OT - Have it on decent authority that NYS will be making an announcement today that all NYS schools will be closing...

[ExiledInIllinois]

13 minutes ago, Joe in Winslow said:

Think of the children!

 

 

The Wuhan is NOT for the children!

 

(Only old are dropping... Well sort of.  A 19 year old tested positive here, first outside Cook county AND no COVID-19 connection thru people.  So... It's out in the wild?)

28 minutes ago, Helpmenow said:

All those free breakfast and lunches, where are they going to eat. Cereal at home

What happens in summer?

[Gugny]

8 hours ago, Gray Beard said:

My wife is a teacher.  Early today her school scheduled a superintendent’s day this coming Wednesday to plan.  That my be no longer necessary, because later in the afternoon the county executive declared a state of emergency, and all schools in the county (Oneida) are closed until April 14.  So far only a few Central NY counties have done this.  To my knowledge, there isn’t a confirmed case in our county, which makes me wonder if the county executive may have been over zealous. The stores in the area were already being picked clean, and now it’s next level crazy. 

 

I've read that the Superintendent's Day strategy session is being used a lot.  Rumors were swirling around the school yesterday, but no official communication has come from them yet.

 

I can handle a school shut down since my son is gonna be 17 next week.  I feel bad for families with children who will require daycare.  I'm not sure if state-licensed daycare facilities would have to close, too.

 

I do a grocery shop and a Walmart run every Saturday.  I'm looking forward to seeing the shelves.  I just checked the inventory here at home.  13 rolls of TP; 11 rolls of paper towels.  As long as I can get my coffee and beer, it'll be another stress-free shopping day for me. 

 

EDIT:  I just read that our local school district has no plans of closing unless they absolutely have to.  In the case that they must, they are prepared and bus drivers have volunteered to deliver food to the homes of children in need.

 

 

Edited March 14, 2020 by Gugny

[row_33]

University is shut down in-person but my online course is business as usual starting Thursday 

[mead107]

Will bus drivers be paid?  asking for a friend he just got hired. Was supposed to start Monday. 

[Helpmenow]

9 hours ago, Joe in Winslow said:

Think of the children!

 

 

Hell with them, lol eat peanut butter and jelly like I did throughout school

Edited March 14, 2020 by Helpmenow

[Jrb1979]

1 hour ago, Gugny said:

 

I've read that the Superintendent's Day strategy session is being used a lot.  Rumors were swirling around the school yesterday, but no official communication has come from them yet.

 

I can handle a school shut down since my son is gonna be 17 next week.  I feel bad for families with children who will require daycare.  I'm not sure if state-licensed daycare facilities would have to close, too.

 

I do a grocery shop and a Walmart run every Saturday.  I'm looking forward to seeing the shelves.  I just checked the inventory here at home.  13 rolls of TP; 11 rolls of paper towels.  As long as I can get my coffee and beer, it'll be another stress-free shopping day for me. 

 

EDIT:  I just read that our local school district has no plans of closing unless they absolutely have to.  In the case that they must, they are prepared and bus drivers have volunteered to deliver food to the homes of children in need.

 

 

As far the daycare thing goes, you are lucky that so far they are staying open. Here in Ontario they have closed most of them when they closed the schools. 

[Gugny]

3 minutes ago, Jrb1979 said:

As far the daycare thing goes, you are lucky that so far they are staying open. Here in Ontario they have closed most of them when they closed the schools. 

 

That's going to present a huge, difficult challenge.

 

Out of a 45-person staff, I have 15 who have school-aged children.  Most have backup childcare plans (family), but a few do not.  If they are forced to stay home, it is still unclear as to how they will (or will not) be paid.

 

Last I heard, they would need to use PTO or decide to go unpaid.

 

What's worse is that those other employees who do NOT have children/daycare issues would be expected to come in.  Naturally, that will lead to, "well if I had a child, I could just stay home and use my PTO/go unpaid."  I'd love to think that everyone could see the big picture and work together on this, but I'm dealing with mostly millennials and … well … that cannot be expected.

 

There could also be FMLA and/or NYS Paid Family Leave abuse.  This whole thing could get very messy and ugly.

 

I am prepared to have an evening shift, as well as Saturdays and Sundays, just to make more options for people to come in.

 

Weeks of an abbreviated staff would cripple us for months.  And we can't just hire temps to fill voids.  That process takes forever.  If I make an offer to a temp, it's an average of 3-4 weeks before their first day, due to a lengthy background check.  By then, life will be back to normal.

[Gray Beard]

2 hours ago, Gugny said:

 

 

EDIT:  I just read that our local school district has no plans of closing unless they absolutely have to.  In the case that they must, they are prepared and bus drivers have volunteered to deliver food to the homes of children in need.

 

 

Getting food to children in need is a concern. I’ve noticed on Facebook that several teachers and restaurants in the area have offered to help, but I don’t know how that would work in a practical sense. It’s a shame that kids can’t reliably get food at home, but it’s a reality that shouldn’t be taken lightly. 

[Big Turk]

10 hours ago, Hapless Bills Fan said:

 

I can't speak for other school districts, but in this school district (which is ~40% free lunch) students get a chromebook in grade school and a laptop in middle school.

The district provides.

 

I'm not sure what they do to ensure bandwidth.

 

Hmm...Lockport?

31 minutes ago, Gugny said:

 

That's going to present a huge, difficult challenge.

 

Out of a 45-person staff, I have 15 who have school-aged children.  Most have backup childcare plans (family), but a few do not.  If they are forced to stay home, it is still unclear as to how they will (or will not) be paid.

 

Last I heard, they would need to use PTO or decide to go unpaid.

 

What's worse is that those other employees who do NOT have children/daycare issues would be expected to come in.  Naturally, that will lead to, "well if I had a child, I could just stay home and use my PTO/go unpaid."  I'd love to think that everyone could see the big picture and work together on this, but I'm dealing with mostly millennials and … well … that cannot be expected.

 

There could also be FMLA and/or NYS Paid Family Leave abuse.  This whole thing could get very messy and ugly.

 

I am prepared to have an evening shift, as well as Saturdays and Sundays, just to make more options for people to come in.

 

Weeks of an abbreviated staff would cripple us for months.  And we can't just hire temps to fill voids.  That process takes forever.  If I make an offer to a temp, it's an average of 3-4 weeks before their first day, due to a lengthy background check.  By then, life will be back to normal.

 

So glad I am a software engineer and can just work from home if I need to...sounds like a bas situation is about to get worse...

[Jrb1979]

The only think I find funny is they are closing all these places to slow the spread of this but the amount of people in grocery stores right now is insane. Isn't that the kind of thing they are trying to stop, having a lot of people in one place all at once?

[Hapless Bills Fan]

18 minutes ago, matter2003 said:

Hmm...Lockport?

 

Missouri, near St Louis.  It's actually a pretty cool turn around story but it's ironic because now that the school system wins awards and the buildings are beautiful, everyone and his cat (er kids) wants to move here.  We still have a lot of Section 8 and there's a lot of support for those kids, like a "Weekends on Wheels" program that provides weekend food.  So if the school district has to close, I believe they'll figure it out.

[Pine Barrens Mafia]

1 hour ago, Helpmenow said:

Hell with them, lol eat peanut butter and jelly like I did throughout school

Right?

[Hapless Bills Fan]

9 minutes ago, Jrb1979 said:

The only think I find funny is they are closing all these places to slow the spread of this but the amount of people in grocery stores right now is insane. Isn't that the kind of thing they are trying to stop, having a lot of people in one place all at once?

 

Yeah, it's dumb.  But people, to quote @DC Tom, are....

 

Last night we ate out.  Had intended to pick up food at a local Fish Fry from a parish we support - they are careful with food handling and have a drive through.  But the drive through line was unreal - around 2 blocks, so we tried a local Irish pub.  We sat at a booth, near the door, good separation.  By the time we left, the place was jam-packed and the people around the bar were 3-4 deep and cheek by jowl.   Coulda been Italy.

Canceling a parade and closing schools and work from home are all very well but it doesn't mean a thing if people behave like idiots. 

 

As we left, overheard dude on his phone, trying to persuade someone to come out.  Evidently they said something about Covid19, because he responded "I don't believe in coronavirus, it's all stupidity".  I refrained from responding "coronavirus doesn't care what you believe".

[mead107]

Daughter and husband working from home

oldest granddaughter’s school closed 

younger one they pulled from day care. daughter said that a lot of parents work at hospital that use the day care. 
they are donating a lot of food to local food pantry 

[Jrb1979]

13 minutes ago, Hapless Bills Fan said:

 

Yeah, it's dumb.  But people, to quote @DC Tom, are....

 

Last night we ate out.  Had intended to pick up food at a local Fish Fry from a parish we support - they are careful with food handling and have a drive through.  But the drive through line was unreal - around 2 blocks, so we tried a local Irish pub.  We sat at a booth, near the door, good separation.  By the time we left, the place was jam-packed and the people around the bar were 3-4 deep and cheek by jowl.   Coulda been Italy.

Canceling a parade and closing schools and work from home are all very well but it doesn't mean a thing if people behave like idiots. 

 

As we left, overheard dude on his phone, trying to persuade someone to come out.  Evidently they said something about Covid19, because he responded "I don't believe in coronavirus, it's all stupidity".  I refrained from responding "coronavirus doesn't care what you believe".

Its almost like government needs to do more to make people understand the severity of this. I was at the airport this morning to drop off my stepson to fly up north to visit his grandmother for the week. The amount of people still traveling after what has gone on in the last couple of days is mind blowing. I know we tell people that it's bad to be sheeple but now would be the best time to be one. 

[Hapless Bills Fan]

9 minutes ago, Jrb1979 said:

Its almost like government needs to do more to make people understand the severity of this. I was at the airport this morning to drop off my stepson to fly up north to visit his grandmother for the week. The amount of people still traveling after what has gone on in the last couple of days is mind blowing. I know we tell people that it's bad to be sheeple but now would be the best time to be one. 

 

I think you could take the "almost" out of the first sentence.  People are getting confusing and conflicted messages in this country, and whichever one believes, it's creating a stress and a panic mindset that is not being observed or apparently experienced in countries like Taiwan and Singapore with travel restrictions, massive testing campaigns, mandatory quarantines, and people going around in gloves and masks.

[Johnnycage46]

8 minutes ago, Hapless Bills Fan said:

 

I think you could take the "almost" out of the first sentence.  People are getting confusing and conflicted messages in this country, and whichever one believes, it's creating a stress and a panic mindset that is not being observed or apparently experienced in countries like Taiwan and Singapore with travel restrictions, massive testing campaigns, mandatory quarantines, and people going around in gloves and masks.

I think this is the biggest issue right now.  There was so much conflicting information coming out of different news agencies and people's concern level was/is all over the map.  There needs to be one unified voice to disseminate official information.  If this is taken as seriously as possible and hopefully subsides soon-ish it will be worth all of the isolation and boredom to come.

[mead107]

42 minutes ago, Jrb1979 said:

Its almost like government needs to do more to make people understand the severity of this. I was at the airport this morning to drop off my stepson to fly up north to visit his grandmother for the week. The amount of people still traveling after what has gone on in the last couple of days is mind blowing. I know we tell people that it's bad to be sheeple but now would be the best time to be one. 

Air travel is down over 60%. 
daughter travels out of Boston for work every week. (NYC)  Her work halted all travel 2 weeks ago on Tuesday. Last time she flew to ny plane was less than half full and her return trip 1/3 full. 
now no travel has been extended to end of April. 

[Chandler#81]

Florida schools closing for at least 2 weeks.

[teef]

2 hours ago, Jrb1979 said:

As far the daycare thing goes, you are lucky that so far they are staying open. Here in Ontario they have closed most of them when they closed the schools. 

That’s what they’re doing here now too.   If the district closes, the local daycares close. I don’t think it’s mandated, but it’s what many are choosing to do. 

One district in Rochester just closed.  Apparently an infected woman was in one of the schools.