MCPS will now send kids home for ten days based on symptoms only

[Anonymous]

Has anyone actually heard anything from MCPS about this? I saw the tweet from Caitlynn Peetz, who is usually a reliable source, but we usually also get emails and texts from MCPS about this stuff and we haven't seen anything.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There is an easy solution, get your kid tested. Our pediatrician's office does them in house and generally the PCR results are back within a few hours. Unfortunately, we have had to do this with our daughter several times. She is in daycare. It is important to me not to send her back into a daycare setting with Covid. I also work in an office and I've gotten tested several times when I've come down with a cold. I don't want to spread Covid unnecessarily.

It should be equally important to everyone not to send your kid to school with Covid. If additional testing needs to happen to be cautious, so be it.

Skirting the rules, avoiding testing and ignoring symptoms is why were are still in this pandemic. Not to mention the idiots who won't get vaccinated. It is maddening.

Do you even read the news? The majority of adults and over 12 are vaccinate here. Rates are in the 90%. You can still get and spread covid vaccinated so it is coming from those poorly behaved traveling and doing other things. In this area the majority not vaccinated are kids. Are they idiots?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Has anyone actually heard anything from MCPS about this? I saw the tweet from Caitlynn Peetz, who is usually a reliable source, but we usually also get emails and texts from MCPS about this stuff and we haven't seen anything.

They are using the don't ask, don't tell policy and when they know, still don't tell.

[Anonymous]

Isn’t this what daycares have been doing successfully since 2020?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Pretty easy to get the negative test and get everyone back within a day. Seems like NBD.

how "easy" do you think it is for low income families?

Stop making this about income. Many of them are more careful as it impacts them more than you and county has free testing. This is why MCPS should have 1-2 time a week mandatory testing for anyone in person.

? ^^PP claimed it was "nbd" to get tested.

I asked, "How easy do you think it is for low income people to go get tested".

I didn't say they weren't careful. I am asking how the ^^PP thinks it's nbd for low income people to go get tested. Can they take time off work to do it? Do they have some place close by to get tested? Are there language barriers?

I grew up lower income, btw, and parents don't know how to speak English. I know full well the challenges those families face.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Isn’t this what daycares have been doing successfully since 2020?

The part about requiring a negative Covid test to return to care, yes. The part about quarantining any close contacts of people with symptoms (before Covid results come back), no.

[Anonymous]

We tried the free Covid testing through the County a couple of times. It took several days to get results back if at all.

With Kaiser we've always gotten results back within 24 hours if not within 12 hours. But you have to be a member and be willing to drive to the Gaithersburg center.

For those without access to quick turnaround testing this is going to be a nightmare.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is the dumbest policy in a long line of many. Allergies, asthma, chronic headaches, cold season coming up. It's utter nonsense. Seriously, how stupid can people be and feel like they need to one up the CDC and state officials?

WOW. absurd. I'm glad I moved to the South. It's no panacea here, but very very glad to not have to deal with this.

No, it's perfectly reasonable. They will obviously have exceptions for other conditions.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This would send entire grades in quarantine. Is this a plan to put so many kids in quarantine so that they have an excuse to shut down all elementary schools and put the kids in virtual? Thats what it seems like to me. In the UK, when they remained open in the spring during the Delta surge they concluded that daily testing as as effective as quarantine and that its not good for the kids to stay home due to quarantine for long periods of time. Now this is even more ridiculous what MCPS is planning. They should end quarantine for elementary kids if the kids can show a negative test each day.

The U.K. requires every school kid who is exposed to ten every day for ten days or quarantine for ten days. Ten days of testing in a row. I am fine with that, but are other parents such as yourself willing to have your kid tested ten straight days in a row?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I give up. It's probably just easier to do virtual until our kids can get vaccinated than deal with the roadblocks this idiotic Board wants to throw up. At least there's stability with virtual.

They need to stop the spread. Some people are clearly ok with getting covid as they don't care about anyone but themselves, even their kids and send them to school sick and don't care the impact it has on others.

I don't get the complaining. It was clear this would happen, so deal with it. Just like the same families told those of us concerned to just deal with it. Your turn. Virtual has a waitlist and isn't taking new families but go ahead and apply.

How is that a solution? Quarantine-interrupted in-person is still 100x better than Zoom School.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We tried the free Covid testing through the County a couple of times. It took several days to get results back if at all.

With Kaiser we've always gotten results back within 24 hours if not within 12 hours. But you have to be a member and be willing to drive to the Gaithersburg center.

For those without access to quick turnaround testing this is going to be a nightmare.

Actually you don't.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We tried the free Covid testing through the County a couple of times. It took several days to get results back if at all.

With Kaiser we've always gotten results back within 24 hours if not within 12 hours. But you have to be a member and be willing to drive to the Gaithersburg center.

For those without access to quick turnaround testing this is going to be a nightmare.

Very low income will have medicaid and can get private testing for free.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I give up. It's probably just easier to do virtual until our kids can get vaccinated than deal with the roadblocks this idiotic Board wants to throw up. At least there's stability with virtual.

They need to stop the spread. Some people are clearly ok with getting covid as they don't care about anyone but themselves, even their kids and send them to school sick and don't care the impact it has on others.

I don't get the complaining. It was clear this would happen, so deal with it. Just like the same families told those of us concerned to just deal with it. Your turn. Virtual has a waitlist and isn't taking new families but go ahead and apply.

How is that a solution? Quarantine-interrupted in-person is still 100x better than Zoom School.

We knew this would happen and choose virtual. But, it takes involved parents vs. complainer parents.

[Anonymous]

It does say you can return with a negative test. What's the big deal?

[Anonymous]

It’s ridiculous that I have to tell my elementary school kid not to tell the teacher if she has a headache or sore throat. Or to stifle any cough she may have. Because it’s possible that her entire classroom will be home for 10 days. These poor kids now have to hide regular every day occurrences from their teachers, based off this policy