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Schools refusing to close due in COVID-2019 pandemic

Posted: Wed Mar 18, 2020 9:44 am
by zenteach
Is anyone else at a school that is refusing to close? I am in a SE Asian country where the numbers are not that high, but steadily and rapidly increasing. Our school leadership team keeps mentioning that we should "trust" them, yet other international schools in our city are all closing for at least the next couple of weeks.

There are members of our parent community who have contracted it, and we have a couple students in quarantine as a result.

What might be going on here? Why would a school be so opposed to closing in a global pandemic?

Re: Schools refusing to close due in COVID-2019 pandemic

Posted: Wed Mar 18, 2020 10:20 am
by sid
Some people are legitimately idiots and really believe it’ll all be fine. It’s a hoax. I won’t get it. Kids don’t get that sick. Etc.
others might be concerned about tuition, parents demanding refunds or discounts, dropping enrollment.

Re: Schools refusing to close due in COVID-2019 pandemic

Posted: Thu Mar 19, 2020 7:04 am
by marieh
Money. My school is paying all of our teachers their full salary and we are doing online learning from home, but a lot of schools don't have the budget for it.

Re: Schools refusing to close due in COVID-2019 pandemic

Posted: Thu Mar 19, 2020 6:50 pm
by Helen Back
As long as the parents keep paying, the schools can keep paying teacher salary. I can also think of plenty of cost savings in having an empty school. Besides, if the kids leave, where are they going to go? It's not like they can move to another school. And lastly, I would think staying open when everyone else is closed would be damaging to a schools reputation.

Re: Schools refusing to close due in COVID-2019 pandemic

Posted: Fri Mar 20, 2020 5:41 am
by zenteach
The school claims they are following the governmental regulations. However, there are a variety of measures that they are not actually following, and have not been following.

No doubt, money has a big part to play. And don't get me wrong, I am grateful I have a job at this time.

However what really gets me is that the "leadership" team asks for opinions, and then when you tell them the truth they get incredibly defensive about their choices. Don't ask us questions if you do not want answers.

All of the other schools that have closed (5+) in our city are higher ranking Tier 1 type of schools. Indeed, it is already damaging the school's reputation. Parents are writing really strong comments on social media and digital public forums.

The staff morale is in the gutter, but the school continues to carry on with their nonsense about how we are safer at school than at home.

Re: Schools refusing to close due in COVID-2019 pandemic

Posted: Fri Mar 20, 2020 7:29 am
by sid
You mention five schools closing. How many remain open?

Re: Schools refusing to close due in COVID-2019 pandemic

Posted: Sat Mar 21, 2020 5:30 am
by zenteach
@Helen, excellent point about cost saving measures with less people on campus. We are mainly worried about the fact that students and teachers are all very close contact without the required amount of space between us. Not to mention most of the teachers take public transport.

@Sid, all of the similar size and type of international schools are closed. We are amongst about 2-3 total that are open (of our type of school).

Response

Posted: Mon Apr 20, 2020 11:01 pm
by PsyGuy
Coin, there are just ISs (and a lot of them) that need the coin and they cant really entertain the issues of mass refunds, discounts, dropping or falling enrollment.
Leadership doesnt want your opinion, they want your agreement and buy-in.

Staying open wont really effect an ISs reputation, in a year it will all be a blur, and no one will care.