2021-2022 School Year
September 1, 2021
When school isn’t safe: ‘You feel like you are sending your child into a lion’s den’
August 6, 2021
More than 3,000 Louisiana children test positive for COVID-19 in just four days
August 4, 2021
428 students and staff in quarantine after first week of school in Arkansas district
July 31, 2021
DeSantis and other GOP 2024 prospects target public health officials with political attacks
“It is very important that we say unequivocally no to lockdowns, no to school closures, no to restrictions and no to mandates,” DeSantis told the crowd at a conservative state policy conference in Utah on Wednesday.
And on Friday, DeSantis said at a press conference that he will sign an executive order barring schools from requiring students to wear masks — a move that followed Broward County Public Schools opting to make masks mandatory. He also said his three young children don’t wear masks.”
My wife and I are not going to do the mask with the kids. We never have, we won’t. I want to see my kids smiling. I want them having fun,” he said.”
Florida breaks record with more than 21,000 new COVID cases
July 30, 2021
As Outbreaks Force Schools To Go All-Virtual, Districts Reinstate Mask Mandates
More than 100 students in quarantine during first week of classes at Atlanta charter school
Arkansas governor to ask state legislature to allow masks in schools
Alabama Gov. Ivey says ‘no’ to masks in schools despite pediatric group’s new recommendations
Anderson Cooper you ask?
AC360 Transcript
I find simul-tweeting to be therapeutic – so here I go:
“Today, the President of the United States did something rare, he expressed a notion that we can all agree on, that kids belong in the classroom, but then he made it quite clear, that, beyond what it means to himself and his re-election, he doesn’t actually care about those kids, at all.”
He doesn’t.
“He doesn’t care about their health and safety, their teachers or parents”
Or their grandparents, neighbors, bus drivers, lunchroom workers, principals, custodians or local store employees.
“He doesn’t care about the Federal Guidelines put out by the CDC for keeping them safe, guidelines based on scientific fact, not fantasy, but facts about how to stop this virus from spreading in schools.”
K-12 Schools and Child Care Programs
“The president bragged today about getting the CDC to change their guidelines, to weaken them, and low and behold, the CDC, which used to be a respected organization, they are going to come up with new guidelines.”
White House Stumbles Over How Best To Reopen Schools, As Trump Blasts CDC Guidance
“Even if we think kids tend to not get sick and they don’t transmit very much, the process of opening a school involves a lot of adults interacting with each other and there definitely are many teachers, given the age of our teaching workforce, who are at higher risk for COVID,” Oster says.
Trump threatens federal funding for schools, says he disagrees with CDC over reopening guidelines
“Redfield told reporters that his agency will issue new guidance in the coming days and said keeping schools closed is not the intent. “It is critical that we get these schools open,” he said at a briefing at the Education Department. “
“Think about that.”
Yes, THINK ABOUT THAT!
“The CDC puts together guidelines, based on science, to protect kids and teachers. Things like having airflow in rooms, washing hands, and because the president thinks they’re too specific, too difficult, the CDC is just going to weaken them, and it’s not me just saying that. The vice-president, actually, said it out loud today.”
Pence says CDC changing school reopening guidelines after Trump called them ‘tough and expensive’
“We don’t want guidance to be too tough the vice-president said.”
Students don’t want tests to be too tough.
“Let’s just have guidance based on magical thinking or a pamphlet written by the president’s advisers Diamond and Silk. Why not? Today president threatened retribution for schools that don’t open.”
Trump threatens to cut federal funds from schools that don’t reopen
“Education secretary slams “adults who are fear mongering and making excuses” for not reopening.
President Donald Trump and Education Secretary Betsy DeVos are threatening to cut federal funding if schools don’t fully physically reopen, increasing pressure on education leaders as the Trump administration intensifies its drive to get kids back in classrooms.”
“I am quoting now from his tweet. In Germany, Denmark, Norway and Sweden, and in many other countries, schools are open with no problems. The Dems think it would be bad for them politically if schools open before the November election, but it is important for the children and families, may cut off funding if not open.”
“Germany, Denmark, Norway and Sweden. I just want to quickly show you what life looks like in those four countries the president named.”
“There are the lines, all bunched together at the bottom of the graph.”
Germany is 33rd in Deaths Per Million (109), Denmark is 34th (105), is 62nd (46) and Sweden is 7th (543). We are 9th (407)
https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/#countries
“Germany reported 279 new cases yesterday, according to Johns Hopkins University data, https://coronavirus.jhu.edu/map.html, Denmark 10, Norway 11, Sweden 283. That’s a total of 583 new cases yesterday, in a population of about 100 million. As for the United States, we had more than 60,000, 60,000 new cases.”
Math:
| New Cases | Population | Per Million | |
| Germany | 279 | 83,790,088 | 3.33 |
| Denmark | 10 | 5,792,667 | 1.73 |
| Norway | 11 | 5,422,116 | 2.03 |
| Sweden | 283 | 10,100,615 | 28.02 |
| USA | 61,848 | 331,044,624 | 186.83 |
Please Notice the Y-Axis Scale on these graphs!
United States
“Today, we surpassed 3 million since the outbreak began. 132 thousand lives lost. Cases rising in 35 states, holding steady in 12, falling in just 3. THAT IS THE REALITY TODAY! Tomorrow looks worse, not better”
Fauci: COVID-19 cases could swell to 100,000 a day if U.S. doesn’t control virus
“We are still knee-deep in this he said. A consequence, he goes on to say, of states reopening too soon and disregarding CDC guidelines, for when and how to do it safely.”
“Disregarding CDC guidelines, just like the president is now doing with schools and getting the CDC to rewrite the guidelines. Here is his tweet,
‘I disagree with @CDCgov on their very tough & expensive guidelines for opening schools. While they want them open, they are asking schools to do very impractical things. I will be meeting with them!!!’ Turns out, he didn’t even have to meet with them. Listen.
Press Briefing by Vice President Pence and Members of the Coronavirus Task Force | July 8, 2020
CDC will issue new guidance on school openings, Pence says, after criticism from Trump
“‘New guidance next week. Five part series of recommendations. Here to help. I want to show you the CDC website and those tough and expensive guidelines that are currently there.'”
“Page after page of science-based advice, ‘Considerations for Safely Opening Schools’, in the words of one section header”
Considerations for Schools
“another headline says ‘Guiding Principles to Keep in Mind’ or another section ‘Promoting Behaviors That Reduce Spread’. There is advice on keeping students 6 feet apart, improving ventilation, installing barriers, protecting staff, it’s comprehensive, and it isn’t exactly outdated information. The material came out on the 19th of May.”
CDC releases new federal guidelines for schools
“You may remember afters weeks and weeks of promises and claims that they were just being edited, watered down. Then one night, with no fanfare, they just popped up on CDC’s website. This was a little more than two weeks after the Task Force stopped giving daily briefings and became evident the president essentially washed his hands of the whole crisis, but was still pushing states to reopen their economies, which many did, before those guidelines show up on CDC’s site. By that point, they were already open, the horse was out of the barn, or more specifically, the virus was. Fast forward to today, as the president pushes states to reopen schools, he is now openly trashing those very same guidelines. This Coronavirus Task Force has folded like a bridge table, minus Anthony Fauci, who wasn’t at the briefing today in person. They tried to spin it today that everything they are doing is in the best interest of students, Kaitlin Collins asked this question of the vice president,”
“He sounds so earnest when he said all of that, but what does it actually mean? ‘Determination that provides leadership.’ That doesn’t mean anything. It’s got the focus-group tested buzzwords, the vice president likes the word determination and its got the word leadership. Put it together and it doesn’t mean anything, Determination that Provides Leadership. It is just noise. It is lies and noise. Yes, of course, kids belong in schools, but those same public health officials, when they are being honest, they don’t believe that reopening schools or reopening states should take precedence over public safety, moreover, they recognize it is not an either-or choice. They know that getting back to any semblance of normality can’t happen until the virus is under control, hence the guidelines, hence the warnings. We all seen what disregarding them leads to, yet today the president’s top team of scientists, minus Dr. Fauci, couldn’t answer simple questions about what the science is. On the risk of doing the exact thing the president is pushing to do.”
Dr. Birx Admits Trump Administration Has No Idea What Child Virus Transmission/Infection Rate is as They Push to Reopen Schools
CDC director says there’s no data children drive coronavirus spread — but the U.S. isn’t testing many kids
“Again, what does that mean? It all comes down to the evidence base she said. Yes, parents have done an amazing job protecting their children, we can all agree on that, but what about the rest of what she said? She went on like that for about two and a half minutes, without ever answering the question, what she is really saying, what she said right there, and what we played you, was essentially ‘we don’t know, we don’t know what the effect on kids is, we don’t know about the transmission with kids, we don’t know, we just don’t have the evidence, but rather than just saying that, because that would then suddenly make it seem like WOW, maybe it is not a great idea to force kids back into school and force teachers back into their rooms. She either couldn’t say it or she wouldn’t say it. As for CDC Director Robert Redfield, I mean this guy, WOW! What he has done to the CDC.”
“He wouldn’t even acknowledge he is bending to the president’s wishes today. Listen to this.”
CDC to issue new school COVID guidelines after Trump funding threat as President & Fauci are both absent from task force
“CDC Director Robert Redfield denied any friction between his agency and Trump to reporters after the press briefing, saying he and Trump are “aligned” on next steps for reopening.
But when asked why the president lashed out on Twitter, Redford was mum and “sort of shrugged”.”
“Yeah, if I was him I would close my eyes too when I was saying that stuff, because it means nothing, it is a non-answer answer. That is what passes for leadership from this White House, nonsensical talk and lies and buzzwords. We are in a pandemic, a virus is here, and it is killing us and a lot of good people are fighting to stop it in hospitals and labs and a lot of good people are fighting it in their bodies, to stay alive, but lives and buzzwords mean nothing.”
You are absolutely right Anderson! Thank You!
Tracking Covid at U.S.
Colleges and Universities
October 5, 2020
North Carolina Teacher Becomes 8th Killed by COVID Since School Year Began
September 28, 2020
Behind the White House Effort to Pressure the C.D.C. on School Openings
September 27, 2020
September 24, 2020
Coronavirus transmission heightens concerns surrounding ventilation in schools
September 18, 2020
Coronavirus Has Killed 7 Teachers Since School Year Began
September 17, 2020
Mass. parents knew kid had coronavirus, sent him to 1st day of school anyway, officials say
September 13, 2020
September 12, 2020
September 11, 2020
‘Astonishingly risky’: COVID-19 cases at colleges are fueling the nation’s hottest outbreaks
September 9, 2020
Musical Chairs: Iowa School Districts’ New Way To Skirt COVID Rules
September 8, 2020
South Carolina 3rd grade teacher, 28, dies from COVID-19
September 7, 2020
‘Reckless’ And ‘Reprehensible’ Frat Party Linked To Coronavirus Outbreak At UNH: Here Are The Latest College Coronavirus Updates
September 2, 2020
August 29, 2020
August 28, 2020
HUH?
DeVos: It’s a ‘good thing’ that pandemic will force schools to make long-overdue changes
August 23, 2020
August 17, 2020
Coronavirus is spreading in schools, but the federal government isn’t keeping count
August 15, 2020
New CDC guidance says Covid-19 rates in children ‘steadily increasing’
August 14, 2020
State officials: Gwinnett teen the second youngest recorded COVID-19 death in Georgia
August 13, 2020
How Trump’s push to reopen schools backfired
August 12, 2020
1,193 Quarantined for Covid. Is This a Successful School Reopening?
August 11, 2020
Coronavirus cases in children spike in California, according to reports
August 10, 2020
Coronavirus surging among children, teenagers in California
Nearly 100k children tested positive for COVID-19 in last two weeks of July
August 8, 2020
9 people test positive for coronavirus at Georgia school that went viral for crowded photo
August 7, 2020
Florida Health Departments Forbidden From Telling Schools Not to Reopen Despite Coronavirus Surge: Report
August 6, 2020
August 5, 2020
Parents: 6-year-old Jackson girl dies after testing positive for COVID-19
Students at school touted by Pence for reopening must quarantine due to COVID-19
Ventilation should be part of the conversation on school reopening. Why isn’t it?
August 3, 2020
260 employees in Georgia school district have tested positive for Covid-19 or been exposed
August 2, 2020
July 31, 2020
Children and staff at Georgia overnight camp test positive for coronavirus, CDC says
July 29, 2020
Association Between Statewide School Closure and COVID-19 Incidence and Mortality in the US
“Key Points
Question Was statewide school closure associated with decreased incidence and mortality for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)?
Findings In this US population–based time series analysis conducted between March 9, 2020, and May 7, 2020, school closure was associated with a significant decline in both incidence of COVID-19 (adjusted relative change per week, −62%) and mortality (adjusted relative change per week, −58%). In a model derived from this analysis, it was estimated that closing schools when the cumulative incidence of COVID-19 was in the lowest quartile compared with the highest quartile was associated with 128.7 fewer cases per 100 000 population over 26 days and with 1.5 fewer deaths per 100 000 population over 16 days.
Meaning There was a temporal association between statewide school closure and lower COVID-19 incidence and mortality, although some of the reductions may have been related to other concurrent nonpharmaceutical interventions.”
July 28, 2020
Hundreds to quarantine after COVID-19 case linked to Florida high school graduation ceremony
July 27,2020
Child hospitalizations from Covid-19 surge 23% in Florida as schools statewide must reopen
July 24, 2020
New CDC guidelines come down hard in favor of opening schools
July 23, 2020
Fact check: Education Secretary Betsy DeVos says that children are ‘stoppers’ of COVID-19
July 22, 2020
Betsy DeVos just crossed another line. She’s an ongoing danger to teachers and students.
July 21, 2020
July 18, 2020
| Country | Population | Location | Deaths on 7/17/2020 | |
| 1 | Russia | 145,934,462 | Eastern Europe | 186 |
| 2 | Germany | 83,783,942 | Western Europe | 3 |
| 3 | United Kingdom | 67,886,011 | Northern Europe | 114 |
| 4 | France | 65,273,511 | Western Europe | 14 |
| 5 | Italy | 60,461,826 | Southern Europe | 11 |
| 6 | Spain | 46,754,778 | Southern Europe | 4 |
| 7 | Ukraine | 43,733,762 | Eastern Europe | 11 |
| 8 | Poland | 37,846,611 | Eastern Europe | 7 |
| 9 | Romania | 19,237,691 | Eastern Europe | 17 |
| 10 | Netherlands | 17,134,872 | Western Europe | 0 |
| 11 | Belgium | 11,589,623 | Western Europe | 0 |
| 12 | Czech Republic (Czechia) | 10,708,981 | Eastern Europe | 3 |
| 13 | Greece | 10,423,054 | Southern Europe | 1 |
| 14 | Portugal | 10,196,709 | Southern Europe | 3 |
| 15 | Sweden | 10,099,265 | Northern Europe | 10 |
| 16 | Hungary | 9,660,351 | Eastern Europe | 0 |
| 17 | Belarus | 9,449,323 | Eastern Europe | 6 |
| 18 | Austria | 9,006,398 | Western Europe | 0 |
| 19 | Serbia | 8,737,371 | Southern Europe | 10 |
| 20 | Switzerland | 8,654,622 | Western Europe | 0 |
| 21 | Bulgaria | 6,948,445 | Eastern Europe | 4 |
| 22 | Denmark | 5,792,202 | Northern Europe | 1 |
| Deaths Per Capita | ||||
| Total | 699,313,810 | 0.000058% | 405 | |
| United States | 372,200,000 | 0.000254% | 946 |
July 17, 2020
Can kids spread the coronavirus? ‘Conclusively, without a doubt – yes,’ experts say
White House blocks CDC from testifying on reopening schools next week
July 16, 2020
Exclusive: CDC Won’t Release School Guidance This Week As Anticipated
“The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will not release a set of documents this week aimed at giving schools advice on how to reopen to students after coronavirus shutdowns, NPR has learned. Instead, the full set will be published before the end of the month, a CDC spokesperson says.”
July 15, 2020:
Schools Should Prioritize Reopening in Fall 2020, Especially for Grades K-5, While Weighing Risks and Benefits
COVID-19 Precautions for Reopened Schools
“The report also recommends schools and districts take the following precautions to protect staff and students:
- Provide surgical masks for all teachers and staff. All students and staff should wear face masks. Younger children may have difficulty using face masks, but schools should encourage compliance.
- Provide hand washing stations or hand sanitizer for all people who enter school buildings, minimize contact with shared surfaces, and increase regular surface cleaning.
- Limit large gatherings of students, such as during assemblies, in the cafeteria, and overcrowding at school entrances, possibly by staggering arrival times.
- Reorganize classrooms to enable physical distancing, such as by limiting class sizes or moving instruction to larger spaces. The report says cohorting, when a group of 10 students or less stay with the same staff as much as possible, is a promising strategy for physical distancing.
- Prioritize cleaning, ventilation, and air filtration, while recognizing that these alone will not sufficiently lower the risk of COVID-19 transmission.
- Create a culture of health and safety in every school, and enforce virus mitigation guidelines using positive approaches rather than by disciplining students.”
Staffing Challenges
“Staffing is likely to be a major challenge if and when schools reopen. A significant portion of school staff are in COVID-19 high-risk age groups, or are hesitant to return to work because of the health risks. The report says some COVID-19 mitigation strategies, such as maintaining smaller class sizes, will require additional teaching staff. “
36 students positive for COVID-19 after high school sports camps, Illinois officials say
Israel schools experience coronavirus outbreaks after reopening
July 14, 2020:
July 13, 2020:
July 12, 2020:
Betsy DeVos And The School Reopening Directives That Could Kill America’s Teachers
Three Arizona teachers who shared a classroom got coronavirus. One of them died
Update! July 11th, 2020:
New York Times: Internal CDC documents warn full reopening of schools is ‘highest risk’ for coronavirus spread
Update! July 10th, 2020:
Nation’s Pediatricians Walk Back Support For In-Person School
Missouri summer camp closes after 82 kids, staffers infected with coronavirus: reports
Update! July 9th, 2020:
“We are in a good place”
