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COVID and the School Year

lieutenant_dad's picture

Like everywhere else in the US, COVID-19 cases are increasing drastically, and death rates have taken a northern turn as well. YSS's school is planning to open in three weeks with either an in-person or distance learning option.

After zero discussion with DH, BM and YSS decided he would go to school in-person. Granted, when they made this decision, cases had not started creeping up yet. Additionally, YSS needs the structure of school to get his work done. BM provides exactly zero structure at home (always has, homework was a nightmare, fairly certain I have bald spots from pulling out my hair about it).

This makes me nervous. With him physically going to school, YSS will be back on an EOWE rotation. I'm not okay with that. I don't want him to sweep in on a weekend and find out he's sick after he has already left, infecting both households. DH and BM have been doing every two weeks over the summer, which has been better because we could at least try to contain an outbreak in one place.

But with YSS having daily contact with hundreda of kids? And BM working a new job in a factory? And BM and her DH now drinking the "masks are dumb and 'Muricans will die to save the economy" Kool-Aid, I've lost any (probably false) sense of security I once had.

So what does DH do? Not see YSS? Talk to YSS about the changing landscape and see if his decision has changed (he's going I to high school)? Talk to BM about YSS doing distance learning instead? If he does distance learning, he stays on the 2 week rotation, which is honestly fine. As a side note, YSS wants to wear a mask and has no issues wearing one or using hand sanitizer. He keeps both on his person without reminder. My concern isn't with him; it's with the "yahoos" he lives and goes to school with.

And I also have moral issues with putting teachers and school staff at risk without providing them the things they need to operate safely, but that's an entirely different discussion. AND it's YSS's health, so I feel like he should have a say with the most up-to-date data available.

And because I know it will be asked, yes, DH has joint legal custody. He technically has say over YSS's education.in in practice, though, BM has always made the decisions. Generally, those decisions have been good ones and DH didn't need to "flex". This, however, is different.

And don't argue with me about "COVID being overblown" or whatever. I work in infectious disease, and I take my cues from the expert providers I work with daily. They went from being cautiously optimistic to alarmed, and that's prompting me to reconsider going back to Stage 1 in my personal containment of COVID.

Comments

CLove's picture

Munchkin will most certainly want to do the in-person school. Her father and mother will most certainly want to do that.

And we are on a week on/week off schedule with her now. We did a 2 week schedule but that wasnt making the toxic troll happy.

I honestly dont know what to do about it. I voiced my concerns but DH put me off with saying "there has been no notification as to when school is restarting and how. We have to wait until we hear from the school district."

Forget about having a plan in place first.

halo1998's picture

we do one on/one week off with SD.  My two will be remote mostly likely for fall college classes.   As my DD says...schools/kids nothing but walking petri dishes.  Although the thought of homeschooling SD again gives me PTSD.  She does not do well with homeschool since Beaver won't give SD her ADHD meds at her house.  That means SD does NOTHING at her moms and has twice the school load to do here.  

I may have to stock up on bourbon for us to make through another year of homeschool

Maxwell09's picture

Our schools haven't come out and said it but the principals are looking at modeling colleges by doing  the AB Day Model. (mon+wed or tues+thurs) I'm very lucky that I go to out of teaching recently because I don't know how I would work all week and find someone to homeschool my bio and SS three days of the five. My job is flexible enough now that I can homeschool them if it goes back to that.
 

we just went to court at the beginning of Summer and BM lost. I don't consider it a win because while he's didn't get primary decision making or 50:50 from DH, she took more of our days with SS which are already limited to Monday-Friday during the school year. So that being said, with Covid he's been getting to spend more time with me and bs which is exactly what she wanted to put a stop to in the first place. I'm sure she'll ask DH to change up the schedule once she figures out SS won't be going to school full weeks. She'll do anything to keep SS from having any fun free days with us. So in all I can go either way. I don't mind sending them-it's preferable because I feel like they learn more there but homeschooling was a breeze too because I had already been a teacher for so long.