Covid Update from Central Office

[Anonymous]

My 16 yr old got this news before I did, and DC let out a big whoop. DC wants to be in school.

And finally, clarification on quarantine rules. There was another thread about when to start the clock. MCPS clarified:

Any student who tests positive will be required to isolate for 10 days from the date of the positive test or 10 days from the onset of symptoms, whichever comes first.

This is what we've been following.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We are so happy to see this update! Upgrade your masks everyone and go to school!

Only complete idiots think this is good news. Enjoy your kid’s subpar education for the remainder of the year, stuffed into auditoriums with no teachers. But they are socializing! (If you actually talked to your kid, you’d know the kids are absolutely miserable in the buildings right now)

They're not going to be stuffed in auditoriums without teachers for the remainder of the year. But if they pivoted to virtual, we know they would be stuck in that special slice of hell for the remainder of (or near to) the year. At least as of today, this is a big victory for many across teachers, students, and parents.

No, WE do not know.

You have no source at all for this invention of your imagination, except, what? That MCPS stayed virtual longer than it expected to when a novel virus first hit and people were dropping like flies, and no one was vaccinated?

Literally every district around here did the same. Some didn't stay virtual as long, but all of them "lied" when they said it was for "2 weeks" because it was a very specific situation with almost no information.

But sure, that definitely means that any pivot to virtual would end the same way. Absolutely.

I can't believe that those of us who advocated for a sensible, orderly preemptive pivot to virtual before all this mess were called the "hysterical" ones operating on "feelings," not "data."

The DATA predicted all of this spread, staffing issues, etc. would very likely happen if we reopened normally after winter break.

If we listened to you, we have DL and a Covid surge. This way we only get a Covid surge. I am rabidly anti-DL but I agree we all knew this was coming. Just like we all know it will be over on four weeks so closing and reopening schools isn’t worth it. Just get boosted, get a good mask, and cross your fingers.

[Anonymous]

Ugh, my kid’s school had the highest number of new cases yesterday. I have zero faith that MCPS will keep my kids safe. Zero. What a helpless feeling.

[Anonymous]

The rollout and communication has been atrocious.

I support basic tack of keeping schools open if at all possible EXCEPT there HAS to be an option for families who choose otherwise other than having HS students rack up unexcused absences and tank their GPAs.

If families of younger kids want to keep their kids at home, do it. But not everyone needs the same thing, and it's absurd that there is no plan to support -- or at least not punish -- students who need to stay home during the surge.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's insane that once half of county schools went in the red zone MCPS stopped using that metric. Talk about rigging things to get the result you want! Now what am I supposed to do? By their own admission 60+ schools are unsafe. But I can't keep my kid out forever and can't afford private school (and don't want my kid to go to one even if I could). Why can't they go virtual TEMPORARILY, just until the Omicron wave passes. What are other concerned parents doing?

We're in one of the 11 schools that are already virtual. Apparently we're just supposed to wait on tenterhooks until "early next week" (as per our principal) for further updates. I'd rather they just have us finish out the 14 days, just so we know what to expect in the coming weeks. This game of "Will they, won't they" is exhausting.

One of my kids is also at one of the original 11. I have received zero information from our school! I hated that we were singled out for virtual but on the other hand, at least we knew what the 14 days ahead were going to look like. Predictability.
So annoying. I am not going to tell my kid. Because they were totally bummed about virtual school but then they were resigned to it after a lot of encouraging pep talks.
Is Dr.McKnight a parent? Because parents are supposed to provide consistency. Which is absent from this administration.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As someone with children in the original 11 schools, I am furious. They'll let us know maybe if they have a plan by Sunday afternoon.

What are you furious about? Missing on the 1.5 days of “instruction” this week? Find something else to be upset about.

I'd be furious too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:As someone with children in the original 11 schools, I am furious. They'll let us know maybe if they have a plan by Sunday afternoon.

Or MCPS' usual 5:00 am Monday morning.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I just want to point out the letter says students are required to isolate at home for 10 days if they test positive. It does not say whether teacher/staff are beholden to the 10 day isolation. I don’t think this was an accident…

Staff also isolate for 10 days.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It's insane that once half of county schools went in the red zone MCPS stopped using that metric. Talk about rigging things to get the result you want! Now what am I supposed to do? By their own admission 60+ schools are unsafe. But I can't keep my kid out forever and can't afford private school (and don't want my kid to go to one even if I could). Why can't they go virtual TEMPORARILY, just until the Omicron wave passes. What are other concerned parents doing?

It makes perfect sense. COVID isn’t particularly dangerous to kids. The idea of closing schools was to shut down hot spots driving community spread. Given the tremendous level and breadth of spread while schools were closed, it is quite clear schools are driving spread.

[Anonymous]

I'm an MCPS teacher.

I agree this hasn't been handled all that well but I am relieved we are not going virtual. I want to teach in person. My students do better, NONE of the kids I teach (elementary) want to do virtual school. Groans of dread when they talk about it. My own kids (high school) do not want to go virtual. I am vaxxed and boosted. My HS kid had Covid before the break. Missed 1 1/2 week. Was like a cold. I caught it. Missed a few days before break. Was like a cold. The rest of my family had it as well and it was like a cold.

What I actually think should happen is: schools stay open, we mask, if you feel like you have a cold you test, if you get a positive you quarantine for 5 (calendar) days, go back to school/work. Close contacts keep going to school/work unless they become symptomatic as long as vaxxed/boosted.

At this point a lot of the reaction to the spread of Omicron is more psychological/emotional than rational. We have to keep putting one foot in front of the other and going to school and work. We never shut down for colds or even the flu before this and we shouldn't now either. Yes, it is spreading rapidly, but the staff shortages are due to the long quarantine which isn't really stopping the rapid spread of what is actually a pretty mild illness for vaccinated people.

Educating children is also a safety measure and an urgent, vital, societal need. It should have top priority and society should make sacrifices to do it correctly, every time. Every effort should be made to keep kids in school (and busses running, and food being served, etc, etc). We fail kids time and again. Another topic for another thread.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I just want to point out the letter says students are required to isolate at home for 10 days if they test positive. It does not say whether teacher/staff are beholden to the 10 day isolation. I don’t think this was an accident…

Staff also isolate for 10 days.

The Maryland Department of Health just accepted the new CDC guidelines, so this length of isolation should also change. And parents should push for it if MCPS doesn't adopt them.

[Anonymous]

Okay, here's a real translation.

"We were afraid of the very vocal absolutely-no-virtual parents, because they are disproportionately well-off and powerful and know how to get attention. Even though the data suggested we were in for a sh!tshow and it might be best to go virtual for a few weeks to ride off the omicron sugre, we tried to create a school-by-school metric that might at least exclude at least THOSE people's schools from having to go virtual.

Since wealthier, whiter and more-vaccinated people have lower rates of actual infection and spread of COVID, we thought, hey, we're geniuses. Whoever made/insisted upon this plan didn't consider that purely self-reported data was going to have the opposite effect, because the same people who are wealthier, whiter and more-vaccinated are also the ones more likely to speak fluent English, have time to be highly informed, understand the procedures and have or find access to tests. Thus though the spread may be the same or lower in, say, the Whitman cluster than the Wheaton or Blair clusters, the way this whole mess was designed, the Whitman people were more likely to have their schools shut down.

So we are uhhhhh not just asking everyone to go virtual for a week or three, like we should have in the first place, but making these decisions, based on highly inaccurate data, even more granular and more needlessly complicated. Because there will be hell to pay if Larla with the "red" Burning Tree kid has to go virtual under almost any circumstances-- and we don't really GAF about Larlette with the "green" New Hampshire Estates kids, who is confused and scared and kept her kids out of school last spring because she lives with her grandparents and she can't afford to get sick."

HTH

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm an MCPS teacher.

I agree this hasn't been handled all that well but I am relieved we are not going virtual. I want to teach in person. My students do better, NONE of the kids I teach (elementary) want to do virtual school. Groans of dread when they talk about it. My own kids (high school) do not want to go virtual. I am vaxxed and boosted. My HS kid had Covid before the break. Missed 1 1/2 week. Was like a cold. I caught it. Missed a few days before break. Was like a cold. The rest of my family had it as well and it was like a cold.

What I actually think should happen is: schools stay open, we mask, if you feel like you have a cold you test, if you get a positive you quarantine for 5 (calendar) days, go back to school/work. Close contacts keep going to school/work unless they become symptomatic as long as vaxxed/boosted.

At this point a lot of the reaction to the spread of Omicron is more psychological/emotional than rational. We have to keep putting one foot in front of the other and going to school and work. We never shut down for colds or even the flu before this and we shouldn't now either. Yes, it is spreading rapidly, but the staff shortages are due to the long quarantine which isn't really stopping the rapid spread of what is actually a pretty mild illness for vaccinated people.

Educating children is also a safety measure and an urgent, vital, societal need. It should have top priority and society should make sacrifices to do it correctly, every time. Every effort should be made to keep kids in school (and busses running, and food being served, etc, etc). We fail kids time and again. Another topic for another thread.

Well said. Agree with all of it. And I understand that if staff cannot meet the needs of the school then it is going to have to adjust. Like it or not, we are still in a pandemic. But as much as we can keep things operating, we need to do that. My high schooler and all of her friends far prefer to stay in school even if it’s not completely normal.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm an MCPS teacher.

I agree this hasn't been handled all that well but I am relieved we are not going virtual. I want to teach in person. My students do better, NONE of the kids I teach (elementary) want to do virtual school. Groans of dread when they talk about it. My own kids (high school) do not want to go virtual. I am vaxxed and boosted. My HS kid had Covid before the break. Missed 1 1/2 week. Was like a cold. I caught it. Missed a few days before break. Was like a cold. The rest of my family had it as well and it was like a cold.

What I actually think should happen is: schools stay open, we mask, if you feel like you have a cold you test, if you get a positive you quarantine for 5 (calendar) days, go back to school/work. Close contacts keep going to school/work unless they become symptomatic as long as vaxxed/boosted.

At this point a lot of the reaction to the spread of Omicron is more psychological/emotional than rational. We have to keep putting one foot in front of the other and going to school and work. We never shut down for colds or even the flu before this and we shouldn't now either. Yes, it is spreading rapidly, but the staff shortages are due to the long quarantine which isn't really stopping the rapid spread of what is actually a pretty mild illness for vaccinated people.

Educating children is also a safety measure and an urgent, vital, societal need. It should have top priority and society should make sacrifices to do it correctly, every time. Every effort should be made to keep kids in school (and busses running, and food being served, etc, etc). We fail kids time and again. Another topic for another thread.

Well said. Agree with all of it. And I understand that if staff cannot meet the needs of the school then it is going to have to adjust. Like it or not, we are still in a pandemic. But as much as we can keep things operating, we need to do that. My high schooler and all of her friends far prefer to stay in school even if it’s not completely normal.

+1000

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm an MCPS teacher.

I agree this hasn't been handled all that well but I am relieved we are not going virtual. I want to teach in person. My students do better, NONE of the kids I teach (elementary) want to do virtual school. Groans of dread when they talk about it. My own kids (high school) do not want to go virtual. I am vaxxed and boosted. My HS kid had Covid before the break. Missed 1 1/2 week. Was like a cold. I caught it. Missed a few days before break. Was like a cold. The rest of my family had it as well and it was like a cold.

What I actually think should happen is: schools stay open, we mask, if you feel like you have a cold you test, if you get a positive you quarantine for 5 (calendar) days, go back to school/work. Close contacts keep going to school/work unless they become symptomatic as long as vaxxed/boosted.

At this point a lot of the reaction to the spread of Omicron is more psychological/emotional than rational. We have to keep putting one foot in front of the other and going to school and work. We never shut down for colds or even the flu before this and we shouldn't now either. Yes, it is spreading rapidly, but the staff shortages are due to the long quarantine which isn't really stopping the rapid spread of what is actually a pretty mild illness for vaccinated people.

Educating children is also a safety measure and an urgent, vital, societal need. It should have top priority and society should make sacrifices to do it correctly, every time. Every effort should be made to keep kids in school (and busses running, and food being served, etc, etc). We fail kids time and again. Another topic for another thread.

Hi, please apply for the superintendent job. I’ll lobby the BOE on your behalf. Xo