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

[Anonymous]

I have had three kids in school most of last academic year. Masking was not a problem.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have had three kids in school most of last academic year. Masking was not a problem.

What I believe PP wants is perfect adherence, not masking in general.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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.

Except parents are deliberately sending them to school sick without warning the teachers or administrators. Just like every other virus. But unlike pink eye - this could be fatal for infected populations.

A parent sent their child to school after a positive Covid-19 test. More than 80 students may have been exposed, officials say

https://www.cnn.com/2021/08/12/us/reno-nevada-school-covid-exposure/index.html

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

Except parents are deliberately sending them to school sick without warning the teachers or administrators. Just like every other virus. But unlike pink eye - this could be fatal for infected populations.

A parent sent their child to school after a positive Covid-19 test. More than 80 students may have been exposed, officials say

https://www.cnn.com/2021/08/12/us/reno-nevada-school-covid-exposure/index.html

Flu can also be fatal for infected populations. But it's usually not. Overwhelmingly, the people who will die from this have chosen to be unvaccinated. How much longer do we let them hold hostage the education of their kids and others? The rationale of lockdowns was never preventing kids from getting dying, because that's incredibly rare, it was slowing the spread to save adults. That is no longer relevant.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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.

You realize the people are thought to be contagious before they are symptomatic?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have had three kids in school most of last academic year. Masking was not a problem.

What I believe PP wants is perfect adherence, not masking in general.

I am one of the PPs and I don’t want perfect adherence. But I’ve worked in enough schools to see how well rules are followed. And I don’t know how a parent would know if masking adherence was good. You can’t go in the school building.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

You realize the people are thought to be contagious before they are symptomatic?

You realize I don't think that preventing infections is worth keeping kids who feel well out of school at this point? Kids who feel sick should stay home to recover and because it's unpleasant to be in school when you're not well.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

You realize the people are thought to be contagious before they are symptomatic?

You realize I don't think that preventing infections is worth keeping kids who feel well out of school at this point? Kids who feel sick should stay home to recover and because it's unpleasant to be in school when you're not well.

So you think a kid who feels okayish should just go to school, infect others, and then some if those kids have to stay home? Nice.

There is a reason kids are suppose to stay home a full 24 hours after the end of fever, diarrhea, etc. Generally, society expects others to not willfully spread highly-contagious diseases.

Finally, there are not all that many asymptomatic covid positives — usually “asymptomatic” means pre-symptomatic.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

You realize the people are thought to be contagious before they are symptomatic?

You realize I don't think that preventing infections is worth keeping kids who feel well out of school at this point? Kids who feel sick should stay home to recover and because it's unpleasant to be in school when you're not well.

So you think a kid who feels okayish should just go to school, infect others, and then some if those kids have to stay home? Nice.

There is a reason kids are suppose to stay home a full 24 hours after the end of fever, diarrhea, etc. Generally, society expects others to not willfully spread highly-contagious diseases.

Finally, there are not all that many asymptomatic covid positives — usually “asymptomatic” means pre-symptomatic.

Your last sentence is completely wrong for kids. I work in a pediatric ED and fully 50% of our positives are incidents findings in kids there for unrelated reasons (we test everyone who might be admitted). I would guess that the asymptomatic rate in children is around 50%.

[Anonymous]

Sorry, should say *incidental findings.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

You realize the people are thought to be contagious before they are symptomatic?

You realize I don't think that preventing infections is worth keeping kids who feel well out of school at this point? Kids who feel sick should stay home to recover and because it's unpleasant to be in school when you're not well.

So you think a kid who feels okayish should just go to school, infect others, and then some if those kids have to stay home? Nice.

There is a reason kids are suppose to stay home a full 24 hours after the end of fever, diarrhea, etc. Generally, society expects others to not willfully spread highly-contagious diseases.

Finally, there are not all that many asymptomatic covid positives — usually “asymptomatic” means pre-symptomatic.

I'm not advocating for sending kids who you think are actively infectious to school. But between parents who do that vs. parents who advocate for a set of rules which will keep my kids out of school for significant amounts of time in order to reduce the likelihood of them contracting a virus which is extraordinary unlikely to harm either them or me, the second group is a lot more dangerous.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

agree!

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.

You realize the people are thought to be contagious before they are symptomatic?

You realize I don't think that preventing infections is worth keeping kids who feel well out of school at this point? Kids who feel sick should stay home to recover and because it's unpleasant to be in school when you're not well.

So you think a kid who feels okayish should just go to school, infect others, and then some if those kids have to stay home? Nice.

There is a reason kids are suppose to stay home a full 24 hours after the end of fever, diarrhea, etc. Generally, society expects others to not willfully spread highly-contagious diseases.

Finally, there are not all that many asymptomatic covid positives — usually “asymptomatic” means pre-symptomatic.

I'm not advocating for sending kids who you think are actively infectious to school. But between parents who do that vs. parents who advocate for a set of rules which will keep my kids out of school for significant amounts of time in order to reduce the likelihood of them contracting a virus which is extraordinary unlikely to harm either them or me, the second group is a lot more dangerous.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

You realize the people are thought to be contagious before they are symptomatic?

You realize I don't think that preventing infections is worth keeping kids who feel well out of school at this point? Kids who feel sick should stay home to recover and because it's unpleasant to be in school when you're not well.

So you think a kid who feels okayish should just go to school, infect others, and then some if those kids have to stay home? Nice.

There is a reason kids are suppose to stay home a full 24 hours after the end of fever, diarrhea, etc. Generally, society expects others to not willfully spread highly-contagious diseases.

Finally, there are not all that many asymptomatic covid positives — usually “asymptomatic” means pre-symptomatic.

I'm not advocating for sending kids who you think are actively infectious to school. But between parents who do that vs. parents who advocate for a set of rules which will keep my kids out of school for significant amounts of time in order to reduce the likelihood of them contracting a virus which is extraordinary unlikely to harm either them or me, the second group is a lot more dangerous.

+1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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.

I’m referring to the kids who walk in the building wearing a mask, get to class, take it off, then refuse to wear it at all, and refuse to socially distance. There were multiple at my school last year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

Except parents are deliberately sending them to school sick without warning the teachers or administrators. Just like every other virus. But unlike pink eye - this could be fatal for infected populations.

A parent sent their child to school after a positive Covid-19 test. More than 80 students may have been exposed, officials say

https://www.cnn.com/2021/08/12/us/reno-nevada-school-covid-exposure/index.html

Somewhere it was posted that DC Health gets all results and would notify a school so this is somewhat unlikely to happen here, assuming they got a test. But parents with no childcare options who have to go to work will definitely send a sick kid whether it’s cold, flu, or covid.