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

[Anonymous]

This makes McKnight look petty and incompetent. She has the power to question the policy provided to her. She either chose not to or rushed and did not care to read, now she’s fingerpointing. My hopes for her just went downhill.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Sorry, typo. Together again people want opt-IN because they think no one will opt in.

Not a TogetherAgain person, but performing medical tests on a minor without the consent of the guardian is pretty sketchy.

I would hope people would opt-in. But we can't lose sight of our ethics and morality.

You definitely need consent.

Silence is not consent

They’ve done it in DC

That doesn't make it ethical or right.

It's wrong to conduct a test on a minor without the parent's consent.

These things matter, even in a pandemic

No, it’s actually the right thing to do in a pandemic where others are placed into contact with you via something other than their own free choice (which is the nature of public education generally, more so with no virtual option available).

No one is forcing you to send your kid in-person, you could have applied to the VA but most likely were one of the posters wringing their hands in July about how robust it was going to be and missed the extended deadline. Or you could choose to homeschool.

VA is going well and different from last year. We have full classes/live teaching daily. They should have made testing mandatory if you want to be in person.

Woot!

How is that different from last year????

About double the actual class time/live in person. Last year we had two hours of teaching time per class per week and half that time was to do work in class kids didn't do was homework so in all reality between the mental health check in and work it was about 30 minutes of class time. We also have daily academic support after school. Many more kids have camera's on and engaging.

Sounds so fun!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This makes McKnight look petty and incompetent. She has the power to question the policy provided to her. She either chose not to or rushed and did not care to read, now she’s fingerpointing. My hopes for her just went downhill.

You go to war with the army you have. Not the one you wish you had.

DHHS has been running roughshod over MCPS for a year and a half. About time they got called out for the absurdity.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Sorry, typo. Together again people want opt-IN because they think no one will opt in.

Not a TogetherAgain person, but performing medical tests on a minor without the consent of the guardian is pretty sketchy.

I would hope people would opt-in. But we can't lose sight of our ethics and morality.

You definitely need consent.

Silence is not consent

They’ve done it in DC

That doesn't make it ethical or right.

It's wrong to conduct a test on a minor without the parent's consent.

These things matter, even in a pandemic

No, it’s actually the right thing to do in a pandemic where others are placed into contact with you via something other than their own free choice (which is the nature of public education generally, more so with no virtual option available).

No one is forcing you to send your kid in-person, you could have applied to the VA but most likely were one of the posters wringing their hands in July about how robust it was going to be and missed the extended deadline. Or you could choose to homeschool.

Well, if no one is forcing anyone to go to school, then opt-out testing shouldn’t be any kind of problem. If you don’t like it, don’t go to school. No one’s forcing you.

We don’t have opt out testing- I realize you’re preoccupied with your awesome VA experience but do try to keep up if you decide to comment.

You’ve lost the thread. My kids are in full time in person, not VA. I think testing should be opt-out. The other guy in this conversation is against it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Everything is good! There will be testing. Reason prevailed. Kids will not quarantine for “new onset headaches”. Gayles is leaving and Elrich is still well Elrich.

What happens when the family of the kid who has the symptom has not opted into testing? Your kids will still get sent home. So no, reason has not prevailed. They still need to rescind this guidance.

So will there be a different option in for the rapid tests vs. random surveillance testing? This is starting to get confusing, would have been nice if this had been ironed out before the school year started.

This. Should have all been made clear BEFORE our kids went back to school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Everything is good! There will be testing. Reason prevailed. Kids will not quarantine for “new onset headaches”. Gayles is leaving and Elrich is still well Elrich.

What happens when the family of the kid who has the symptom has not opted into testing? Your kids will still get sent home. So no, reason has not prevailed. They still need to rescind this guidance.

So will there be a different option in for the rapid tests vs. random surveillance testing? This is starting to get confusing, would have been nice if this had been ironed out before the school year started.

This. Should have all been made clear BEFORE our kids went back to school.

They were hoping, like Biden, that covid will just go away. Its not.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So everyone who doesn't opt in now gets their kids sent hope with symptoms.

Better opt in if you want your kid staying in school.

No, because the way the current system works is that people are released from quarantine only when the person who had symptoms tests negative. They can't release themselves from quarantine from a negative test. So if the current guidance stays, and the symptomatic student hasn't opted into tested, then everyone is forced to quarantine.

They still need to rescind the guidance and go back to CDC/MD standard.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So everyone who doesn't opt in now gets their kids sent hope with symptoms.

Better opt in if you want your kid staying in school.

No, because the way the current system works is that people are released from quarantine only when the person who had symptoms tests negative. They can't release themselves from quarantine from a negative test. So if the current guidance stays, and the symptomatic student hasn't opted into tested, then everyone is forced to quarantine.

They still need to rescind the guidance and go back to CDC/MD standard.

Majority of parents don't want testing or they'd opt in. So, these are the rules. Deal with it. Many parents will send their sick kids to school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This makes McKnight look petty and incompetent. She has the power to question the policy provided to her. She either chose not to or rushed and did not care to read, now she’s fingerpointing. My hopes for her just went downhill.

You go to war with the army you have. Not the one you wish you had.

DHHS has been running roughshod over MCPS for a year and a half. About time they got called out for the absurdity.

It’s not DHHS, it’s Gayles. Let’s be clear here. He’s basically just given the county a big F-U on the way out the door. He’s probably hoping this generates hate messages that he can point to as justification.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This makes McKnight look petty and incompetent. She has the power to question the policy provided to her. She either chose not to or rushed and did not care to read, now she’s fingerpointing. My hopes for her just went downhill.

You go to war with the army you have. Not the one you wish you had.

DHHS has been running roughshod over MCPS for a year and a half. About time they got called out for the absurdity.

It’s not DHHS, it’s Gayles. Let’s be clear here. He’s basically just given the county a big F-U on the way out the door. He’s probably hoping this generates hate messages that he can point to as justification.

McKnight isn't playing 12th-dimensional chess here. I'd have to assume that she believed that Gayles was operating in good faith. He wasn't, it's operationally foolish policy, there was already huge blowback, and she quickly levied all the blame on him in this update. However, by saying she's following DHHS guidance, she's effectively laid the groundwork to work with DHHS to start fixing his intentional messes next week. I'd expect some ongoing course corrections over the next few weeks until they land on something that's regionally/nationally consistent.

[Anonymous]

At least they are allowing rapid test results. FCPS isn't last time I heard. Only PCR.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This makes McKnight look petty and incompetent. She has the power to question the policy provided to her. She either chose not to or rushed and did not care to read, now she’s fingerpointing. My hopes for her just went downhill.

MCPS is following CDC guidelines so you feel the super who doesn't make health policy is petty and incompetent? These anti-masker types are nuts.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This makes McKnight look petty and incompetent. She has the power to question the policy provided to her. She either chose not to or rushed and did not care to read, now she’s fingerpointing. My hopes for her just went downhill.

MCPS is following CDC guidelines so you feel the super who doesn't make health policy is petty and incompetent? These anti-masker types are nuts.

Nothing about what you said is accurate and/or makes any sense. I'm not sure you're following the conversation or events at all.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Apparently the new “guidance” confirms what we’ve been hearing. If a child has “symptoms” associated with COVID (could be a runny nose) their close contacts (this has been interpreted as the entire class in many schools) are quarantined for ten days.

This is completely ludicrous and not based in science or CDC guidelines.

NOT with the new rapid tests that will be given to all schools by the end of the week.
Kids with symptoms can be rapid tested.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This makes McKnight look petty and incompetent. She has the power to question the policy provided to her. She either chose not to or rushed and did not care to read, now she’s fingerpointing. My hopes for her just went downhill.

You go to war with the army you have. Not the one you wish you had.

DHHS has been running roughshod over MCPS for a year and a half. About time they got called out for the absurdity.

It’s not DHHS, it’s Gayles. Let’s be clear here. He’s basically just given the county a big F-U on the way out the door. He’s probably hoping this generates hate messages that he can point to as justification.

McKnight isn't playing 12th-dimensional chess here. I'd have to assume that she believed that Gayles was operating in good faith. He wasn't, it's operationally foolish policy, there was already huge blowback, and she quickly levied all the blame on him in this update. However, by saying she's following DHHS guidance, she's effectively laid the groundwork to work with DHHS to start fixing his intentional messes next week. I'd expect some ongoing course corrections over the next few weeks until they land on something that's regionally/nationally consistent.

I agree.