Will MCPS go virtual the first part of January?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Teacher here. I taught with covid this early fall as I got it from 4 of my students who tested positive. I was not sick that time and wore a mask so it was fine. I got covid again right before winter break from another 3 students whose parents continued to send them to school sick everyday and then not pick them up when the nurse called home. They did this so that they could work and not be with the kid and did not even get them tested. Once the child comes, they are here until parents come and get them and the system is a mess. This time me I was so ill I was hospitalized for 2 days. I have an underlying autoimmune condition and am triple vaxxed but my body gave out and destroyed my pancreas and kidneys. Now, I am on medical leave. I know nobody cares because I am the exception and not the rule. But, I just thought I would share for all those who think we can just work sick, expose ourselves to their sick kids and basically just become very ill so that their children can get tax- fed schooling while they work. There is no sub so my class has been split amongst my teammates until I am cleared to work after my surgery and rehab. It is such a mess.

I'm really sorry you are so sick. Omicron is such a disaster because the vaccines aren't really working against it, despite our best efforts to get vaccinated and mask.

But, I don't understand how closing the schools helps anything. Those kids would still have covid, and would spread it other ways-- grocery stores, malls, restaurants, gyms, etc. are all open. Unless you and your family are completely isolated in your house, there is no way to completely avoid covid. At least at schools everyone wears masks.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Teacher here. I taught with covid this early fall as I got it from 4 of my students who tested positive. I was not sick that time and wore a mask so it was fine. I got covid again right before winter break from another 3 students whose parents continued to send them to school sick everyday and then not pick them up when the nurse called home. They did this so that they could work and not be with the kid and did not even get them tested. Once the child comes, they are here until parents come and get them and the system is a mess. This time me I was so ill I was hospitalized for 2 days. I have an underlying autoimmune condition and am triple vaxxed but my body gave out and destroyed my pancreas and kidneys. Now, I am on medical leave. I know nobody cares because I am the exception and not the rule. But, I just thought I would share for all those who think we can just work sick, expose ourselves to their sick kids and basically just become very ill so that their children can get tax- fed schooling while they work. There is no sub so my class has been split amongst my teammates until I am cleared to work after my surgery and rehab. It is such a mess.

I'm really sorry you are so sick. Omicron is such a disaster because the vaccines aren't really working against it, despite our best efforts to get vaccinated and mask.

But, I don't understand how closing the schools helps anything. Those kids would still have covid, and would spread it other ways-- grocery stores, malls, restaurants, gyms, etc. are all open. Unless you and your family are completely isolated in your house, there is no way to completely avoid covid. At least at schools everyone wears masks.

I think some people are overlooking or just not understanding how a high number of sick staff effects the ability for the system to run safely. This time around closures are likely to be due to a lack of staffing more so than about stopping spread.
One thing that could be done now is for ALL non-school based staff (I’m looking at you central office) to be assigned to specific schools or clusters to float and fill space effective January 3. There’s no way to know if that will be enough to keep things open but at least it makes an attempt.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yep, I went to Floriduh and did not wear any masks and probably have tons of covid all over and in me.oh well. My kids are going back Jan. 3rd and will stay in school. Nobody will get that sick from it. I am not really sure why Maryland shuts down as Florida's never shut down, live with covid or die from it, and are the happiest people ever. We should be like them.

LOL.

[Anonymous]

The trolls are out in force in this thread. Too many to even try whack-a-troll.

I can't tell if they're local, Russian, Ukrainian, or our new ones from Minsk.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The trolls are out in force in this thread. Too many to even try whack-a-troll.

I can't tell if they're local, Russian, Ukrainian, or our new ones from Minsk.

Where are you trolling from?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The trolls are out in force in this thread. Too many to even try whack-a-troll.

I can't tell if they're local, Russian, Ukrainian, or our new ones from Minsk.

Where are you trolling from?

Ooh! A deflecting troll!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They should, but their rule states pivot after >5% positivity during 14 days.
If I read that right.

Which means closing in the last two weeks of Jan, after making everything worse.

Today in MD, positivity is at 12%.

Me again. After reading the letter again, I think they may close as soon as they reach 5% positivity. That would make more sense.

Someone read that paragraph and tell me what they think:
“ Beginning in January, if 5 percent or more of unrelated students/teachers/staff (minimum of 10 unrelated students/teachers/staff) test positive in a 14-day period, then DHHS and MCPS will work together to determine if the school should be closed for 14 days and the students transition to virtual learning.”

Sigh. You are misunderstanding this. The state positivity rate is the percentage of tests that come back positive. What MCPS has said is that individual schools may close if 5 percent of their population (teachers and students) are positive at once.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They should, but their rule states pivot after >5% positivity during 14 days.
If I read that right.

Which means closing in the last two weeks of Jan, after making everything worse.

Today in MD, positivity is at 12%.

I think the 5% positive means 5% of staff and students test positive for the virus.

12% positivity means something different. That means, of those people who took a test, 12% were positive for COVID. It doesn't mean 12% of the population is positive for COVID. Because lots of people didn't take the test.

If there’s 12 or 16% positivity in the community, there’s also a similar number among students and staff, silly.

And of course it’s people taking tests. How else would we know they’re positive?

The positivity rate in MCPS will be the same as the community as s whole.

Good god. We need better education in this country!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I took the 5% positivity rate to be at an individual school. Meaning if 5% of unrelated students/staff test positive at Elementary School #1, it would trigger a conversation re: Elementary School #1 only.
Did I understand that incorrectly?

No you did not, but there are some really stupid people in this thread.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I took the 5% positivity rate to be at an individual school. Meaning if 5% of unrelated students/staff test positive at Elementary School #1, it would trigger a conversation re: Elementary School #1 only.
Did I understand that incorrectly?

No you did not, but there are some really stupid people in this thread.

And these are the same people pushing virtual and supplementing from home.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The trolls are out in force in this thread. Too many to even try whack-a-troll.

I can't tell if they're local, Russian, Ukrainian, or our new ones from Minsk.

Where are you trolling from?

Np. A basement in Kenosha.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Teacher here. I taught with covid this early fall as I got it from 4 of my students who tested positive. I was not sick that time and wore a mask so it was fine. I got covid again right before winter break from another 3 students whose parents continued to send them to school sick everyday and then not pick them up when the nurse called home. They did this so that they could work and not be with the kid and did not even get them tested. Once the child comes, they are here until parents come and get them and the system is a mess. This time me I was so ill I was hospitalized for 2 days. I have an underlying autoimmune condition and am triple vaxxed but my body gave out and destroyed my pancreas and kidneys. Now, I am on medical leave. I know nobody cares because I am the exception and not the rule. But, I just thought I would share for all those who think we can just work sick, expose ourselves to their sick kids and basically just become very ill so that their children can get tax- fed schooling while they work. There is no sub so my class has been split amongst my teammates until I am cleared to work after my surgery and rehab. It is such a mess.

I'm really sorry you are so sick. Omicron is such a disaster because the vaccines aren't really working against it, despite our best efforts to get vaccinated and mask.

But, I don't understand how closing the schools helps anything. Those kids would still have covid, and would spread it other ways-- grocery stores, malls, restaurants, gyms, etc. are all open. Unless you and your family are completely isolated in your house, there is no way to completely avoid covid. At least at schools everyone wears masks.

Did you even read the post?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I took the 5% positivity rate to be at an individual school. Meaning if 5% of unrelated students/staff test positive at Elementary School #1, it would trigger a conversation re: Elementary School #1 only.
Did I understand that incorrectly?

No you did not, but there are some really stupid people in this thread.

And these are the same people pushing virtual and supplementing from home.

When your kids are on quarantine you need to homeschool. That is what you agreed to.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Teacher here. I taught with covid this early fall as I got it from 4 of my students who tested positive. I was not sick that time and wore a mask so it was fine. I got covid again right before winter break from another 3 students whose parents continued to send them to school sick everyday and then not pick them up when the nurse called home. They did this so that they could work and not be with the kid and did not even get them tested. Once the child comes, they are here until parents come and get them and the system is a mess. This time me I was so ill I was hospitalized for 2 days. I have an underlying autoimmune condition and am triple vaxxed but my body gave out and destroyed my pancreas and kidneys. Now, I am on medical leave. I know nobody cares because I am the exception and not the rule. But, I just thought I would share for all those who think we can just work sick, expose ourselves to their sick kids and basically just become very ill so that their children can get tax- fed schooling while they work. There is no sub so my class has been split amongst my teammates until I am cleared to work after my surgery and rehab. It is such a mess.

So sorry you are sick and that you serve families that can't or won't take off work when their kids are sick. That's awful. You also didn't take off work when you had Covid. Interesting.

It's not that nobody cares. It's that closing schools harms kids, and kids matter too. Sometimes people get sick and it sucks, but it doesn't mean that we need to deny in-person education to children. I don't know why teachers seem to think that because public schools are funded by taxes, that they are "free" or that that people don't have a right to expect that school systems will provide an education. It's not free.

Some of us do care. Teachers are not allowed to take off sick. Seek help. Something is off is you have zero concern or empathy for others. Something is off if you don’t understand how your behavior impacts others.

Closing schools does not harm kids. People being sick does. If your kids are harmed by being home, seek help.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Teacher here. I taught with covid this early fall as I got it from 4 of my students who tested positive. I was not sick that time and wore a mask so it was fine. I got covid again right before winter break from another 3 students whose parents continued to send them to school sick everyday and then not pick them up when the nurse called home. They did this so that they could work and not be with the kid and did not even get them tested. Once the child comes, they are here until parents come and get them and the system is a mess. This time me I was so ill I was hospitalized for 2 days. I have an underlying autoimmune condition and am triple vaxxed but my body gave out and destroyed my pancreas and kidneys. Now, I am on medical leave. I know nobody cares because I am the exception and not the rule. But, I just thought I would share for all those who think we can just work sick, expose ourselves to their sick kids and basically just become very ill so that their children can get tax- fed schooling while they work. There is no sub so my class has been split amongst my teammates until I am cleared to work after my surgery and rehab. It is such a mess.

So sorry you are sick and that you serve families that can't or won't take off work when their kids are sick. That's awful. You also didn't take off work when you had Covid. Interesting.

It's not that nobody cares. It's that closing schools harms kids, and kids matter too. Sometimes people get sick and it sucks, but it doesn't mean that we need to deny in-person education to children. I don't know why teachers seem to think that because public schools are funded by taxes, that they are "free" or that that people don't have a right to expect that school systems will provide an education. It's not free.

Some of us do care. Teachers are not allowed to take off sick. Seek help. Something is off is you have zero concern or empathy for others. Something is off if you don’t understand how your behavior impacts others.

Closing schools does not harm kids. People being sick does. If your kids are harmed by being home, seek help.

Closing schools harmed kids.