Same here. My kindergartener is going back full time and class sizes are limited to about 10. Newfane school district. My 6th grader is going every other day, assuming because that class is larger.
We are going to provide our own transportation, as I see the bus being an issue (irrespective of Covid). I’m awfully glad they’re going back. We don’t have neighbors for them to interact with, and don’t have any family or friends with kids so I’m pretty worried about them turning into weirdos (like me)
Edit: I went to Williamsville schools, and always figured I’d move back so my kids could go there as well. Having now experienced this district, I’ve definitely reconsidered that. I’m pretty happy being in a small district, the teachers so far have been excellent, and the supernintendo is a bro and doesn’t seem to be concerned with politics and is really focused on what’s best for the kids
Agreed, I am not sure what to expect for these remote learning Wednesdays, but it’ll be interesting to see. And while the public may speculate about teacher preparedness and all that, I can honestly say that when we tell you we’re finding this stuff out as soon as you (parents) are, that’s the 100% truth. So at this point, I have 2 weeks to figure out a plan now that we finally have officially adopted one (our 3rd attempt as a district).
Edit- also the whole Wednesday “deep clean” is supposedly going to happen after school on Wednesdays since staff are still expected to be present and a smaller population of students (with various needs) will still be in school that day.
Williamsville dropped the webcast for the remote kids for middle and high school in the final plan released today, so basically my kid will have 2 days of school, Wednesday of virtual instruction, and 2 days of “here’s your packet, good luck” each week.
I foresee a lot of hate on teachers, but as Mike said…it’s not our faults.
We are being thrown left and right by admin, school boards and unions (who are generally not speaking for the teachers in most cases…FYI).
For example: today I am supposed to be meeting with my department on lesson planning on Microsoft Teams. We have kids next week starting Monday. But they’ve told us to hold off on actual planning until Friday so we know how to upload and format them.
Awesome. So guess who’s going to be scrambling over the weekend? The entire teaching staff.
Also, we don’t have enough webcams. Why? Because everyone having Zoom parties over quarantine bought them out and the supply chain is fucked. So how do I record my video lessons? My phone! What isn’t allowed on the school WiFi? My phone!
Yeah, I’m not hating on the teachers (except a couple my daughter had last spring that basic started their summer vacation in early March because they didn’t do shit with remote learning). I get that it’s a messed up situation that’s ever changing. At the same time, guess what, it’s been that way for the rest of the essential world since March. Welcome to the party.
However, any of them that pull the, “I can’t come to school because it’s not safe” should be fired immediately unless they have strong medical proof that they are immunocompromised.
Man, my wife has been dealing with this. She’s in medical though, so everything needs to be done on her personal phone through a calling service which ads a layer of BS. And she’s taken over my office and using all my tech. Good thing I just happened to have EVERYTHING her employer could have wanted her to have… including myself to trouble shoot their BS software, lol.
I’ve asked her, is her employer going to increase her compensation to pay for the increase in electric and phone bill? I’m surprised I haven’t heard the teachers union make a similar argument.
Anyone else getting these love letters from National Grid? lol;
My employer has offered to pay $50/mo towards internet etc. But you need to submit an expense report monthly and get approval etc. For something im already using Im not bothering which might be dumb, but
They also kicked in money if you needed a new chair, or keyboard, and are paying $150 for a headset if you need one.
Do you have central air?
Do you normally turn it down when you guys are at work (when you used to go to the office).
If yes to both that will explain your big jump in electricity usage. Plus this summer’s July temps were above last summer’s according to the report my thermostat sends me each month, so even if you were using the AC the same hours you’d still spend more this summer.
EDIT: @juicedz4 … If they’re offering I’d definitely submit the paperwork to get the $50/month for internet. My company didn’t offer us anything but honestly I’m not even mad because like you said, I was going to have internet at home regardless. Spending a little more on AC/electricity is well worth the perk of working from home to me too. I did buy a new office chair as well because the chair I had at my desk at work never bothered me until I started sitting in it for 8 hours a day. It was a fine 30 minute chair, but not an 8 hour chair.
I never adjust our ac when we’re gone anyway since my daughter is here all day, mostly, anyway. Plus i feel like we tend to use way less energy not trying to catch up at the hottest time of the day when we get home from work. We have 0 trees near the house so its a full sun party.
I prob should, but I probably wont. I did go in at least 2 days a week this whole time. If I was home 100% i would be more likely to do it. But Im still thinking, " i didnt change anything to work at home so why would I take this “Free money”".
Im glad im not the only one. Our electric usage has risen considerably since my wife was forced to work from home. But its been more than offset by the reduction in gas for her car.
There are probably a few more lights on since I’m in my home office, plus the desktop that would probably be in sleep mode, but my daughter would have been home regardless so the AC would have been running and I know that’s the big energy user. Regardless my solar has been cranking out more than I can use each month so I’ve still been building credits for the winter months.
Nope. We have one small window unit that we run from time to time, but I live in an old house that stays pretty cool in the summer.
I’m convinced 50% of my bill is from my dining room chandelier which my wife has been keeping on all day for better Zoom lighting. I never use it myself, but realized a few weeks ago that it was the only fixture in the house without LED bulbs. I fixed that right away, lol.
Haven’t even bothered to check the monthly costs but I’m sure they’re a bit higher.
All of this chaos is certainly no accident. It will be very interesting to see how it plays out but I cannot say I am pleased at all with how it’s going.
However, I have told my boys that we’ll be augmenting their school with private tutoring so that they don’t fall behind, rather, I say this is an opportunity to get ahead by simply not being scared.
Professionally this is certainly the case. Let everyone else slow down and wait for instructions… let the hustlers hustle.
