[M T]

I thought this figure, in particular, was useful:

In your figure, the most cases at the time school was started were ~2500/day in a country of 52M and ~1000/day in a country of 83M.  That's about 4.8 and 1.2 daily cases per 100K.
In the US, there are currently close to 300K cases per day in a country of 320M.  That's about 94 daily cases per 100K, off that chart.

(Btw, logarithmic scale may be appropriate for demonstrating spread characteristics.  I don't think it is appropriate to equate 1000 people to 100 or 10 or 1 when they are suffering the effects of the disease.)

If any of the example countries went back to school with the daily case rate at nearly 100  per 100K, please let us know.

And, since the risk of being exposed to the disease is related to the number of people you are exposed to, for an average class size of 20 (grade school: single class;  middle & high schools have at least 5 such classes (with overlap)), that is 20 to (up to) 100 people that each spend their time indoors with.

You keep talking as though education has to happen NOW or else the kids are irreparably harmed. (And, further, that brick & mortar schools somehow are the only place that true education can happen.)  This isn't food or water or air.  Have you never known anyone who had to miss a year of school perhaps due to a serious illness?  Or because they couldn't handle their subjects?   Or seen young kids on the cusp between being able to start school in one year or the year after?

Let's put it in terms that fit the CARDboard:   Perhaps the default should be that the kids won't get a full grade level's advancement within the year. Think of it as an academic redshirt year for the K-12 schools.  All the kids will be more mature when they continue their studies. 

We all hope that the kids can get a good education during the year.  For some, independent study might be a better option.  For someone like me, I would have really enjoyed a year where I could have focused on the STEM areas that I enjoyed.  Others might spend all their time reading books. (And, no doubt, some will be allowed to spend all their time playing video games.)

This could be a time for those that are struggling to work through their weak areas.  If nothing else, they would be a year more physically mature when they get back to regular school.  

It won't be school as usual.  As always, it would be wrong to just say "Kid, you're a year older and although you didn't learn much, we're going to act like you did and promote you to the next grade."

[M T]

I thought this figure, in particular, was useful:

In your figure, the most cases at the time school was started were ~2500/day in a country of 52M and ~1000/day in a country of 83M.  That's about 4.8 and 1.2 daily cases per 100K.
In the US, there are currently close to 300K cases per day in a country of 320M.  That's about 94 daily cases per 100K, off that chart.

(Btw, logarithmic scale may be appropriate for demonstrating spread characteristics.  I don't think it is appropriate to equate 1000 people to 100 or 10 or 1 when they are suffering the effects of the disease.)

If any of the example countries went back to school with the daily case rate at nearly 100  per 100K, please let us know.

And, since the risk of being exposed to the disease is related to the number of people you are exposed to, for an average class size of 20 (grade school: single class;  middle & high schools have at least 5 such classes (with overlap)), that is 20 to (up to) 100 people that each spend their time indoors with.

You keep talking as though education has to happen NOW or else the kids are irreparably harmed. (And, further, that brick & mortar schools somehow are the only place that true education can happen.)  This isn't food or water or air.  Have you never known anyone who had to miss a year of school perhaps due to a serious illness?  Or because they couldn't handle their subjects?   Or seen young kids on the cusp between being able to start school in one year or the year after?

Let's put it in terms that fit the CARDboard:   Perhaps the default should be that the kids won't get a full grade level's advancement within the year. Think of it as an academic redshirt year for the K-12 schools.  All the kids will be more mature when they continue their studies. 

We all hope that the kids can get a good education during the year.  For some, independent study might be a better option.  For someone like me, I would have really enjoyed a year where I could have focused on the STEM areas that I enjoyed.  Others might spend all their time reading books. (And, no doubt, some will be allowed to spend all their time playing video games.)

This could be a time for those that are struggling to work through their weak areas.  If nothing else, they would be a year more physically mature when they get back to regular school.  

It won't be school as usual.  As always, it would be wrong to just say "Kid, you're a year older and although you didn't learn much, we're going to act like you did and promote you to the next grade."