How to push back against people who want to close schools AGAIN

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The plan to reopen schools is foolish and it will collapse one outbreak, one ICU admission, one death at a time.

So you want schools to be virtual?

And, you know how many children in DC have died of Covid? Zero.

Histrionic.

Zero kids have died because DC was very safe in how they did things. DC will get hit with covid like every where else.

Yep. It’s coming like a freight train.

If they're going to do it again then Congress/Biden need to step in with Covid Relief for childcare. It expires in two weeks - just as we're hitting 200,000 cases a day and schools are going to shut down again.

So childcare is ok but school is not? I see we’ve taken a time machine back to last year where people were cool with kids on laptops crammed into karate studios ie virtual learning hubs but not classrooms with teachers. Nice try. School is back in session this year. Thank god.

+1000

Do those of you who are certain schools are shutting down again know that many of us are back in person at work, have depleted savings already to pay for a year of childcare, and can no longer count on the good will of employers or economic stimulus to help make this work? What do you want me to do? Quit my job, default on my mortgage, so that schools can be closed while rich people pay for private care and tutoring for their kids?

It’s too late, sorry. Kids have to be in school. This stupid system, which requires all parents to work full time in order to afford to even have children, demands it. Yeah, there’s gonna be cases in school snd yes, it’s going to suck. Welcome to 2021.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The plan to reopen schools is foolish and it will collapse one outbreak, one ICU admission, one death at a time.

So you want schools to be virtual?

And, you know how many children in DC have died of Covid? Zero.

Histrionic.

Zero kids have died because DC was very safe in how they did things. DC will get hit with covid like every where else.

Yep. It’s coming like a freight train.

If they're going to do it again then Congress/Biden need to step in with Covid Relief for childcare. It expires in two weeks - just as we're hitting 200,000 cases a day and schools are going to shut down again.

So childcare is ok but school is not? I see we’ve taken a time machine back to last year where people were cool with kids on laptops crammed into karate studios ie virtual learning hubs but not classrooms with teachers. Nice try. School is back in session this year. Thank god.

+1000

Do those of you who are certain schools are shutting down again know that many of us are back in person at work, have depleted savings already to pay for a year of childcare, and can no longer count on the good will of employers or economic stimulus to help make this work? What do you want me to do? Quit my job, default on my mortgage, so that schools can be closed while rich people pay for private care and tutoring for their kids?

It’s too late, sorry. Kids have to be in school. This stupid system, which requires all parents to work full time in order to afford to even have children, demands it. Yeah, there’s gonna be cases in school snd yes, it’s going to suck. Welcome to 2021.

+1

[Anonymous]

OP, in addition to pushing for a vaccination drive at your school, another thing you can do is organize parents at your school around opting in to asymptomatic testing. Make the case for why everyone should opt in, help folks with the form, etc. The more people who participate in testing, the better off we will all be.

(This will be more effective than trying to change the testing plan that is in place or complaining that it is insufficient.)

[Anonymous]

I haven't read this entire thread but I get the OP's feelings. I'm a parent who honestly would be fine if we moved to virtual school. My kid did relatively fine last year and we count ourselves lucky. I am pretty risk averse when it comes to my kid potentially dying, as I'd imagine most everyone on here is. But here's the thing, how every community handles this outbreak differs. We are not in the same situation as GA, FL, TX etc. It is very important for all the children in this city to have in-person school. And the risk of infection in this city is not even close to what some of the posters on this thread are suggesting.

I think some of you are falling into a negativity bias trap where you only see the horrifying news and have convinced yourself it will happen here. You also appear to be ignoring all the places that have higher community spread than DC, lower mask adherence than DC, lower vaccination rates than DC, and are still able to keep schools open.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:To the OP: Support a vax drive for parents at your school, and if your school has kids 12+ then support a vax drive at the school for them. I believe that schools can get grants to fund one of the mobile vax sites.

Maybe that will help allay some parents' fears. (I doubt it but I can dream.)

I think you should also write to your admin and say you very strongly support IPL, basically saying what you said already here.

Op here— thanks. Im taking notes of the good constructive recommendations and will follow through.

I’d also demand answers about how masking will be enforced. I am certain in some schools it can’t be and won’t be. The behavior problems normally are too much to be handled. In the spring kids at my school flat out ignored masking and distancing. We can’t suspend kids for not masking, they are the same kids who won’t show up to online learning.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP, in addition to pushing for a vaccination drive at your school, another thing you can do is organize parents at your school around opting in to asymptomatic testing. Make the case for why everyone should opt in, help folks with the form, etc. The more people who participate in testing, the better off we will all be.

(This will be more effective than trying to change the testing plan that is in place or complaining that it is insufficient.)

Not sure more testing will help more than it hurts. Most positives will be false (statistically if overall prevalence is lower than the specificity of the test), or they will pick up asymptomatic cases that may not have spread. Sure, in some instances they will prevent transmission, but they will also cause a lot of unnecessary quarantines.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, in addition to pushing for a vaccination drive at your school, another thing you can do is organize parents at your school around opting in to asymptomatic testing. Make the case for why everyone should opt in, help folks with the form, etc. The more people who participate in testing, the better off we will all be.

(This will be more effective than trying to change the testing plan that is in place or complaining that it is insufficient.)

Not sure more testing will help more than it hurts. Most positives will be false (statistically if overall prevalence is lower than the specificity of the test), or they will pick up asymptomatic cases that may not have spread. Sure, in some instances they will prevent transmission, but they will also cause a lot of unnecessary quarantines.

Exactly! Our school (not DCPS) is planning to do pooled testing on asymptomatic kids. I think it’s crazy since we don’t even know whether they even transmit! It’s going to cause so many false alarms and hand wringing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, in addition to pushing for a vaccination drive at your school, another thing you can do is organize parents at your school around opting in to asymptomatic testing. Make the case for why everyone should opt in, help folks with the form, etc. The more people who participate in testing, the better off we will all be.

(This will be more effective than trying to change the testing plan that is in place or complaining that it is insufficient.)

Not sure more testing will help more than it hurts. Most positives will be false (statistically if overall prevalence is lower than the specificity of the test), or they will pick up asymptomatic cases that may not have spread. Sure, in some instances they will prevent transmission, but they will also cause a lot of unnecessary quarantines.

Exactly! Our school (not DCPS) is planning to do pooled testing on asymptomatic kids. I think it’s crazy since we don’t even know whether they even transmit! It’s going to cause so many false alarms and hand wringing.

We do know that asymptomatic people can transmit virus!

And the most prevalent symptom with Delta is a headache. How are you going to check elementary students for a headache at the door?!

[Anonymous]

I don't think the worry is parents; it seems to me like it's DCPS. I posted on another thread that Wilson just changed the in-person orientation for Sophomores due to "covid concerns" to be split into two groups; previously it was a longer orientation for the entire class. I find it very worrying, since this is a group that is currently eligible for the vaccine. If it's too risky to have all sophomores on campus for the morning, masked, what are they going to do a week later when 75% more kids are on campus? Why are they doing this and what does it mean?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, in addition to pushing for a vaccination drive at your school, another thing you can do is organize parents at your school around opting in to asymptomatic testing. Make the case for why everyone should opt in, help folks with the form, etc. The more people who participate in testing, the better off we will all be.

(This will be more effective than trying to change the testing plan that is in place or complaining that it is insufficient.)

Not sure more testing will help more than it hurts. Most positives will be false (statistically if overall prevalence is lower than the specificity of the test), or they will pick up asymptomatic cases that may not have spread. Sure, in some instances they will prevent transmission, but they will also cause a lot of unnecessary quarantines.

Exactly! Our school (not DCPS) is planning to do pooled testing on asymptomatic kids. I think it’s crazy since we don’t even know whether they even transmit! It’s going to cause so many false alarms and hand wringing.

Agree. More testing is NOT in the interest of those who want schools open. It’s in the interest of those who want maximum risk avoidance, don’t mind frequent quarantines, and are perhaps hoping for schools to switch to virtual instruction due to asymptomatic cases.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, in addition to pushing for a vaccination drive at your school, another thing you can do is organize parents at your school around opting in to asymptomatic testing. Make the case for why everyone should opt in, help folks with the form, etc. The more people who participate in testing, the better off we will all be.

(This will be more effective than trying to change the testing plan that is in place or complaining that it is insufficient.)

Not sure more testing will help more than it hurts. Most positives will be false (statistically if overall prevalence is lower than the specificity of the test), or they will pick up asymptomatic cases that may not have spread. Sure, in some instances they will prevent transmission, but they will also cause a lot of unnecessary quarantines.

Exactly! Our school (not DCPS) is planning to do pooled testing on asymptomatic kids. I think it’s crazy since we don’t even know whether they even transmit! It’s going to cause so many false alarms and hand wringing.

Agree. More testing is NOT in the interest of those who want schools open. It’s in the interest of those who want maximum risk avoidance, don’t mind frequent quarantines, and are perhaps hoping for schools to switch to virtual instruction due to asymptomatic cases.

So we don’t test, have COVID running rampant through classrooms. Kids become symptomatic and then we quarantine anyway. Except this time it’s the whole class instead of just a couple of kids. Smart move.

[Anonymous]

Testing is for sure a net good as long as the school also follows the CDC recommendations for defining and quarantining close contacts (ie, not quarantining a whole class or cohort for a positive test).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, in addition to pushing for a vaccination drive at your school, another thing you can do is organize parents at your school around opting in to asymptomatic testing. Make the case for why everyone should opt in, help folks with the form, etc. The more people who participate in testing, the better off we will all be.

(This will be more effective than trying to change the testing plan that is in place or complaining that it is insufficient.)

Not sure more testing will help more than it hurts. Most positives will be false (statistically if overall prevalence is lower than the specificity of the test), or they will pick up asymptomatic cases that may not have spread. Sure, in some instances they will prevent transmission, but they will also cause a lot of unnecessary quarantines.

Exactly! Our school (not DCPS) is planning to do pooled testing on asymptomatic kids. I think it’s crazy since we don’t even know whether they even transmit! It’s going to cause so many false alarms and hand wringing.

Agree. More testing is NOT in the interest of those who want schools open. It’s in the interest of those who want maximum risk avoidance, don’t mind frequent quarantines, and are perhaps hoping for schools to switch to virtual instruction due to asymptomatic cases.

So we don’t test, have COVID running rampant through classrooms. Kids become symptomatic and then we quarantine anyway. Except this time it’s the whole class instead of just a couple of kids. Smart move.

Kids who feel sick can stay home. They can come back when they feel better. Just like with every other virus.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:To the OP: Support a vax drive for parents at your school, and if your school has kids 12+ then support a vax drive at the school for them. I believe that schools can get grants to fund one of the mobile vax sites.

Maybe that will help allay some parents' fears. (I doubt it but I can dream.)

I think you should also write to your admin and say you very strongly support IPL, basically saying what you said already here.

Op here— thanks. Im taking notes of the good constructive recommendations and will follow through.

I’d also demand answers about how masking will be enforced. I am certain in some schools it can’t be and won’t be. The behavior problems normally are too much to be handled. In the spring kids at my school flat out ignored masking and distancing. We can’t suspend kids for not masking, they are the same kids who won’t show up to online learning.

+1

People who are under the impression that all kids will wear masks and that anything will happen if they don’t hav never spent significant time in a DCPS school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:To the OP: Support a vax drive for parents at your school, and if your school has kids 12+ then support a vax drive at the school for them. I believe that schools can get grants to fund one of the mobile vax sites.

Maybe that will help allay some parents' fears. (I doubt it but I can dream.)

I think you should also write to your admin and say you very strongly support IPL, basically saying what you said already here.

Op here— thanks. Im taking notes of the good constructive recommendations and will follow through.

I’d also demand answers about how masking will be enforced. I am certain in some schools it can’t be and won’t be. The behavior problems normally are too much to be handled. In the spring kids at my school flat out ignored masking and distancing. We can’t suspend kids for not masking, they are the same kids who won’t show up to online learning.

+1

People who are under the impression that all kids will wear masks and that anything will happen if they don’t hav never spent significant time in a DCPS school.

I mean, you aren't going to have perfect adherence to masking. There's no way to enforce this. We can hope for general adherence but perfection doesn't happen even with adults.