4.4 percent of MCPS staff report having COVID

[Anonymous]

For everyone on this board who thinks COVID is NBD- 4.4 percent of teachers and staff have COVID. That’s a huge number and IMHO a reason to go virtual for a couple of weeks (971/22,000).

I’m super happy that my kid went back to school last fall, but I don’t hate teachers. I know that people think if MCPS goes virtual they won’t ever go back to in person. I think that’s unrealistic. 5 percent positivity rate is a stupidly high number.

[Anonymous]

I’m actually shocked it’s not higher, given the prevalence of asymptomatic cases.

I have no issue with this and would send my kids to school without a second thought as I figured there’d be a higher number of asymptomatic cases in the general public.

[Anonymous]

In a school with 40 teachers that is less than 2 out. Very low. You're nuts.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:In a school with 40 teachers that is less than 2 out. Very low. You're nuts.

Exactly.

[Anonymous]

Except that all schools had trouble filling in with subs before the break - where do you think they are magically going to come from to cover for those teachers? Schools were already doubling up for classes, eliminating planning periods for teachers as they covered for their peers.

[Anonymous]

https://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/uploadedFiles/Coronavirus/Winter%20Break%20COVID%20Cases%20Reported%20Through%2010%20pm%20January%201%202022.pdf

[Anonymous]

That number includes some who tested positive at the beginning of winter break and who are now out of the quarantine stage and able to return to work. Stop with your fear mongering attempts to shut down the schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Except that all schools had trouble filling in with subs before the break - where do you think they are magically going to come from to cover for those teachers? Schools were already doubling up for classes, eliminating planning periods for teachers as they covered for their peers.

Why didn’t Central Office work during winter break to hire additional staff? There were new graduates as colleges held winter commencements. Perhaps new graduates would help fill the substitute rolls or permanent hires.

Oh yeh - Dr. McKnight gave administrators an extra week of vacation. That was more important than dealing with staffing shortages and developing a current plan for the impact of a new COVID variant.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:That number includes some who tested positive at the beginning of winter break and who are now out of the quarantine stage and able to return to work. Stop with your fear mongering attempts to shut down the schools.

If true it’s pretty incredible that people would be out here intentionally lying about something so important.

[Anonymous]

OP here- I published the list above…

But here are the large number of cases (double digits)…it’s a lot of schools (staff)

So it’s not 1 or 2 per school. I am not a teacher - perhaps a teacher can comment on how difficult it is to find this many subs. I’m guessing not easy.

Einstein 15
Briggs Chaney 11
Clarksburg HS 11
Magruder 11
Damascus 10
Eastern 14
Gaithersburg HS 13
Gaithersburg MS 10
Blake 11
Lakelands Park 14
NW HS 11
Odessa 11
Paint Branch 11
Parkland 15
QO 14
WJ 16
Waters Landing 10
Watkins Mill 15
Wheaton 11

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:https://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/uploadedFiles/Coronavirus/Winter%20Break%20COVID%20Cases%20Reported%20Through%2010%20pm%20January%201%202022.pdf

List of staff/student COVID cases

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here- I published the list above…

But here are the large number of cases (double digits)…it’s a lot of schools (staff)

So it’s not 1 or 2 per school. I am not a teacher - perhaps a teacher can comment on how difficult it is to find this many subs. I’m guessing not easy.

Einstein 15
Briggs Chaney 11
Clarksburg HS 11
Magruder 11
Damascus 10
Eastern 14
Gaithersburg HS 13
Gaithersburg MS 10
Blake 11
Lakelands Park 14
NW HS 11
Odessa 11
Paint Branch 11
Parkland 15
QO 14
WJ 16
Waters Landing 10
Watkins Mill 15
Wheaton 11

Just looking at this data point, it strikes me how these numbers mimic the community maps of COVID (by zip code) which might be indicative of lesser vacations and access to boosters. MCPS should work with DHHS to increase vaccinations and boosters for these communities.

I agree with PP’s point though that it would be hard to keep schools functioning with so many staff members with COVID. Will Central Office employees pitch in to help cover classrooms? Are they increasing efforts to hire more staff? Reevaluating the breaking point as to when there’s not enough staff to function?

I think MCPS is playing catch up because administrators had an extra vacation in the middle of a crisis.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here- I published the list above…

But here are the large number of cases (double digits)…it’s a lot of schools (staff)

So it’s not 1 or 2 per school. I am not a teacher - perhaps a teacher can comment on how difficult it is to find this many subs. I’m guessing not easy.

Einstein 15
Briggs Chaney 11
Clarksburg HS 11
Magruder 11
Damascus 10
Eastern 14
Gaithersburg HS 13
Gaithersburg MS 10
Blake 11
Lakelands Park 14
NW HS 11
Odessa 11
Paint Branch 11
Parkland 15
QO 14
WJ 16
Waters Landing 10
Watkins Mill 15
Wheaton 11

Just looking at this data point, it strikes me how these numbers mimic the community maps of COVID (by zip code) which might be indicative of lesser vacations and access to boosters. MCPS should work with DHHS to increase vaccinations and boosters for these communities.

I agree with PP’s point though that it would be hard to keep schools functioning with so many staff members with COVID. Will Central Office employees pitch in to help cover classrooms? Are they increasing efforts to hire more staff? Reevaluating the breaking point as to when there’s not enough staff to function?

I think MCPS is playing catch up because administrators had an extra vacation in the middle of a crisis.

Central office and other had 37 cases so that’s unlikely they’d be able to pitch in.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here- I published the list above…

But here are the large number of cases (double digits)…it’s a lot of schools (staff)

So it’s not 1 or 2 per school. I am not a teacher - perhaps a teacher can comment on how difficult it is to find this many subs. I’m guessing not easy.

Einstein 15
Briggs Chaney 11
Clarksburg HS 11
Magruder 11
Damascus 10
Eastern 14
Gaithersburg HS 13
Gaithersburg MS 10
Blake 11
Lakelands Park 14
NW HS 11
Odessa 11
Paint Branch 11
Parkland 15
QO 14
WJ 16
Waters Landing 10
Watkins Mill 15
Wheaton 11

Nice try. 4.4% implies 2 per school if there are 40 teachers/staff. If there are more teachers/staff in a school then the obviously the number would be higher but the percentage doesn’t change.

Because you are intentionally cherry picking, you are also falling to present the schools who has zero reported teacher/staff cases.

Well done being disingenuous.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here- I published the list above…

But here are the large number of cases (double digits)…it’s a lot of schools (staff)

So it’s not 1 or 2 per school. I am not a teacher - perhaps a teacher can comment on how difficult it is to find this many subs. I’m guessing not easy.

Einstein 15
Briggs Chaney 11
Clarksburg HS 11
Magruder 11
Damascus 10
Eastern 14
Gaithersburg HS 13
Gaithersburg MS 10
Blake 11
Lakelands Park 14
NW HS 11
Odessa 11
Paint Branch 11
Parkland 15
QO 14
WJ 16
Waters Landing 10
Watkins Mill 15
Wheaton 11

Nice try. 4.4% implies 2 per school if there are 40 teachers/staff. If there are more teachers/staff in a school then the obviously the number would be higher but the percentage doesn’t change.

Because you are intentionally cherry picking, you are also falling to present the schools who has zero reported teacher/staff cases.

Well done being disingenuous.

I’ve put the link above so you can pull that data out. Obviously zero or two cases isn’t going be that bad in terms of finding subs. My point was it is not just one or two schools. I’m not disingenuous. I also don’t hate my kids or their teachers. Im not sure I can say the same thing about the open at all costs posters.