Test To Return for DCPS

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you don't test your kid before school, then on the first day, they will show up and be sent to a special room where a school nurse will test them. So either way they will get tested. I agree it is stupid and pointless.

I don’t really care about TTR and will comply. But I do care about medical procedures without my permission. What’s your source for this info?

My source is that is how it was done at my school last year for test to return. I'm a teacher. I do think they call a parent before testing. If they can't reach a parent, the kid stays in the isolation room until a parent can be contacted. Not sure what happens if a parent refuses testing.

[Anonymous]

It's interesting, I'm seeing that you can only do mandatory test to return if there is some infrastructure in place. Legally there needs to be a mechanism for families to opt out. But we don't yet have opt out forms for SY 22-23. Schools needs to have an isolation room for kids who do not test. Are schools really going to have isolation rooms this school year? That would be interesting to know.

The bottom line is that this purported requirement has no legal basis and is really just silly. And it seems like DCPS is not set up to deal with various scenarios in which kids have not or will not test. So maybe if you don't want to test your kids, the right path is to show up on the first day and respectfully decline testing. I'm increasingly confident that they'll just let the kids in.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It's interesting, I'm seeing that you can only do mandatory test to return if there is some infrastructure in place. Legally there needs to be a mechanism for families to opt out. But we don't yet have opt out forms for SY 22-23. Schools needs to have an isolation room for kids who do not test. Are schools really going to have isolation rooms this school year? That would be interesting to know.

The bottom line is that this purported requirement has no legal basis and is really just silly. And it seems like DCPS is not set up to deal with various scenarios in which kids have not or will not test. So maybe if you don't want to test your kids, the right path is to show up on the first day and respectfully decline testing. I'm increasingly confident that they'll just let the kids in.

Yes schools have isolation rooms this year. Which in already crowded schools is such a waste of space.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Don't people on here post all the time about how covid restrictions weren't enforced at all in some schools? Like some schools went on the honor system about vaccination, so didn't quarantine unvaccinated kids last year? (Sidenote: It was apparently dumb to distinguish kids wrt vaccination status, but I guess we didn't know it was dumb originally.)

The point being: Those people apparently avoided covid restrictions last year. If that can happen, then why would rules be differentially enforced at other schools?

Yes DCPS can make policies. They are followed to different degrees at different schools. For instance Walls did not participate in random testing, even if kids didn’t opt out officially. The school was not allowed to test a kid who didn’t volunteer. They also were not allowed to ask vaccination status so when there were exposures in the fall no one quarantined. This is because parents, with social capital because they are UMC, complained. The applications of policies are not equitable.

So DCPS couldn't ask vaccination status of *anyone*? Huh. I mean, I can kind of understand why that would be true, given that DCPS wasn't allowed to ask teachers about vaccination status (private medical info that is not required for school).

Did people who vaccinated kids then just volunteer the info to get out of quarantine?

No they were not allowed to ask any student their vaccination status. And kids did not quarantine in the fall and just showed up to school. No one checked vaccination status.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Don't people on here post all the time about how covid restrictions weren't enforced at all in some schools? Like some schools went on the honor system about vaccination, so didn't quarantine unvaccinated kids last year? (Sidenote: It was apparently dumb to distinguish kids wrt vaccination status, but I guess we didn't know it was dumb originally.)

The point being: Those people apparently avoided covid restrictions last year. If that can happen, then why would rules be differentially enforced at other schools?

Yes DCPS can make policies. They are followed to different degrees at different schools. For instance Walls did not participate in random testing, even if kids didn’t opt out officially. The school was not allowed to test a kid who didn’t volunteer. They also were not allowed to ask vaccination status so when there were exposures in the fall no one quarantined. This is because parents, with social capital because they are UMC, complained. The applications of policies are not equitable.

So DCPS couldn't ask vaccination status of *anyone*? Huh. I mean, I can kind of understand why that would be true, given that DCPS wasn't allowed to ask teachers about vaccination status (private medical info that is not required for school).

Did people who vaccinated kids then just volunteer the info to get out of quarantine?

No they were not allowed to ask any student their vaccination status. And kids did not quarantine in the fall and just showed up to school. No one checked vaccination status.

**All** vaccines should be required and tracked in public schools. Not vaccinating your kids is abuse.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Don't people on here post all the time about how covid restrictions weren't enforced at all in some schools? Like some schools went on the honor system about vaccination, so didn't quarantine unvaccinated kids last year? (Sidenote: It was apparently dumb to distinguish kids wrt vaccination status, but I guess we didn't know it was dumb originally.)

The point being: Those people apparently avoided covid restrictions last year. If that can happen, then why would rules be differentially enforced at other schools?

Yes DCPS can make policies. They are followed to different degrees at different schools. For instance Walls did not participate in random testing, even if kids didn’t opt out officially. The school was not allowed to test a kid who didn’t volunteer. They also were not allowed to ask vaccination status so when there were exposures in the fall no one quarantined. This is because parents, with social capital because they are UMC, complained. The applications of policies are not equitable.

So DCPS couldn't ask vaccination status of *anyone*? Huh. I mean, I can kind of understand why that would be true, given that DCPS wasn't allowed to ask teachers about vaccination status (private medical info that is not required for school).

Did people who vaccinated kids then just volunteer the info to get out of quarantine?

No they were not allowed to ask any student their vaccination status. And kids did not quarantine in the fall and just showed up to school. No one checked vaccination status.

So….this suggests that either 1) there was a lack of enforcement of covid protocols (not surprising), and 2j schools don’t have a right to personal medical information that is not required. Therefore they can’t exclude children on the basis of not required personal medical info (like vax status for covid or test result status).

I mean, it’s not going to stop any school from enforcing whatever. It’s just going to mean that lawsuits or just threat of legal action are necessary.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Don't people on here post all the time about how covid restrictions weren't enforced at all in some schools? Like some schools went on the honor system about vaccination, so didn't quarantine unvaccinated kids last year? (Sidenote: It was apparently dumb to distinguish kids wrt vaccination status, but I guess we didn't know it was dumb originally.)

The point being: Those people apparently avoided covid restrictions last year. If that can happen, then why would rules be differentially enforced at other schools?

Yes DCPS can make policies. They are followed to different degrees at different schools. For instance Walls did not participate in random testing, even if kids didn’t opt out officially. The school was not allowed to test a kid who didn’t volunteer. They also were not allowed to ask vaccination status so when there were exposures in the fall no one quarantined. This is because parents, with social capital because they are UMC, complained. The applications of policies are not equitable.

So DCPS couldn't ask vaccination status of *anyone*? Huh. I mean, I can kind of understand why that would be true, given that DCPS wasn't allowed to ask teachers about vaccination status (private medical info that is not required for school).

Did people who vaccinated kids then just volunteer the info to get out of quarantine?

No they were not allowed to ask any student their vaccination status. And kids did not quarantine in the fall and just showed up to school. No one checked vaccination status.

I’m a teacher. My class went through multiple quarantines last year. At times it was so chaotic we had kids show up at 8:20 to find out they were quarantined and isolated in the cafeteria. Available staff (homeroom teachers, social workers, secretaries, admins) made calls to parents. I made dozens of calls to families and it was basically “your child is a close contact and needs to quarantine unless they are fully vaccinated in which case you can send the office a picture of the card.” Every time they got quarantined after we already knew but still had to call home and speak to a parent to confirm they wanted their child to stay. Once we reached a parent the vaccinated kids were sent on their way to class.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Don't people on here post all the time about how covid restrictions weren't enforced at all in some schools? Like some schools went on the honor system about vaccination, so didn't quarantine unvaccinated kids last year? (Sidenote: It was apparently dumb to distinguish kids wrt vaccination status, but I guess we didn't know it was dumb originally.)

The point being: Those people apparently avoided covid restrictions last year. If that can happen, then why would rules be differentially enforced at other schools?

Yes DCPS can make policies. They are followed to different degrees at different schools. For instance Walls did not participate in random testing, even if kids didn’t opt out officially. The school was not allowed to test a kid who didn’t volunteer. They also were not allowed to ask vaccination status so when there were exposures in the fall no one quarantined. This is because parents, with social capital because they are UMC, complained. The applications of policies are not equitable.

So DCPS couldn't ask vaccination status of *anyone*? Huh. I mean, I can kind of understand why that would be true, given that DCPS wasn't allowed to ask teachers about vaccination status (private medical info that is not required for school).

Did people who vaccinated kids then just volunteer the info to get out of quarantine?

No they were not allowed to ask any student their vaccination status. And kids did not quarantine in the fall and just showed up to school. No one checked vaccination status.

I’m a teacher. My class went through multiple quarantines last year. At times it was so chaotic we had kids show up at 8:20 to find out they were quarantined and isolated in the cafeteria. Available staff (homeroom teachers, social workers, secretaries, admins) made calls to parents. I made dozens of calls to families and it was basically “your child is a close contact and needs to quarantine unless they are fully vaccinated in which case you can send the office a picture of the card.” Every time they got quarantined after we already knew but still had to call home and speak to a parent to confirm they wanted their child to stay. Once we reached a parent the vaccinated kids were sent on their way to class.

PP you responded to and sorry I wasn’t clear in my post. I meant my school wasn’t allowed to ask kids their vaccination status. Seeing as what you all had to do at your school there were obvious inequities in implementation of Covid policies.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Don't people on here post all the time about how covid restrictions weren't enforced at all in some schools? Like some schools went on the honor system about vaccination, so didn't quarantine unvaccinated kids last year? (Sidenote: It was apparently dumb to distinguish kids wrt vaccination status, but I guess we didn't know it was dumb originally.)

The point being: Those people apparently avoided covid restrictions last year. If that can happen, then why would rules be differentially enforced at other schools?

Yes DCPS can make policies. They are followed to different degrees at different schools. For instance Walls did not participate in random testing, even if kids didn’t opt out officially. The school was not allowed to test a kid who didn’t volunteer. They also were not allowed to ask vaccination status so when there were exposures in the fall no one quarantined. This is because parents, with social capital because they are UMC, complained. The applications of policies are not equitable.

So DCPS couldn't ask vaccination status of *anyone*? Huh. I mean, I can kind of understand why that would be true, given that DCPS wasn't allowed to ask teachers about vaccination status (private medical info that is not required for school).

Did people who vaccinated kids then just volunteer the info to get out of quarantine?

No they were not allowed to ask any student their vaccination status. And kids did not quarantine in the fall and just showed up to school. No one checked vaccination status.

I’m a teacher. My class went through multiple quarantines last year. At times it was so chaotic we had kids show up at 8:20 to find out they were quarantined and isolated in the cafeteria. Available staff (homeroom teachers, social workers, secretaries, admins) made calls to parents. I made dozens of calls to families and it was basically “your child is a close contact and needs to quarantine unless they are fully vaccinated in which case you can send the office a picture of the card.” Every time they got quarantined after we already knew but still had to call home and speak to a parent to confirm they wanted their child to stay. Once we reached a parent the vaccinated kids were sent on their way to class.

PP you responded to and sorry I wasn’t clear in my post. I meant my school wasn’t allowed to ask kids their vaccination status. Seeing as what you all had to do at your school there were obvious inequities in implementation of Covid policies.

Absolutely. Even at my school there were. Like we were hardcore quarantining people but not enforcing any masking, even among vaccinated very close contacts. But that’s DCPS for you. Policies are always implemented inconsistently.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Don't people on here post all the time about how covid restrictions weren't enforced at all in some schools? Like some schools went on the honor system about vaccination, so didn't quarantine unvaccinated kids last year? (Sidenote: It was apparently dumb to distinguish kids wrt vaccination status, but I guess we didn't know it was dumb originally.)

The point being: Those people apparently avoided covid restrictions last year. If that can happen, then why would rules be differentially enforced at other schools?

Yes DCPS can make policies. They are followed to different degrees at different schools. For instance Walls did not participate in random testing, even if kids didn’t opt out officially. The school was not allowed to test a kid who didn’t volunteer. They also were not allowed to ask vaccination status so when there were exposures in the fall no one quarantined. This is because parents, with social capital because they are UMC, complained. The applications of policies are not equitable.

So DCPS couldn't ask vaccination status of *anyone*? Huh. I mean, I can kind of understand why that would be true, given that DCPS wasn't allowed to ask teachers about vaccination status (private medical info that is not required for school).

Did people who vaccinated kids then just volunteer the info to get out of quarantine?

No they were not allowed to ask any student their vaccination status. And kids did not quarantine in the fall and just showed up to school. No one checked vaccination status.

I’m a teacher. My class went through multiple quarantines last year. At times it was so chaotic we had kids show up at 8:20 to find out they were quarantined and isolated in the cafeteria. Available staff (homeroom teachers, social workers, secretaries, admins) made calls to parents. I made dozens of calls to families and it was basically “your child is a close contact and needs to quarantine unless they are fully vaccinated in which case you can send the office a picture of the card.” Every time they got quarantined after we already knew but still had to call home and speak to a parent to confirm they wanted their child to stay. Once we reached a parent the vaccinated kids were sent on their way to class.

PP you responded to and sorry I wasn’t clear in my post. I meant my school wasn’t allowed to ask kids their vaccination status. Seeing as what you all had to do at your school there were obvious inequities in implementation of Covid policies.

Absolutely. Even at my school there were. Like we were hardcore quarantining people but not enforcing any masking, even among vaccinated very close contacts. But that’s DCPS for you. Policies are always implemented inconsistently.

This is all the more reason to stop these things.

[Anonymous]

I watched the back to school meeting for Jackson Reed HS 9th graders. I'm encouraged that the meeting was in person (and also posted to YouTube) and there was no mention of Covid other than TTR and vaccination requirement. Different messaging for each -- for vaccination it was said directly that non-compliance means 'you will not be permitted to attend school.' Not the case for TTR.

Jackson Reed will have separate entry for kids without proof of a negative test and they will be tested onsite. No statement about what happens if they refuse.

Relatedly this seems like a huge burden for the school for no benefit. Why are will still doing this?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I watched the back to school meeting for Jackson Reed HS 9th graders. I'm encouraged that the meeting was in person (and also posted to YouTube) and there was no mention of Covid other than TTR and vaccination requirement. Different messaging for each -- for vaccination it was said directly that non-compliance means 'you will not be permitted to attend school.' Not the case for TTR.

Jackson Reed will have separate entry for kids without proof of a negative test and they will be tested onsite. No statement about what happens if they refuse.

Relatedly this seems like a huge burden for the school for no benefit. Why are will still doing this?

It is a huge burden for the school. At my school they enlisted all front office staff, admin and counselors to print a list of kids who uploaded test results and they have to wait in line to be checked off. Then someone had to get kids to test who hadn’t. It was such a waste and kids were really late to class as a result.

[Anonymous]

So has DCPS started notifying people that they won't be let into the building if they aren't vaccinated (and are 12 or over)?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Don't people on here post all the time about how covid restrictions weren't enforced at all in some schools? Like some schools went on the honor system about vaccination, so didn't quarantine unvaccinated kids last year? (Sidenote: It was apparently dumb to distinguish kids wrt vaccination status, but I guess we didn't know it was dumb originally.)

The point being: Those people apparently avoided covid restrictions last year. If that can happen, then why would rules be differentially enforced at other schools?

Yes DCPS can make policies. They are followed to different degrees at different schools. For instance Walls did not participate in random testing, even if kids didn’t opt out officially. The school was not allowed to test a kid who didn’t volunteer. They also were not allowed to ask vaccination status so when there were exposures in the fall no one quarantined. This is because parents, with social capital because they are UMC, complained. The applications of policies are not equitable.

So DCPS couldn't ask vaccination status of *anyone*? Huh. I mean, I can kind of understand why that would be true, given that DCPS wasn't allowed to ask teachers about vaccination status (private medical info that is not required for school).

Did people who vaccinated kids then just volunteer the info to get out of quarantine?

No they were not allowed to ask any student their vaccination status. And kids did not quarantine in the fall and just showed up to school. No one checked vaccination status.

**All** vaccines should be required and tracked in public schools. Not vaccinating your kids is abuse.

Are you for real?

Declining a Covid shot for my 12 year old is NOT abuse. Not on your life.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So has DCPS started notifying people that they won't be let into the building if they aren't vaccinated (and are 12 or over)?

What happens to the unvaccinated kids? Will they be sent home? Is DCPS offering the kids an ‘alternate’ education?

Also, what about unvaccinated kid who are currently 11 and will turn 12 during the school year?