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Photo from the first day of school in Paulding County, GA. What are your thoughts?


aubiefifty

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9 minutes ago, SocialCircle said:

The medical experts advising our school system have a break down of the number of deaths by age that is more detailed than what you can see on the CDC site. There have been fewer deaths of people age 18 and under with COVID-19 than with the flu since Feb. 1st until now. Actually people in this age group have virtually no risk of dying with either. 

Even if they are more granular, it defies logic to believe that the numbers are different to a statistically significant degree.  Not to mention what I said before:  comparing flu deaths and COVID-19 deaths isn't apples to apples.  We use a much stricter counting methodology with COVID.  If we used the same method that we count COVID deaths with flu, flu death numbers would drop dramatically.  If we used the same method that we count flu deaths with COVID, COVID numbers would be much, much higher.

And regardless, that still doesn't address the fact that even people who don't die themselves can get very ill and even if they don't get very ill (or ill at all really), they can carry it to others who may be more vulnerable.

 

9 minutes ago, SocialCircle said:

I also think many people fail to understand the bleak situation at home for many students. It is really unbelievable until you witness it with your own eyes. Families here have overwhelmingly elected to return their students to the school with over 75% doing so. The highest I’ve seen around here is in Oconee County where 86% are sending their children back to school. 

I live in Montgomery, AL where the school district is overwhelmingly poor and black.  I've lived here most of my life.  I think I understand quite well how tough situations at home can be.  The parents here voted with a significant majority preferring virtual learning for the first 9 week grading period even with those challenges.

But that said, the main issue that sparked this post wasn't over going in-person or virtual.  It was the virtually non-existent use of precautions being exhibited by the students in the photo.  You guys are begging for a spike coming out of schools like this.

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13 minutes ago, TitanTiger said:

Even if they are more granular, it defies logic to believe that the numbers are different to a statistically significant degree.  Not to mention what I said before:  comparing flu deaths and COVID-19 deaths isn't apples to apples.  We use a much stricter counting methodology with COVID.  If we used the same method that we count COVID deaths with flu, flu death numbers would drop dramatically.  If we used the same method that we count flu deaths with COVID, COVID numbers would be much, much higher.

And regardless, that still doesn't address the fact that even people who don't die themselves can get very ill and even if they don't get very ill (or ill at all really), they can carry it to others who may be more vulnerable.

 

I live in Montgomery, AL where the school district is overwhelmingly poor and black.  I've lived here most of my life.  I think I understand quite well how tough situations at home can be.  The parents here voted with a significant majority preferring virtual learning for the first 9 week grading period even with those challenges.

But that said, the main issue that sparked this post wasn't over going in-person or virtual.  It was the virtually non-existent use of precautions being exhibited by the students in the photo.  You guys are begging for a spike coming out of schools like this.

do you think this rush back to school is being done for trump? i know trump wanted to open things up too early to help him in his reelection and i understand some think they are going along with him because most of ga are republicans? i often think the worst but i find you to be honest. am i wrong?

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22 minutes ago, TitanTiger said:

Even if they are more granular, it defies logic to believe that the numbers are different to a statistically significant degree.  Not to mention what I said before:  comparing flu deaths and COVID-19 deaths isn't apples to apples.  We use a much stricter counting methodology with COVID.  If we used the same method that we count COVID deaths with flu, flu death numbers would drop dramatically.  If we used the same method that we count flu deaths with COVID, COVID numbers would be much, much higher.

And regardless, that still doesn't address the fact that even people who don't die themselves can get very ill and even if they don't get very ill (or ill at all really), they can carry it to others who may be more vulnerable.

 

I live in Montgomery, AL where the school district is overwhelmingly poor and black.  I've lived here most of my life.  I think I understand quite well how tough situations at home can be.  The parents here voted with a significant majority preferring virtual learning for the first 9 week grading period even with those challenges.

But that said, the main issue that sparked this post wasn't over going in-person or virtual.  It was the virtually non-existent use of precautions being exhibited by the students in the photo.  You guys are begging for a spike coming out of schools like this.

We aren’t going to have schools here like the one in the photo. We have a great plan here that our community helped create and wants. There will be not a single high risk person in our school buildings. I strongly encourage those at high risk to take extra precautions. Students going to school or not should not have any impact of what any high risk person does or doesn’t do. 
 

 

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4 hours ago, aubiefifty said:

do you think this rush back to school is being done for trump? i know trump wanted to open things up too early to help him in his reelection and i understand some think they are going along with him because most of ga are republicans? i often think the worst but i find you to be honest. am i wrong?

I don’t see any “rush” to go back to school. I’ve seen no school go back earlier than previously planned. Have you? We could care less here what any politician says. We care greatly what medical and legal experts are telling us.We also try our best to listen to our taxpayers....after all the taxpayer is paying for the school and everything related to it.  

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7 hours ago, aubiefifty said:

holy moly 78 agrees with me on something! have a bong hit.............sterilized of course. grins

If it makes common sense and you use said common sense of course I do. :gofig:

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The Truth Behind A Viral Picture Of A Reopening School Is Worse Than It Looked

An alarming photo of a hallway crowded by mostly maskless students in a Georgia high school raises issues with reopening schools all around the country.

Last updated on August 5, 2020, at 3:22 p.m. ET

Behind a viral photo of a crowded hallway at a high school in Georgia, a potentially dire situation is brewing. Students, teachers, and parents fear the Paulding County school’s rushed reopening plans may be spiraling out of control just two days after students — who said they were told they could face expulsion for remaining home — returned to class despite reports of positive coronavirus cases among students and staff.

North Paulding High School, about an hour outside Atlanta, reopened Monday despite an outbreak among members of its high school football team, many of whom, a Facebook video shows, worked out together in a crowded indoor gym last week as part of a weightlifting fundraiser.

Within days of that workout, several North Paulding players had tested positive for the coronavirus. The school’s parents were notified just hours before the first day of class.

And multiple teachers at North Paulding say there are positive tests among school staff, including a staff member who came into contact with most teachers at the school while exhibiting symptoms last week. Teachers and staff said the school won’t confirm coronavirus infections among district employees, citing privacy reasons.

"That was exactly one week ago, so we are all waiting to see who gets sick next week,” a North Paulding teacher told BuzzFeed News of her exposure to the virus.

Despite recommendations from CDC health officials, the district has called mask-wearing a “personal choice” and said that social distancing “will not be possible to enforce” in “most cases.” While the school provided teachers with face shields and masks and encouraged staff and students to wear them, they are not required and not all teachers have chosen to use them. One North Paulding teacher resigned last month over concerns about virus safety.

“Days before school even started, they knew that many of the football players were sick,” said a person familiar with the issues at the high school. “They knew from before day one that it wasn't going to work.”

Some students at North Paulding say they were forced to attend school in person because all of the slots for the district’s virtual learning option were filled. A narrow sign-up window for virtual classes meant many parents missed their opportunity to enroll their children online.

James, a North Paulding senior, said he came to school Tuesday because his mother was unable to enroll him in virtual learning. He wore a mask, but many of his classmates did not. And while some classes practiced distancing, in one, a teacher had pushed together students’ desks to allow for group work. His name has been changed in the story because of concerns about retribution from the school.

“It’s the hallway situation that has me most paranoid,” he said. “There’s a lot of people in the hallways, and you can’t do nothing about it, so it’s scary.”

“There’s a lot of people in the hallways, and you can’t do nothing about it, so it’s scary.”

It was a photo of one of those hallways, crammed with largely maskless students and with just a handful of masks in sight, that spread across the internet Tuesday.

The district superintendent, Brian Otott, sent a message to parents in the wake of the photo. He offered “context” for the photograph: “Class changes that look like this may happen, especially at a high school with more than 2,000 students.” There was little the district could do, he said, beyond encouraging masks.

Neither North Paulding High School nor Paulding County Schools responded to multiple requests for comment.

According to a person familiar with North Paulding High School, the plan shared with teachers said hallways were supposed to be one-way; the photograph was taken in one of the only two-laned hallways in the school. But the one-lane hallways had their own downsides, causing students to walk long routes between classes — spending more time in exposed common areas.

James’ parents saw the photograph that had been circulating Tuesday and told him, “You are not going back to school again,” he said. But a few hours later, his mother had spoken to the school and was told that students who “chose not to go to school” could face suspension or expulsion.

On Wednesday, he went back to school. “I had no choice,” he said.

North Paulding teachers said they too felt they had no choice but to show up to work, even after a staff member texted colleagues saying she had tested positive for the virus. The staffer had attended planning sessions while exhibiting symptoms, one teacher said.

She did not attend school after testing positive. But teachers have heard nothing from the school, they said, which won’t confirm that staff members have tested positive, citing privacy concerns.

“A lot of us are terrified, and they won't let us know if we have been exposed until a state contact tracer has contacted us,” one teacher said.

“These teachers are deeply concerned for their health, especially the older ones and those with major health problems,” said a family member of a North Paulding teacher.

Amy, a school nurse, resigned from Paulding County Schools in July over concerns about virus safety. She said under the school district’s plan, school nurses were supposed to act as contact tracers for thousands of kids and staff, and that a district plan to sequester children believed to be exposed until their parents could pick them up seemed insufficient.

“I did not want to have any part of that,” she said. “It was completely and totally irresponsible.”

In a resignation letter she shared with BuzzFeed News, she wrote, “Masks are not a ‘personal choice’ during a pandemic. I cannot return knowing I am not supportive of your decision to open so quickly and not at least mandate masks.”

Many other parents and family members of students in Paulding County, however, are not concerned about the risk of attending school in person. The district said the majority of parents had chosen in-person schooling, despite the overfilling of its virtual schools.

“We have faith in our governor,” said Mary Wells, the grandmother of multiple students in the district, referring to Republican Gov. Brian Kemp. “He has done a great job and the school administrators in Paulding are doing the best they can in this insane time.”

Anthony Fauci, the country’s top infectious disease official, has been openly critical of Kemp for his decision this spring to reopen the state, allow indoor dining, and not mandate masks. The school district cited the fact that the rate of infection in Paulding County is lower than elsewhere in Georgia as part of its reason for deciding to reopen, but cases throughout the state have been high and the case numbers in counties that border Paulding — including Polk, Cobb, and Bartow — are high. Many other districts have delayed reopening. Meanwhile, in Cherokee County, Georgia, a second-grader who went back to school there on Monday has tested positive for COVID-19, according to CBS News.

Chelsea Gibson has two children attending grade school in Paulding County. In June, Gibson, her husband, her mother-in-law, and two children all contracted COVID-19, and her husband’s breathing grew so labored that she said she nearly took him to the emergency room. In the end, the family recovered, although Gibson said she still has residual breathing issues.

The whole family recovered from the virus several weeks before school started. On Monday, both of her kids went back to school in person. Because she works full-time and the entire household shares a single desktop computer, Gibson said she didn’t even consider the virtual learning option.

“We couldn’t do online at all,” she said. “It wasn’t feasible.”

The mother is on the school council at Northside Elementary, where her kids are enrolled, and she said she feels very confident that the school’s plan for keeping students and teachers safe is a good one. There’s limited passing in the halls, most teachers have opted to wear masks, and students’ lunches are delivered to their classrooms so they don’t eat together in the cafeteria.

“They are going above and beyond,” she said.

But she’s worried the unfolding disaster at North Paulding High School will make the precautions taken in the grade schools moot and force her kids back home, where they’ll once again pick up paper packets from school and be unable to learn from a teacher for months.

“I feel like they handled that completely wrong,” she said of the coronavirus outbreak among the football team. “These individual schools that are handling it wrong are going to mess it up for the entire district.”

“In the end it’s going to hurt all the students who can’t go back to school,” she continued. “My kids need to go back to school so they can learn.”

Any student found criticizing the school on social media could face disciplinary consequences.

As they watched the photograph of their school hallway spread across the Internet, some North Paulding students said they felt their school was being treated unfairly.

Virtual learning was not an option for many low-income students without access to devices, or for students in rural areas with poor Internet access, one student pointed out. And Kemp himself has refused a mask mandate.

Steven, a North Paulding student who asked that only his middle name be used, said he felt safe going to school without a mask. Most of the hallways he encountered, he said, were far less crowded than in the one in the photograph. And the virus itself, he said, didn’t seem like “much of a problem” in Paulding County.

“I’ve only known three people to get it, other than the football players, obviously,” Steven said. “If I get it, I get it. I believe that’s what most people in my area's ideology is — if we get it, we get it.”

Steven said he didn’t want to let worries about spreading the virus to his family control his life.

“Most of my family, including my grandparents, think the same as well,” he said. “We just go on about our business and keep it out of our mind.”

On Wednesday, the school addressed the controversy that had swirled around the viral photograph via an intercom announcement from North Paulding High School principal Gabe Carmona. In it, according to two people familiar with the situation, he stated that any student found criticizing the school on social media could face disciplinary consequences.

https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/mollyhensleyclancy/georgia-school-reopening-photo-paulding-county

 

A few thoughts:

1.  This school is being completely irresponsible.  Their plan seems to largely be "there is no plan."  Every recommended precaution is basically up the individual student or teacher, who obviously has zero ability to get anyone else around them to conform to the same precautions, rendering them largely moot.

2.  I would dare them to suspend, expel, or otherwise punish my child for not attending this clown show of a school reopening.  A lawyer would already be on retainer and I'd be organizing other parents who feel the same way to join me.

3.  I would also personally walk into the principal's office and let him know in no uncertain (and likely unprintable) terms that I've already contacted the ACLU and that me or my child can criticize the school all we want under the 1st Amendment, online or otherwise and that he better not even have a passing daydream about disciplining my child in the event he does so.  He's a principal, not the thought police.  I'd have his damn job.

Honestly, I cannot believe a school district or administration can be this stupid.  And if someone gets this illness through this school's irresponsible lack of planning and ignorance and ends up seriously ill with high medical bills or dies from it, they're going to get sued back to the Stone Age.

 

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If I ever win the lottery, one of the things I will do with my fortune is be on the lookout for situations like this where dumbasses in charge put people who don't have the financial means to easily stand up to them in terrible situations, then bankroll a team of lawyers to make the dumbasses miserable until they straightened their s*** out.  

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2 minutes ago, TitanTiger said:

Right on cue, idiot school leadership suspends student who posted the photo:

https://www.cnn.com/2020/08/07/us/georgia-teen-photo-crowded-school-hallway-trnd/index.html

This just seems criminal. The suspension, of course, and not the student posting the photo.

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4 minutes ago, McLoofus said:

This just seems criminal. The suspension, of course, and not the student posting the photo.

If I'm her father, my next call is the ACLU.

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1 hour ago, TitanTiger said:

If I'm her father, my next call is the ACLU.

They might have had a case, but they might not.  You are required to sign a technology agreement at that school per their website.  What the student did violates the terms of the agreement and one of the possible consequences listed is suspension.  I understand the suspension has been or will be lifted anyway. 

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Just now, SocialCircle said:

They might have a case, but they might not.  You are required to sign a technology agreement at that school per their website.  What the student did violates the terms of the agreement and one of the possible consequences listed is suspension.  

Perhaps.  But the students are also saying that they've been told they could be suspended or expelled for simply complaining about it on social media.  That's a definite 1st Amendment problem.

But I bet that in the midst of a pandemic, where it's a matter of health/life/death, the girl could find a judge sympathetic to overriding that technology agreement.  It's sort of like how normally you might get in trouble for secretly filming random people for no apparent reason other than being a creepy stalker.  But if you're filming illegal activity, you generally aren't going to get in trouble.  I could see a judge viewing this in the same way - filming unsafe conditions at a school.

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They should be able to complain on Social media as long as no photos of other students are involved. If they get in trouble for simply complaining then I agree , that is a First amendment violation. 

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As long as we have plenty of hydroxycloroquine on hand we have no worries. Maybe just infuse doses into the cafeteria food and prevent Covid altogether. 

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7 hours ago, TitanTiger said:

 

A few thoughts:

1.  This school is being completely irresponsible.  Their plan seems to largely be "there is no plan."  Every recommended precaution is basically up the individual student or teacher, who obviously has zero ability to get anyone else around them to conform to the same precautions, rendering them largely moot.

2.  I would dare them to suspend, expel, or otherwise punish my child for not attending this clown show of a school reopening.  A lawyer would already be on retainer and I'd be organizing other parents who feel the same way to join me.

3.  I would also personally walk into the principal's office and let him know in no uncertain (and likely unprintable) terms that I've already contacted the ACLU and that me or my child can criticize the school all we want under the 1st Amendment, online or otherwise and that he better not even have a passing daydream about disciplining my child in the event he does so.  He's a principal, not the thought police.  I'd have his damn job.

Honestly, I cannot believe a school district or administration can be this stupid.  And if someone gets this illness through this school's irresponsible lack of planning and ignorance and ends up seriously ill with high medical bills or dies from it, they're going to get sued back to the Stone Age.

 

read it and weep cj. folks used the words rushed. also officials allowed this after all those football players contacted covid? those offficials you speak so highly of i am sure allowed this to go forward.i see the word clown show and it fits..........but you will still denie and use the same ol talking points you have used thirty times before. just own it............

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40 minutes ago, aubiefifty said:

read it and weep cj. folks used the words rushed. also officials allowed this after all those football players contacted covid? those offficials you speak so highly of i am sure allowed this to go forward.i see the word clown show and it fits..........but you will still denie and use the same ol talking points you have used thirty times before. just own it............

I assume you are talking to me?  They didn't rush anything as this is the date they had long planned to return to school.  Now I will say this specific system appears to not have prepared very well based on what I have read up to this point. The only officials who allowed school to open is the superintendent along with the BOE.  I've never once commented on those "officials." I see no problem with opening school after football players test positive for Covid-19 as long as those players and those who were around them are in quarantine for at least 14 days and don't have a fever when they return to school.  

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On 8/5/2020 at 6:07 AM, aubiefifty said:

i mean what could go wrong? kids will be kids..............

first day of school in ga.jpg

"I see 'soon to be dead' people..."

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5 minutes ago, DKW 86 said:

"I see 'soon to be dead' people..."

why do we have repubs like social that gets his sources from people no one has heard of like dr demon sperm and refuse to listen to  basic common sense? hell this is not even political to me this is playing with peoples lives. of course he defended all the officials in ga until this pic came out and now it is just the few he works with. kids are going to die and this country is going to suffer terribly because trump started pushing for stuff to oepn too early because he wanted to be reelected. and most of these are red states that fully back trump. do you or anyone know any blue states that are pushing this hard? and trump,when confronted with the whole covid thing says it is what it is. and i bet you a million bucks most of those on the right will still vote for trump because they have no shame and live in a make believe world. it is sad..........

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54 minutes ago, aubiefifty said:

why do we have repubs like social that gets his sources from people no one has heard of like dr demon sperm :lmao::lmao::lmao:and refuse to listen to  basic common sense? hell this is not even political to me this is playing with peoples lives. of course he defended all the officials in ga until this pic came out and now it is just the few he works with. kids are going to die and this country is going to suffer terribly because trump started pushing for stuff to oepn too early because he wanted to be reelected. and most of these are red states that fully back trump. do you or anyone know any blue states that are pushing this hard? and trump,when confronted with the whole covid thing says it is what it is. and i bet you a million bucks most of those on the right will still vote for trump because they have no shame and live in a make believe world. it is sad..........

 

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7 hours ago, aubiefifty said:

why do we have repubs like social that gets his sources from people no one has heard of like dr demon sperm and refuse to listen to  basic common sense? hell this is not even political to me this is playing with peoples lives. of course he defended all the officials in ga until this pic came out and now it is just the few he works with. kids are going to die and this country is going to suffer terribly because trump started pushing for stuff to oepn too early because he wanted to be reelected. and most of these are red states that fully back trump. do you or anyone know any blue states that are pushing this hard? and trump,when confronted with the whole covid thing says it is what it is. and i bet you a million bucks most of those on the right will still vote for trump because they have no shame and live in a make believe world. it is sad..........

Malnutrition and Suicides and child abuse and drug overdoses skyrocket when our younger folks aren’t in school. Meanwhile, a high school age person and younger has virtually no risk of dying with COVID-19 as there is more risk of them dying with the flu or riding in a car. You clearly want more starving and injured And abused and possibly dead children. Shame on you. It is unbelievably arrogant of you to think you know better than 79% of the students and families here In this community who indicate it is better for their student to come to the school for their education. What gives you that right? Who do you think you are? Are you that full of yourself to believe you know better than the families who live here? 

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11 hours ago, SocialCircle said:

Malnutrition and Suicides and child abuse and drug overdoses skyrocket when our younger folks aren’t in school. Meanwhile, a high school age person and younger has virtually no risk of dying with COVID-19 as there is more risk of them dying with the flu or riding in a car. You clearly want more starving and injured And abused and possibly dead children. Shame on you. It is unbelievably arrogant of you to think you know better than 79% of the students and families here In this community who indicate it is better for their student to come to the school for their education. What gives you that right? Who do you think you are? Are you that full of yourself to believe you know better than the families who live here? 

you keep using the same old talking points cr. my area i live fed the kids every single day here. they also had several wellness teams that checked on our kids on a regular basis to make sure things were ok. as for rights i have just as much rights as you to put my point of view on here. YOU use the same old tired talking points and indignation. you know what is happening is dangerous and that the chances of some kids getting sick or dying so i say to you"what gives YOU the right? and how dare you question me when your reply to kids in cages were they broke the law and you would vote for trump again knowing it will stay the same or get worse. how dare you put any kids above others when it comes or lives and the treatment they serve. get the hell out of here with that bull.

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5 hours ago, aubiefifty said:

you keep using the same old talking points cr. my area i live fed the kids every single day here. they also had several wellness teams that checked on our kids on a regular basis to make sure things were ok. as for rights i have just as much rights as you to put my point of view on here. YOU use the same old tired talking points and indignation. you know what is happening is dangerous and that the chances of some kids getting sick or dying so i say to you"what gives YOU the right? and how dare you question me when your reply to kids in cages were they broke the law and you would vote for trump again knowing it will stay the same or get worse. how dare you put any kids above others when it comes or lives and the treatment they serve. get the hell out of here with that bull.

You are the one spreading bull. In areas like ours with the number of cases here  the CDC tells us children are overall worse off if they are not in school. The foremost authority on the welfare of children, The American Pediatrics Academy, also agrees. So does the Georgia Dept. of Public Health. Our students are at virtually zero risk by coming to school. They  are at more risk Overall if they stay home. Those families who happen to have a high risk situation at home can get their schooling online. You are a very arrogant person if you think you know more that the families who live in this community. You are also heartless since you are clearly advocating for our youth to be at higher risk here. In case you didn’t notice Cuomo is opening schools in NY now too. There are places where it is not time to open schools because of the current number of cases in the community.......but that is not here. Here we go with the science and the data. You can take your feelings and your bull and flush it because it is irrational and complete blinded by your hate of Trump. If things change here and we get to the threshold the medical community tells us not to cross, then we would go all online. We are ALWAYS going to do what is best for our students per those in the medical community.

The biggest problem I have with your attitude is you are attempting to push it on everyone. If you had a child in our system you could have them take their classes online without any problem. We even provide you with a chromebook, all school supplies, and internet access if you don’t have it. But no.....that is not good enough for people like you. You think you should be able to tell other taxpayers how their children should get their schooling because you think you know better than 79% of our families and more than the CDC and more than the Georgia Dept. of Health. It is extremely arrogant of you. Shame on you. 

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As an educator, I’m ready to get back in the classroom. I love my kids and I miss them terribly.  But I’m concerned. Children can spread COVID. They can contract COVID an become sick. I’m currently caring for my parents so I’m living with them temporarily until my mom heals from a broken shoulder and imminent surgery. My parents are 76 and 80. Several of my coworkers have health issues. One survived cancer, one has asthma, one is elderly, one has numerous health issues. My school has already lost five students who died from sudep, car accidents and suicide. I don’t want to lose another person. 

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