All-Star Covid-19 / Varsity Response

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The majority of states provide sovereign immunity to their public schools, and cap damages. Currently, there are hundreds of lawsuits against schools and state government for not providing certain services and overstepping with mandates. I have yet to read of a case where a school is being sued for outbreak negligence. If you know of one, I would be very interested in following it.
Actually with my school right now haha. This is a collegiate example but the UNC system is currently being sued by employees for their handling of COVID and the risk put on workers. Don’t know of any HS examples though.

But your response is basically touching on my main point, schools have more hoops and regulations to jump through as extensions of gov branches vs protests put together by citizens.
 
Many times when public schools are sued they payout and have everyone involved sign non disclosure agreements.
 
Actually with my school right now haha. This is a collegiate example but the UNC system is currently being sued by employees for their handling of COVID and the risk put on workers. Don’t know of any HS examples though.

But your response is basically touching on my main point, schools have more hoops and regulations to jump through as extensions of gov branches vs protests put together by citizens.

I didn't bring up protests. As far as UNC, that's 17 faculty members filing a class action suit, and 8 of them weren't even required to be on campus. "Outbreak negligence," which is what I stated and I'm interested in, is different from "I don't feel safe." Their case was to be heard late August, but it was removed from the judge's docket and hasn't been rescheduled. Many UNC students, however, are filing because they are paying to be in class and they were told they had to be online.

These "make them up as you go" rules that aren't consistent such as labs can be in person, but math must be on line, are an issue. How can you be safe in a lab, but not in a math class? The same goes for the example above for the cheerleaders that have to practice outside with masks, but volleyball can practice inside. The restaurant/bar can be open with people congregating together in the bar, but the bar next door that doesn't serve food can't be open? I don't have a problem with consistent rules when it comes to C-19 if our healthcare systems are at risk of being overwhelmed. I do, however, have a problem with inconsistent rules within schools and businesses in the same building.

Many times when public schools are sued they payout and have everyone involved sign non disclosure agreements.

While non-disclosures are often signed, the actual lawsuit is still public information. If there are any "outbreak negligence" cases in our schools, they should come up in a search and I can't find any.
 
I didn't bring up protests. As far as UNC, that's 17 faculty members filing a class action suit, and 8 of them weren't even required to be on campus. "Outbreak negligence," which is what I stated and I'm interested in, is different from "I don't feel safe." Their case was to be heard late August, but it was removed from the judge's docket and hasn't been rescheduled. Many UNC students, however, are filing because they are paying to be in class and they were told they had to be online.

These "make them up as you go" rules that aren't consistent such as labs can be in person, but math must be on line, are an issue. How can you be safe in a lab, but not in a math class? The same goes for the example above for the cheerleaders that have to practice outside with masks, but volleyball can practice inside. The restaurant/bar can be open with people congregating together in the bar, but the bar next door that doesn't serve food can't be open? I don't have a problem with consistent rules when it comes to C-19 if our healthcare systems are at risk of being overwhelmed. I do, however, have a problem with inconsistent rules within schools and businesses in the same building.



While non-disclosures are often signed, the actual lawsuit is still public information. If there are any "outbreak negligence" cases in our schools, they should come up in a search and I can't find any.
I’m agree with you! Things are inconsistent. I was bringing up protests because that’s the only point I, personally, was making. Just didn’t think it was a good example of the unreliable rules because of the unequivocal nature of the two things. My original post was referring to the extra factors in play schools have to consider for COVID to avoid logistical and legal issues, and we both seem to agree those exist
 
@catlady If they settle out of court would it be? I am aware of Special Ed. Lawsuits that were settled out of court (not related to COVID) that I can’t find through searches.
 
@catlady If they settle out of court would it be? I am aware of Special Ed. Lawsuits that were settled out of court (not related to COVID) that I can’t find through searches.

Yes, there are public access to court e-records websites, but you would have to specifically search those county specific sites for smaller cases. If you can't find it in a search, and you are truly interested in reading the case filing, you can call the county clerk and they can tell you how to get a copy of the document. It wouldn't have any further information if they were settled out of court with a non-disclosure settlement, but you could find out what the case was about.
 
The lack of consistency in the rules about what is or isn't allowed is a little frustrating. Football is canceled in some areas, but thousands of people are allowed to pack like sardines and hold a protest. It doesn't make any sense. If you cancel football and school, the kids are just going to gather at someone's house and throw a party instead, especially on college campuses. We can't eat inside a restaurant, but hundreds of people are allowed to shop at Home Depot or Target. Have we heard of any instances of kids or their parents dying from Covid after being sent back to school this year? Some towns are doing half-virtual, half in-person school. Does the virus strike on Mondays and Wednesdays, but not on Tuesdays and Thursdays? It seems like towns are implementing rules not because they're all that effective, but just to say they did something.
The general current* scientific consensus in terms of 'Ways to Get Covid' are:
A) Long Periods of Time, Close Together
B) Not Wearing Masks
C) Indoors (particularly in smaller spaces)
D) In Large Groups, particularly since they're often "cross-pollinating"
E) **Concern for Heavy Exertion/Breathing

From there, it's a matter of how they're stacked. Restaurants, depending on capacity, tend to be at least ABC plus sometimes D (if your state has capacity limits). Depending on the fitness class (vs just opening gyms), you might have ABCE. Some of this is mitigated by filtration if you've got it (NY requires it for malls, and indoor dining I think). Anything with 3+ of the above is worth being cautious about.

VERSUS something like shopping at Home Depot/Target, which is overwhelmingly a shorter time, WITH masks and small groups because there's capacity limits. Also those stores are big and often indoor/outdoor so even with filters there's a lot of room. Protests are often A/D/E**, BUT they're outdoors and at least the BLM/Police Protests I've seen are OVERWHELMINGLY masked (can't say the same for others, just the ones I've witnessed). NYC, which has had a high number of protests in the past (none recently) had no such spike from that- which I'd at least partly attribute to the high mask-wearing compliance of the participants.

There's so much data to suggest that if we have mandatory masking our numbers will drop drastically over a few weeks, but sports like football are hard to do masked and you're SUPER close. If it were my way, you'd have cross-country and that's it. Maybe swimming.
 
The general current* scientific consensus in terms of 'Ways to Get Covid' are:
A) Long Periods of Time, Close Together
B) Not Wearing Masks
C) Indoors (particularly in smaller spaces)
D) In Large Groups, particularly since they're often "cross-pollinating"
E) **Concern for Heavy Exertion/Breathing

From there, it's a matter of how they're stacked. Restaurants, depending on capacity, tend to be at least ABC plus sometimes D (if your state has capacity limits). Depending on the fitness class (vs just opening gyms), you might have ABCE. Some of this is mitigated by filtration if you've got it (NY requires it for malls, and indoor dining I think). Anything with 3+ of the above is worth being cautious about.

VERSUS something like shopping at Home Depot/Target, which is overwhelmingly a shorter time, WITH masks and small groups because there's capacity limits. Also those stores are big and often indoor/outdoor so even with filters there's a lot of room. Protests are often A/D/E**, BUT they're outdoors and at least the BLM/Police Protests I've seen are OVERWHELMINGLY masked (can't say the same for others, just the ones I've witnessed). NYC, which has had a high number of protests in the past (none recently) had no such spike from that- which I'd at least partly attribute to the high mask-wearing compliance of the participants.

There's so much data to suggest that if we have mandatory masking our numbers will drop drastically over a few weeks, but sports like football are hard to do masked and you're SUPER close. If it were my way, you'd have cross-country and that's it. Maybe swimming.

No one is debating or going to court over consistent and scientific guidelines as stated above. The debate is where you have two groups, similar situations, similar capacity and social distancing capabilities and one is allowed and one isn't. The good news, people are starting to challenge the inconsistencies, not just in the US, but all over the World.
 
No one is debating or going to court over consistent and scientific guidelines as stated above. The debate is where you have two groups, similar situations, similar capacity and social distancing capabilities and one is allowed and one isn't. The good news, people are starting to challenge the inconsistencies, not just in the US, but all over the World.
Consistency is important- but I also don't blame people for being cautious. Who wants their school/sport/team to be 'the One' that gets it and people get sick or die?

**Edit: My Mom's VB team is officially moving indoors but she's less than thrilled. Still surprised they've been ok for this long!
 
So just curious with all the important attention now squarely focused on athlete safety, when are we gonna start talking about canceling some competitions bc of you know, a pandemic? I am seeing housing is open and of course "required" for most big nationals that are hardly likely to happen. The website update from Sept 23 states "Varsity Spirit will adhere to restrictions on mass gatherings and capacity limitations based on local and venue guidelines. Because health, safety and distancing requirements vary across the country, the below may also vary by competition..." Perhaps they are waiting for some miracle but the states with tough restrictions RI, NY, NJ, etc are not going to raise capacity limits that it would be feasible to have anything in person. When will they call it do you think? This just frustrates me because it is another real imbalance with the "sport"...And yes it is my choice to have my kids cheer but all star is pretty much the only game in town where I live. I feel somewhat steamrolled that such unrealistic expectations are not being reigned in.
 
So just curious with all the important attention now squarely focused on athlete safety, when are we gonna start talking about canceling some competitions bc of you know, a pandemic? I am seeing housing is open and of course "required" for most big nationals that are hardly likely to happen. The website update from Sept 23 states "Varsity Spirit will adhere to restrictions on mass gatherings and capacity limitations based on local and venue guidelines. Because health, safety and distancing requirements vary across the country, the below may also vary by competition..." Perhaps they are waiting for some miracle but the states with tough restrictions RI, NY, NJ, etc are not going to raise capacity limits that it would be feasible to have anything in person. When will they call it do you think? This just frustrates me because it is another real imbalance with the "sport"...And yes it is my choice to have my kids cheer but all star is pretty much the only game in town where I live. I feel somewhat steamrolled that such unrealistic expectations are not being reigned in.
I’m just assuming most comps will end up being virtual, if any happen in person, great but I’m not optimistic. I’m in NJ and CP still hasn’t gotten a comp schedule yet, I’ve seen a tentative version but nothing official. At this point I’m just happy she’s in the gym and getting to do what she loves, I’m just considering it to be a learning year really.
 
I’m just assuming most comps will end up being virtual, if any happen in person, great but I’m not optimistic. I’m in NJ and CP still hasn’t gotten a comp schedule yet, I’ve seen a tentative version but nothing official. At this point I’m just happy she’s in the gym and getting to do what she loves, I’m just considering it to be a learning year really.
I'd be thrilled to call it a learning year, and agree am happy to have them in the gym and compete virtually. You are right, I should just sit back with the assumption most will end up that way. After being canceled for the last 6 months, I guess my mindset is I'd rather have my expectations low and be pleasantly surprised. I don't see even more of our "local" type stuff say in Trenton proceeding... When do you typically get a schedule?
 
I'd be thrilled to call it a learning year, and agree am happy to have them in the gym and compete virtually. You are right, I should just sit back with the assumption most will end up that way. After being canceled for the last 6 months, I guess my mindset is I'd rather have my expectations low and be pleasantly surprised. I don't see even more of our "local" type stuff say in Trenton proceeding... When do you typically get a schedule?
We normally get our schedule in June/July, so I totally understand your frustration! I’m just trying to be Zen about the cheer season, no easy feat I assure you;)
 
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We don't have our schedule yet and we usually get it at the beginning of Sept. I'd be fine with virtual competition as well. But it was announced about a month ago that convention centers were open. Even directly naming the Dallas Convention Center has not having any restrictions and us being able to go. Does anyone in Texas have any insight on this?

But if our competitions do end up being virtual I'd have a hard time paying full price for comp fees. Is anyone else already paying comp fees and are you noticing any difference in how much they are for this season versus previous seasons?
 
I’m just assuming most comps will end up being virtual, if any happen in person, great but I’m not optimistic. I’m in NJ and CP still hasn’t gotten a comp schedule yet, I’ve seen a tentative version but nothing official. At this point I’m just happy she’s in the gym and getting to do what she loves, I’m just considering it to be a learning year really.
In CT we got usual comp schedule but am I booking any accommodations? Nope! Plus now FL doing no masks?
 
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