My classes are supposed to start in 55 days.
So far, the university has not released any actual plan or guidelines. I have no idea what I'm supposed to do or under what conditions, though I can make some pretty shrewd guesses.
IT sent me a webcam. It doesn't work. My courses don't have rooms (I need recording capacity. Will I get it? Who knows!). There is no childcare. Public schools will start a week after my classes and probably let out at 1 pm every day, and the bus service to the middle school will be suspended. (The alternative plan is school 2 days a week.) Nobody has done anything - not one single thing- to help with the horrendous childcare mess this creates in a town of 3500. Children are also barred from campus.
My children are very tired of each other and it is still June. I am running out of energy to be fun - also it is 90 degrees and 85% humidity every day- and there are two months to go.
And we're the lucky ones. We have jobs- flexible and accommodating jobs. We have money. We have a grandma who comes and helps out. The kids are enjoying having a ton of free time. It could be worse, and yet I look at New Zealand and have to take to my bed for a round of depression.
The childcare issue is really worrying. Many of the students at my university have kids, as do many of the faculty. I don't see how anything works without some sort of childcare. And yet how do we have childcare and maintain social distancing?
ReplyDeleteThere is probably very little child to child/adult transmission, and overall numbers in children are extremely low (See here for example, also a ton of boring scientific papers: https://www.npr.org/2020/06/24/882316641/what-parents-can-learn-from-child-care-centers-that-stayed-open-during-lockdowns). There is probably an age threshold around 11-12, but 11 year olds can wear a mask effectively. Will any schools actually take science into account? No, of course not, they will sanitize surfaces (which is dumb and almost pointless) and individuals will suffer. This is all terrible...
DeleteWe're still in the survey stage-- no information except that start dates are a week earlier for both university and K-12.
ReplyDeleteI am 100% sure the university has already decided but they are *pretending* to get feedback.
DeleteI dunno, I bet they’re waiting to see what everyone else does so they can follow.
DeleteWell, our president announced on national news that we were opening for in person instruction...
DeleteIt's all terrible. Our school is talking a week in school/week at home model. My work would much rather know that I have to be at home every morning or afternoon. I wish the two sides would work together to make this working parent thing possible but I'm afraid we're about to get the short end of the stick...
ReplyDeleteAAAAAAH anything but that. Plus! It's all probably not necessary! The hair tearing frustration is real.
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