teacherkim

Andrew, I teach in exactly the same type of district although it is very small and our secondary students have been one on one for awhile now

Another thought I just had. They may also be waiting to see what ACE does about CoasterCon since many members attend both events. Currently CC is scheduled for late June and they have not pulled the plug yet but are delaying registration until early to mid May. They would also have to coordinate with things like Coastermania at CP so they don't end up on the same days, or one day apart. Just some reasons why they maybe haven't made a decision yet.

So one month from today we are supposed to be driving to Coasterstock and exactly one month ago we were supposed to be flying down to Texas for a quick Spring Break visit to the parks down there. John I would be patient (hard I know) until you know exactly what they decide to do. While I realize the original weekend is unlikely at this point, I am sure they would prefer a reschedule but are waiting as long as they can to be sure of a safe date and lower the chances of a double reschedule. The airlines and hotels are being very generous with last minute changes and cancellations. They announced the closing of the Texas parks the day before we were to leave and I cancelled our SW flight and hotel less than 24 hours before flight time and check in time, and this was early on in the pandemic, March 13. Not one bit of hassle or question. Hilton allowed a late cancellation without any fees and SW gave me a voucher with a very generous expiration date.....I cannot imagine you will have an issue. But if you can hold out until they decide and it is a reschedule then you can just make one contact to move your dates and it will save you the additional aggravation of having cancelled and having to rebook.

Ha, Andrew I'm sure our PBIS team would love to have CP as a reward! On the other hand a lot of my students have never even been to SFSTl which the 8th graders get as an end of year reward if they qualify. As far as students knowing they don't have to do anything else to pass. Yes, but remember they had to be passing to begin with. Also, of the approximately 9 weeks we would have had left around here, easily 3-4 weeks of that would have been state testing and/or finals. The truth is guys that for the most part the students that want to do well and improve will and the ones that don't care won't. Whether they are physically in school or not is somewhat inconsequential. Yes, learning from a teacher is best but at this point in the year finishing online isn't the end of the world. The unfortunate thing is how many students out there do not have a family that push/help them in a productive way and I do worry about my many students now trapped in homes with abusive and drug addicted family members. Not getting political, just putting things into perspective.

Most of the middle and high school students in St Louis County have chromebooks and one of the cable companies is offering free internet for 60 days if you have a student in your house. The elementary kids in many districts, it's a little trickier, there has been a combination of packets and chromebooks available for pick up in front of schools on certain days. Andrew I would say at the moment about half of my students are completing work, but I full expect that to drop as they realize they can essentially keep their grade by doing nothing.

That's a good question and it makes sense, but I'm still not sure you'll have the demand. Also, if we're completely in the clear enough for parks to be open I'd imagine schools would be in the clear to open. I bring that up, because wouldn't next year's school year start a lot earlier to make up for this year? I'm not sure if it works like that, but that will shave days off of the Monday - Friday operating season. Has anyone heard any rumors on what's going to happen to the school year? Missouri schools cannot open any earlier than 14 calendar days before Labor Day now per a new law going into effect this year. So the date is already set for August 24 for most districts as that is the earliest they can have students in the building. There are also issues of getting summer school in and giving custodians/maintenance crews enough time to do the work they need to and cannot with students in the buildings. Most states have already made it official that days will not have to be made up as long as online learning continues through the last scheduled day of the current school year and have cancelled state testing and finals and such. Online learning is not great and most are doing a sort of hold harmless grading system; in other words a students grade can improve but not go down. Which of course means many won't participate......but we were 3/4 ths of the way through the year and let's be honest, it's not the end of the world.

by bert425 » Fri Apr 10, 2020 9:17 pm Gov. Abbott and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick both had press conferences today and leaks are coming that Abbot is going to have an executive order to reopen Texas non-essential businesses at some point next week. Abbott has been in constant contact with Trump (per the local news). . .and they are itching to get the economy going again ASAP regardless of any pesky pandemic. Leaks from a round-table that Patrick was involved in say he wants things open back up by May 1. all I can say is: Idiots (if the science is there? yep, fine. . but all the Doctors are saying it's too soon, and wait until June). so we'll continue to be staying home, regardless of what our Gov & Lt. Governor say. I saw that on a news feed and wasn't sure how accurate it was. I guess, unfortunately for you, that will make Texas a big experiment and it will be interesting to see how much it swings the other states one way or the other. Stay safe!

They just mean you can essentially cancel your membership easily and start it back up, which you can do anyway with some restrictions. Only people really getting a break are new members less than a year. People paying off the regular passes will get a pause but still owe the same amount in the end. Yes, some will cancel their memberships but in my experience most won't go through the hassle. Look guys I think I am out of this argument. We can go back and forth all you want but we are just throwing effort after foolishness. You aren't in the Six Flags front office (at least I don't think you are, lol) and neither am I, we have both stated our opinions. You are pretty bent on predicting disaster and I am pretty sure it will all be alright in the end. Honestly, it will probably end up somewhere in the middle of what you and I think.

That for payment plans on the regular season pass. If you are paying a set amount off in installments. The membership fees are still ongoing, they are perpetual unless you cancel your membership which you cannot do until a year has gone by. So what you are talking about it is a set amount of money that they will still get, just delayed; but the same amount, not a loss.

Although it will be interesting to see which parks make a profit and how much when the year finally comes to a close.

Yeah but their costs are not the same as a normal operating day. None of the seasonal workers are being paid (Universal and Disney being the exceptions at the moment) less security is needed, utility bills will be down, purchasing stock for the stores and food, possibly insurance although I'm not sure how that works, etc. Let's say just for arguments sake my home park opens June 1, at that point they have only missed out on about 35 or 40 days at fairly short hours (most of those days would be 10:30-6 or 7) June 15 then add another 13 days without the expenses mentioned above. If a park wasn't scheduled to open til May 1 or Memorial Day weekend originally it will be even less days. Not to mention all of the memberships and season passes with money still coming in. I am still paying on the CedarFair passes we bought (for the first time, thanks Kharma) and my Six Flags membership. I know there will be some compensation but they still got their money this month. I think the price changes you mentioned are certainly a possibility as a natural reaction to recoup some of the lost days but I still don't see it as an automatic loss for the year.

Come on, man, three weeks ago the unemployment rate was 3%. One tenth of the entire country lost their jobs in the last three weeks, and you have the nerve to say it's no big deal? It's a big deal....but how big a deal will depend not so much on how many lose their jobs but for how long.

I agree with Zach that this is becoming a bit redundant. The fact is we are all just making guesses. It is very hard to predict what the populace will do. In the end we will simply have to wait and see how it pans out. I do not think people will be as paranoid as some believe they will. Yes, some, but not enough to make a significant danger. The biggest aspect of this to me is how long the restrictions stay in place. The longer they do the more lives saved but the more devastating to the economy with longer lasting affects on people. NOT making a statement on one is better than the other, just being observational. I do not agree that we are past the point of no return for parks to make money on the season. While I haven't seen the books, I am pretty sure SFSTl makes as much money off of FF as they do the rest of the season combined (or close enough to make my point) Even if seasonal parks can't open until June or July they would still have potentially have 65% - 75% of their year left, depending of course on exactly how long their season is. I'm basing those dates on my local park.

What is considered high dollar is a very relative term dependent on several variables. Salary. Debt. Number of people you have to pay for. Proximity to the parks you want to visit. (does it involve hotel? flight?) Then factor in personal financial responsibility. Just because someone really can't afford things doesn't mean they won't do it anyway. I have a lot of families in the district that I teach in that cannot buy winter coats or enough food for their children but they have satellite dishes and netflix and fancy smartphones. My husband and I didn't have HBO or take vacations for the first 8 years of our marriage but we paid off the house and now we can afford theme park trips as extras on top of the yearly family vacation. But it was hard, and many people cannot or won't do it. Just saying.

That's really funny because at Coasterstock last year while standing in line at the grilled cheese stand, I started up a conversation with the married couple in front of me. They had both worked at the park as teens back in the 70's. They mentioned the parties! The movie night list on the brochure is pretty funny. As far as the current Coasterstock, I too am waiting to hear. Probably not going to be on the original date which is too bad since it is my son's birthday and as mentioned this was his present. But he's old enough to accept that it is out of our control so we will just roll with whatever they decide because there is nothing else we can do!

Aaah didn't realize you had already been, my bad, but have fun anyway. I really think we will return to some semblance of normal by then. I think people, particularly Americans can only stand being restricted for so long. Whether it's in their best interest or not it just isn't in our national character to "stay down", literally or figuratively. And don't worry about those stocks.......you gotta play the long game there.

Bert - Glad to hear you are still planning your trip. I am sure in July your first time on Fury experience will be more pleasant than mine; 45 degrees, dark and raining. Getting pelted in the face at 90 mph by cold rain takes a little of the fun out of things, lol. I agree that attendance will be fine although people may be more cautious about buying extras for a while. The parks probably will put some extra safety measures in place that will slow operations down a bit for awhile too. While the economy is obviously going to take a hit and the longer it goes on the worse it will be. The majority of people can work from home now and still get a paycheck. 6.6 million applying for unemployment is historically atrocious but that is about 6% of the work force meaning 94% at the moment theoretically are doing ok, now again that will get worse the longer it goes on. So the length of the pandemic, which nobody knows, will be crucial. Not trying to gloss over, just trying to be positive. On a different note. CoasterCon is still tentatively on. Yes, I know it is the OTHER club but this is no time for partisan politics. They have a schedule, hotels, etc but are holding off on registration til early May. Just thought those of you that didn't know might find a little hope in that. It means that while the parks have not given an opening date yet they must still think opening by mid June is a possible. It may not come to be but a little hope to go on.

Great. That thing beats me up and makes me sick now. Can't imagine riding it when I'm in my 70's. Zach, one of our favorite activities on those all day forays when we were kids was to play in the houses that were being constructed. With equipment laying around and stairs with no railings and open holes to basements and windows with nothing in them yet.......sometimes I am kind of amazed I made it to adulthood.

Uhhh, yeah, you young'uns have no idea of the dangerous crap that use to go on in daily life, lol. And no insult intended, I just mean you have no idea because you never experienced life like we did as kids. The whole idea of riding your bike away from home and not showing back up til the street lights were coming on and your parents had no contact with you and no idea where you were or what you did all day.

So great! I remember that day so well. I was 8 yrs old and my Dad had to really talk me into riding it because it just looked so big, he finally guilted me into it because he took a day off work and we went to the park without my Mom knowing! We both got in trouble too because that night neither of us could touch the dinner she made after a whole day of eating junk food and riding stuff. There was so much media buzz and I can remember the two hour long lines that summer when it opened. There was an added thrill knowing that you were riding the tallest and fastest coaster at the time, even though that title didn't last long. Fast forward 34 years to 2010 when my son was 7 and it was the first big coaster he was able to ride. Wonder if it will be around for grandkids and if anyone will be laughing at a gray haired old granny riding it?!

Didn't say it was realistic, said I was hoping...... And the peak may not come until May or it may come earlier or it may come later. I'm not sure anyone, even the experts can predict with accuracy. Afterall if it's unprecedented then there is no past experience to truly base it on. OK, I'm done whining for the night. Sigh. At least the sun has been out the last several days and the trees are budding. It's something. Again, sigh.

And training happens pretty quick in established parks. My son didn't turn 16 until after SFSTL opened for the season last year and after initial "classes" which they have already done for this year, he was trained for each ride in an hour or two before park opening for the day. The leads and trainers have been there for numerous seasons and ride maintenance and inspections can still be going on while maintaining social distancing. Besides so many parks make a ton of money on the Halloween events that I don't see them calling the whole year a wash even if they cannot open until sometime in the summer. Although I am still hoping like heck for some May openings. Even by Memorial Day would be nice. I don't think staffing will be an issue either with lots of people temporarily out of work.

This is what I received having a Diamond Elite Membership: Membership Update Park operations are suspended until mid-May, but we have a plan to make it up to you. Dear Kim: Due to the COVID-19 situation it looks like we are not going to be able to open the parks on our original schedule. To ensure the safety of our guests and Team Members, we are now looking at a mid-May opening date, or as soon as possible thereafter. We've come up with a plan to make it up to you. You are among our most important guests, and it is our intention to ensure that you receive much more than your money's worth from your Six Flags Membership. First off, we are going to give you one month of Membership for each month we are closed (rounded up to the nearest month). These months will automatically be added to the very end of your Membership. In addition to replacing the months that you lost, we're also going to give you special bonus benefits for the rest of the 2020 season. With your 2020 bonus benefits, you'll get (FREE): One Extra Skip the Ride Line Ticket Every Visit Triple Reward Points Every Visit One Golden Ticket valid any time in 2020 To top it off, we'll be hosting special events and adding free perks for you when the park re-opens. In the meantime, if you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact us online, or by calling the Six Flags Membership Service Center at 817-607-6105. Thanks again for being a Member. Take care of yourselves, and we really do look forward to seeing you at the park again soon. Best regards, Mark Kupferman Vice President, Membership Six Flags

I have the highest tier membership and received an email about getting a "Golden Ticket" but I have no idea what that is, lol. Unless we get to tour the chocolate factory It also mentioned that we will get an extra skip the line pass each visit for the rest of the year and added months but that last one makes no sense since the membership is on going. The SFSTL app now has May 18 listed as the opening date for whatever that is worth, Hoping for my son's sake that they are maybe tentatively planning on getting the ride ops back in for training during the first couple weekends of May. Zach, best wishes for you that they let you in the birthing room. I certainly would not have wanted to give birth without my husband there. Hopefully, we will be through the worst of it by May. Don't lose faith in humanity yet!

That's probably the most honest of the closures. Bottom line, no one really knows if this will be another month or 6 months, so no point in stringing everyone along and have to keep changing the date. But oh God let it please be shorter rather than longer, because this sucks!!!! Even though I know it's necessary. At least here in St Louis we have finally had a few days in a row of warmer, sunnier weather. Until Wed we had almost two full weeks of rainy, dreary, cold days.