Why doesn't MCPS seem to have a covid plan for the fall?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
A good plan would be nice, but this is MCPS. I'll just take a plan so I can plan around their plan no matter what it is We are not going with metrics. We are fully reopening so the question is how will MCPS keep our kids safe. They have already stated everything is back to normal with the only exception being masks, so each parent needs to plan according to that plan.

OK, here's the plan: 100% capacity, 5 days a week, with masks. There might be covid cases among students. There might be covid cases among teachers. Your child may be affected.

There, now you can plan around their plan.

That's, that's how I see the plan too except my child WILL be affected so in that case, is it better to go virtual with stability or in person and GET covid and instability. I don't want covid. I'd prefer it remain in other's homes and skip over ours.

MCPS can't answer that question for you. You have to decide that for yourself.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Many schools remained open last year through out the country. Right now red states with a high case rates are not even questioning the opening of schools for in-person. What is wrong with the DC area patents? Our area has high vaccination rate plus people are in general cautious. Why can’t we just let our kids go to school ? Why do we have to make this so difficult for mcps that they think about backtracking in person school?
Kids have been in camps all summer. In groups of 25. Yes the counselors were vaccinated and the kids remained safe. We have to try to give our kids a normal school year .. as normal as possible. Stop the hysteria and fear mongering.

I think we all want the same thing. We all want the schools to open! Here’s the difference. Those of us who want a plan and/or want some safety mitigation think if we make schools safer and create thoughtful contingency plans, then schools will actually have a better chance of staying open because transmission will be reduced and mitigated. Others of you just want to open no matter what and think if we plan too much or pay too much attention to safety that somehow this will get in the way of opening. I personally see this POV as irresponsible and lacking in care for our students, school staff and community at large. Communicating protocols in an unprecedented time =/= backtracking in person school!

I don't disagree with the need for a plan, but you are SO condescending that I doubt whatever plan they have would satisfy you. If you are purporting to speak for the "plan" proponents, I'll take my chances with no plan.

Because, yes, putting out a plan months in advance gives people like you the chance to pick it apart and throw a fit when it's not exponentially more restrictive than the CDC or whatever.

MCPS is not following CDC recommendations outside of masking.

I was referring to last school year, when Dr. Gayles mysteriously recommending guidelines that were more restrictive than freaking CHOP, with *zero* justification, and a bunch of us had to fight tooth and nail to get them to change, against the very loud voices of many parents who thought more restrictive than CHOP was better. Again, with no justification.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Many schools remained open last year through out the country. Right now red states with a high case rates are not even questioning the opening of schools for in-person. What is wrong with the DC area patents? Our area has high vaccination rate plus people are in general cautious. Why can’t we just let our kids go to school ? Why do we have to make this so difficult for mcps that they think about backtracking in person school?
Kids have been in camps all summer. In groups of 25. Yes the counselors were vaccinated and the kids remained safe. We have to try to give our kids a normal school year .. as normal as possible. Stop the hysteria and fear mongering.

I think we all want the same thing. We all want the schools to open! Here’s the difference. Those of us who want a plan and/or want some safety mitigation think if we make schools safer and create thoughtful contingency plans, then schools will actually have a better chance of staying open because transmission will be reduced and mitigated. Others of you just want to open no matter what and think if we plan too much or pay too much attention to safety that somehow this will get in the way of opening. I personally see this POV as irresponsible and lacking in care for our students, school staff and community at large. Communicating protocols in an unprecedented time =/= backtracking in person school!

I don't disagree with the need for a plan, but you are SO condescending that I doubt whatever plan they have would satisfy you. If you are purporting to speak for the "plan" proponents, I'll take my chances with no plan.

Because, yes, putting out a plan months in advance gives people like you the chance to pick it apart and throw a fit when it's not exponentially more restrictive than the CDC or whatever.

I’ll own being condescending but I have no intentions of throwing any fits. You, on the other hand, with your “months in advance” are quite rude and dramatic.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:MCPS says it will be releasing its plan on Friday.

So: those of you insisting that there would be no plan besides masks have lost the bet.

What’s the over/under on this plan being released before 5 PM Friday?

When did they say that? I don’t remember an announcement.

They didn’t announce it. They replied to a parent email asking about it and she Tweeted about it.

Do you have a link to the tweet? Thanks!

You can find it by searching the term “@MCPS” on Twitter.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Many schools remained open last year through out the country. Right now red states with a high case rates are not even questioning the opening of schools for in-person. What is wrong with the DC area patents? Our area has high vaccination rate plus people are in general cautious. Why can’t we just let our kids go to school ? Why do we have to make this so difficult for mcps that they think about backtracking in person school?
Kids have been in camps all summer. In groups of 25. Yes the counselors were vaccinated and the kids remained safe. We have to try to give our kids a normal school year .. as normal as possible. Stop the hysteria and fear mongering.

I think we all want the same thing. We all want the schools to open! Here’s the difference. Those of us who want a plan and/or want some safety mitigation think if we make schools safer and create thoughtful contingency plans, then schools will actually have a better chance of staying open because transmission will be reduced and mitigated. Others of you just want to open no matter what and think if we plan too much or pay too much attention to safety that somehow this will get in the way of opening. I personally see this POV as irresponsible and lacking in care for our students, school staff and community at large. Communicating protocols in an unprecedented time =/= backtracking in person school!

I don't disagree with the need for a plan, but you are SO condescending that I doubt whatever plan they have would satisfy you. If you are purporting to speak for the "plan" proponents, I'll take my chances with no plan.

Because, yes, putting out a plan months in advance gives people like you the chance to pick it apart and throw a fit when it's not exponentially more restrictive than the CDC or whatever.

MCPS is not following CDC recommendations outside of masking.

I was referring to last school year, when Dr. Gayles mysteriously recommending guidelines that were more restrictive than freaking CHOP, with *zero* justification, and a bunch of us had to fight tooth and nail to get them to change, against the very loud voices of many parents who thought more restrictive than CHOP was better. Again, with no justification.

Dr. Gayles was right. Why don't you go back to your private school board as I don't see why you need to have an opinion on MCPS except to justify privates being open?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Many schools remained open last year through out the country. Right now red states with a high case rates are not even questioning the opening of schools for in-person. What is wrong with the DC area patents? Our area has high vaccination rate plus people are in general cautious. Why can’t we just let our kids go to school ? Why do we have to make this so difficult for mcps that they think about backtracking in person school?
Kids have been in camps all summer. In groups of 25. Yes the counselors were vaccinated and the kids remained safe. We have to try to give our kids a normal school year .. as normal as possible. Stop the hysteria and fear mongering.

I think we all want the same thing. We all want the schools to open! Here’s the difference. Those of us who want a plan and/or want some safety mitigation think if we make schools safer and create thoughtful contingency plans, then schools will actually have a better chance of staying open because transmission will be reduced and mitigated. Others of you just want to open no matter what and think if we plan too much or pay too much attention to safety that somehow this will get in the way of opening. I personally see this POV as irresponsible and lacking in care for our students, school staff and community at large. Communicating protocols in an unprecedented time =/= backtracking in person school!

I don't disagree with the need for a plan, but you are SO condescending that I doubt whatever plan they have would satisfy you. If you are purporting to speak for the "plan" proponents, I'll take my chances with no plan.

Because, yes, putting out a plan months in advance gives people like you the chance to pick it apart and throw a fit when it's not exponentially more restrictive than the CDC or whatever.

I’ll own being condescending but I have no intentions of throwing any fits. You, on the other hand, with your “months in advance” are quite rude and dramatic.

Parents need to plan so asking for a plan months in advanced is reasonable.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
A good plan would be nice, but this is MCPS. I'll just take a plan so I can plan around their plan no matter what it is We are not going with metrics. We are fully reopening so the question is how will MCPS keep our kids safe. They have already stated everything is back to normal with the only exception being masks, so each parent needs to plan according to that plan.

OK, here's the plan: 100% capacity, 5 days a week, with masks. There might be covid cases among students. There might be covid cases among teachers. Your child may be affected.

There, now you can plan around their plan.

That's, that's how I see the plan too except my child WILL be affected so in that case, is it better to go virtual with stability or in person and GET covid and instability. I don't want covid. I'd prefer it remain in other's homes and skip over ours.

MCPS can't answer that question for you. You have to decide that for yourself.

I think they have answered it. They are opening and don't care about safety.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Many schools remained open last year through out the country. Right now red states with a high case rates are not even questioning the opening of schools for in-person. What is wrong with the DC area patents? Our area has high vaccination rate plus people are in general cautious. Why can’t we just let our kids go to school ? Why do we have to make this so difficult for mcps that they think about backtracking in person school?
Kids have been in camps all summer. In groups of 25. Yes the counselors were vaccinated and the kids remained safe. We have to try to give our kids a normal school year .. as normal as possible. Stop the hysteria and fear mongering.

I think we all want the same thing. We all want the schools to open! Here’s the difference. Those of us who want a plan and/or want some safety mitigation think if we make schools safer and create thoughtful contingency plans, then schools will actually have a better chance of staying open because transmission will be reduced and mitigated. Others of you just want to open no matter what and think if we plan too much or pay too much attention to safety that somehow this will get in the way of opening. I personally see this POV as irresponsible and lacking in care for our students, school staff and community at large. Communicating protocols in an unprecedented time =/= backtracking in person school!

I don't disagree with the need for a plan, but you are SO condescending that I doubt whatever plan they have would satisfy you. If you are purporting to speak for the "plan" proponents, I'll take my chances with no plan.

Because, yes, putting out a plan months in advance gives people like you the chance to pick it apart and throw a fit when it's not exponentially more restrictive than the CDC or whatever.

I’ll own being condescending but I have no intentions of throwing any fits. You, on the other hand, with your “months in advance” are quite rude and dramatic.

Hyperbolic, slightly. Rude, sure; I don't like condescension. You realize it hurts your argument, I hope.

[Anonymous]

Covid is not going away, after delta passes they’ll be some new variant. The vaccines are looking like they’ll be more like flu vaccines, so covid will sometimes spread in schools but hopefully we can minimize it with good ventilation, testing and masks. We need to live with this virus. Kids need in person school not only for academic benefits but for the social benefits too. With virtual school, they lose out on all the socialization that happens during in person school. MCPS absolutely better open 5 days a week with full in person instruction. I personally think any risks of sending my kids in person is far outweighed by the benefit from getting in person instruction and socialization time with their peers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Parents need to plan so asking for a plan months in advance is reasonable.

MCPS put out a plan months in advance, for parents to plan with, and now DCUM is yelling "BUT DELTA!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Covid is not going away, after delta passes they’ll be some new variant. The vaccines are looking like they’ll be more like flu vaccines, so covid will sometimes spread in schools but hopefully we can minimize it with good ventilation, testing and masks. We need to live with this virus. Kids need in person school not only for academic benefits but for the social benefits too. With virtual school, they lose out on all the socialization that happens during in person school. MCPS absolutely better open 5 days a week with full in person instruction. I personally think any risks of sending my kids in person is far outweighed by the benefit from getting in person instruction and socialization time with their peers.

+1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Covid is not going away, after delta passes they’ll be some new variant. The vaccines are looking like they’ll be more like flu vaccines, so covid will sometimes spread in schools but hopefully we can minimize it with good ventilation, testing and masks. We need to live with this virus. Kids need in person school not only for academic benefits but for the social benefits too. With virtual school, they lose out on all the socialization that happens during in person school. MCPS absolutely better open 5 days a week with full in person instruction. I personally think any risks of sending my kids in person is far outweighed by the benefit from getting in person instruction and socialization time with their peers.

100% agreed

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:MCPS says it will be releasing its plan on Friday.

So: those of you insisting that there would be no plan besides masks have lost the bet.

What’s the over/under on this plan being released before 5 PM Friday?

When did they say that? I don’t remember an announcement.

They didn’t announce it. They replied to a parent email asking about it and she Tweeted about it.

Do you have a link to the tweet? Thanks!

You can find it by searching the term “@MCPS” on Twitter.

Thanks! Looks like this is it: https://twitter.com/bnhowe/status/1424763067364253703

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Many schools remained open last year through out the country. Right now red states with a high case rates are not even questioning the opening of schools for in-person. What is wrong with the DC area patents? Our area has high vaccination rate plus people are in general cautious. Why can’t we just let our kids go to school ? Why do we have to make this so difficult for mcps that they think about backtracking in person school?
Kids have been in camps all summer. In groups of 25. Yes the counselors were vaccinated and the kids remained safe. We have to try to give our kids a normal school year .. as normal as possible. Stop the hysteria and fear mongering.

I think we all want the same thing. We all want the schools to open! Here’s the difference. Those of us who want a plan and/or want some safety mitigation think if we make schools safer and create thoughtful contingency plans, then schools will actually have a better chance of staying open because transmission will be reduced and mitigated. Others of you just want to open no matter what and think if we plan too much or pay too much attention to safety that somehow this will get in the way of opening. I personally see this POV as irresponsible and lacking in care for our students, school staff and community at large. Communicating protocols in an unprecedented time =/= backtracking in person school!

I don't disagree with the need for a plan, but you are SO condescending that I doubt whatever plan they have would satisfy you. If you are purporting to speak for the "plan" proponents, I'll take my chances with no plan.

Because, yes, putting out a plan months in advance gives people like you the chance to pick it apart and throw a fit when it's not exponentially more restrictive than the CDC or whatever.

MCPS is not following CDC recommendations outside of masking.

I was referring to last school year, when Dr. Gayles mysteriously recommending guidelines that were more restrictive than freaking CHOP, with *zero* justification, and a bunch of us had to fight tooth and nail to get them to change, against the very loud voices of many parents who thought more restrictive than CHOP was better. Again, with no justification.

Dr. Gayles was right. Why don't you go back to your private school board as I don't see why you need to have an opinion on MCPS except to justify privates being open?

My kids attend MCPS, not private.

And, no, Dr. Gayles was not right. He never provided any evidence for his metrics, which should be professionally embarrassing to someone as smart as him.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Parents need to plan so asking for a plan months in advance is reasonable.

MCPS put out a plan months in advance, for parents to plan with, and now DCUM is yelling "BUT DELTA!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

So my kids have the Delta right now. Its like a bad flu. I’m sure some parents would say, it’s fine, they’ll recover, we want in person no matter what. Others would say that is too much of a risk. I want the option of virtual. I know MCPS has the option for virtual only but that was before we knew about breakthrough cases and the uptick in pediatric cases. I, for one, would like to have a virtual option open to me again. Before you all freak out, I’m not saying it should be all virtual but the hybrid option worked before so maybe we could do that again.