementary school over half have choosen to have in person school.    It can be done sucessfully! The one school district here that made the national news......I can only shake my head. 

[Mavnurse17, BSN, RN]

I know this isn't quite what your question was but I'll share my experience.  I'm in Texas and my district is a mix of hybrid/full time in-person with the option to opt for virtual learning of course.  High schools are hybrid (half the kids on M/T, the other half on Th/Fr) and all of the lower campuses are 5 days/week.  

Kids have been back for 2 weeks now and my district has 250+ cases between staff and students, and those cases only account for the students that are in-person learning, not the virtual kids.  I feel our district is doing well with mitigation measures so I think it's mostly community transmission-- people still going on camping trips and birthday parties like it's pre-'Rona times.  

My county moved back to the "red" zone this week and a neighboring district's health department is considering closing their schools down again due to soaring cases in their area.  

[BrisketRN, BSN, RN]

My school has been fully open for 6 weeks.  We have had one COVID case, which caused 16 students/staff to be quarantined for 14 days.  We have had several families have a case of COVID within their family causing students or staff to quarantine.  So far (due to quarantining, symptoms, awaiting test results) we have had over 100 days of school missed.  We are preK-12 with about 550 in-person students. We currently have all student seats spaced 6 ft apart, plastic cubicals for preschool to sleep in for nap time, everyone must wear a mask on school grounds except when eating or getting a drink of water. 

[KittyKatRN]

Colorado here. We have been open with students since Aug. 21st. We have had double digits of positive students and staff. Unfortunately, my county/state Public Health Orders aren't mandates so my district has decided to make their own guidelines (you know without anyone who is medical on the team). We have seen a sharp increase in cases since then. 

It's all politics and its just so sad. 

[AdobeRN]

Have been back since beginning of September - parents have a choice between Virtual or In-person.  Most of schools are about 50% in-person with some close to 75% in-person.  So far it has been going good.  I am in elementary level - my school has had a couple Covid+ teachers where we had to quarantine whole classrooms and a few + students - All but one of my Covid+ students were already on quarantine due to family member in household being positive.  I had my first in-person student + last week - contact tracing was a 3 hour "fun" process ?  

I am so over all of it.  Ready to be back to  "normal" again. 

[k1p1ssk, BSN, RN]

I'm in North Western, MA; Full disclosure, my entire county has been essentially "low risk" since the beginning of the pandemic, but that is more due to population density - not a single town in my county has more than I believe 30k residents. 

Staff came back on Aug. 31st; School started on Sept 16, with 3 weeks of "Remote +" which was special populations only (pre-k, K, students whose parents worked in-district, and other special needs students). My school, which has an enrollment of around 170 ATM, had around 60 kids in the building 5 days/week from 9/16 through 10/7. Last Thursday, we began hybrid, adding another 55 or so students to the building each day. (Special pops = 60 student 5 days per week, Cohort A comes M&W, B comes Tu&Th, Fridays are half days and alternate between A&B)

We have had many sick calls, but none where I was seriously concerned for COVID, but I have had around 10 get tested. We have had one confirmed close contact this week, but no test results yet on that student.

My daily visit #s are waaay down, but I attribute this to students in-house getting more attention due to their smaller class sizes. Some classes only have 4 students in house on any given day. I truly believe a lot of my previous years visits were kids just needing breaks and making up vague illness complaints to leave the room. 

We are holding steady at the moment. There are rumors swirling of us maybe closing the buildings to students from Thanksgiving through January and being fully remote for this time. Teachers who want to be in the building to teach would be allowed under strict guidelines, but no one would be forced to be here. I'm kinda in favor of that. I am nervous what Winter will bring. Windows being open will be horrible. Our building has only baseboard heat, no decent HVAC system like newer buildings might have. 

[SchoolNurseK, BSN, RN]

We have been open since August 31st with 45% of our kids on campus full time and 55% doing eLearning.  We haven't had any positives on campus, so no quarantines so far.  I do feel like the avalanche is coming though.  Our numbers in FL are rising and I have that nurse feeling that it is all going to break loose at some point.  Praying my spidy-sense is wrong and we can continue in person.  While things aren't ideal for one million reasons, I do feel like the kids need to be here for their mental health.  Everything is a Catch 22 this year.  Oh for it to just go back to normal....