I get the pushback, but cases are on the rise, as are hospitalizations. Widespread large family gatherings will likely make the numbers go up. We're all done with trying to cope with Covid, but government officials should just say forget about it and do whatever you want? As far as schools go, the goal is to make in person learning, as we now call it, as safe as possible. If there is a positive case, direct contacts of the person with a positive test result are required to quarantine. Just a few positive test results can mean that a whole lot of students and staff can't be at school. When you get enough staff members who can't be at school, you don't have enough adults to supervise/teach. There's also then need to contact every family and staff member to notify them that they may have been exposed, and answer questions. Two or three positive cases of Covid can result an administration spending a couple days of trying to figure out who was in contact with the person with Covid, and then trying to get in touch with everyone who needs to be notified. Toss in Hipaa laws, and nobody really knows who actually has been in contact with someone who tested positive. Teachers and administrators know that distance learning is not a good option, but no Superintendent wants their district to be responsible for a large school-related outbreak.