Regarding schools, there's an argument to be made that virtual for a stretch (hopefully a short one) is actually the better way to go in terms of pure education.
I know virtual didn't work for many (in person doesn't work for some btw), but that was over the course of most to all of the school year where the ability to build relationships and culture was exclusive to online. In this case, that building happened in person.
Anyway, the bigger part of this argument is simply attendance. If teachers and students are going to quarantine for having covid, there's going to be an unprecedented level of absences. Plus some parents will keep kids at home rather than exposing them.
You can't educate students at school if they aren't there. And for those that are there, having subs in a third of classes is very detrimental.
Virtual allows for those with mild or asymmtomatic covid to continue to teach and learn along with those that would like to wait this out while not being in large gatherings in small rooms.
Lastly, since we've already done a lot of virtual and distributed technology to students, it's way easier to go virtual and hit the ground running than it was at first.
Totally agree with you here. I think this stretch needs to burn itself out and then things would be back to being a moderate risk you can try to control. But even right before break you were having multiple kids in every single class go down with a positive test, and the outdated rules that were made before Delta are not stopping this thing. Much like symptoms for many are like a bad cold, it's spreading like one too, and the masks that aren't on for 1/4 of the day (breakfast in class and cafeteria where they are elbow to elbow) aren't gonna stop it.
THIS is when you suck it up, keep consistency by keeping them with their face to face teacher virtually for a couple weeks (currently in our county if you get quarantined or test positive you get assigned a random virtual teacher who doesn't know what you are doing, where you are or who you are, for 5-10 days and it's been going so poorly that most people just don't do anything until they get back to school). That is even changing, even last night we got an email saying they are no longer doing contact tracing, they aren't quarantining, and if the DOH steps in, then you listen to them for the 5 days or so and come back. This is all in response like you said, to the attendance. PLENTY of people, and teachers, are using the letter of the rule to their advantage as well and if they have a runny nose, or claim to have a runny nose, you TOLD them not to come to school, so they aren't. Then with the inability to get a test right now, they don't have a negative test required to come back, so they just take a mini vacation when they want. It was always going to be a loophole with this half assed plan, but I don't even have a better idea on that part of it...it's better than them coming in and spreading it like a stomach bug.