MCPS covid cases

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Listen, MCPS is in he'll right now. You parents need to ask your kids specific details like what classroom they were in today. I am a Para at a school in Gaithersburg. We had up to 12 teachers out at one point, 5 classes quarantined, triage and nurse rooms were full, kids throwing up or really sick everywhere at school, most without proper masks, a lot of classes were combined with other classes because there were no teacher or sub that day. Two quarantined classes got quarantined because of combining classes and covid cases popped up. The teachers are mainly out with sick or quarantined kids. They have kids too. Tensions are VERY high in schools. Everyone is on edge and burnt out. Behavior from kids is appalling: fights, getting cursed out, kids running out of schools and threats. Some kids have tantrums and scream for hours on end with staff standing in a circle to contain them. They are not Kinder or 1st either. Parents have absolutely no idea what goes on in these schools. The W schools are not too much better either. Virtual might be better.

No. Full stop.

So you think the chaos the poster described above is better for our kids? It will only get worse. The root of the problem is parents not taking any responsibility for trying to keep schools open by being safe with their families, wearing masks and taking measures to stay well, keeping kids hime when sick and taking the step to get them tested to make sure they are not asymptomatic. Schools cannot do that too. Do you really think your child will do great things in a chaotic environment like that describes above? But, let's keep them open and dysfunctional so that you and others that have no ethics or morals can get what you want.

I agree with you that in person but chaotic is not great, but disagree that the burden is totally on families - school system should have purchased and sent home rapid tests over Xmas (Boston just did this) and have more rapid tests available for pick up by families any time, plus they should test every child on entry back to school. If the school system organized saliva based pool testing by classroom daily, school would be a lot safer place.

Same with mask distribution - schools should be providing n-95s weekly to every student and sending more home for families.

It’s our own short-sightedness and scrooge mentality that prevents us from organizing society to pay for these things because of people’s preconceptions about what is capitalism and what is communism.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A much milder variant is taking over. Omicron is the best Xmas gift. Hooray!

A gift would be people stop spreading it.

We’ve been down that path before, but things weren’t any better when the case numbers were lower. I’m very truly thrilled that Omicron is both so contagious and vaccine-evading. All the people that have spent the last two years of their lives in fear will finally be forced to to face their fears. With the vaccines providing good protection from severe illness, the county with be fine, and enough people will be convinced that it is time to move on after the Omicron wave peaks.

It’s not just about severe illness. Most pro0le are living as normal. Be real. That’s why we are having the spread.

People with kids- young kids in particular, are not living normal. People with kids with special needs even more so.

And take old people- The people most at risk of severe illness have the fewest restrictions!

Most people, not all, which is what most is, are fully back to normal. Be real.

Perhaps, but not most people with kids.

But old people that are actually high risk for covid? And who are filling up hospitals? Yep, most of them are back to normal.

As you seem to understand, closing schools isn't going to help.

Everyone is high risk to get covid. Yes, it will help stop the spread.

If you are right, then why be fearful of testing? Testing will show schools are safe.

Are you still in denial about the future of covid? It can’t be eradicated. Everyone will be exposed. And that’s fine- with vaccinations, it is no more dangerous than the flu.

And even if it wasn’t fine, it is reality. No level of lockdown could change that reality.

I’m not fearful of testing. I think it is a waste. What would it accomplish? We know there are cases in schools. We know many are contracted outside of school, but testing doesn’t show that. We know kids aren’t high risk, but testing doesn’t reflect that. And we know that high-risk individuals are out doing high-risk activities- individuals that aren’t students and activities that aren’t school.

If you’re really trying to manage covid risks, you’d be focusing on the elderly, and the very small number of unvaccinated adults in the county. They’re the ones in hospitals, not kids.

You sound in denial. We cannot go back to normal till it is under control. Kids have died of Covid. We need mandatory testing to stop school outbreaks. Kids don’t live alone. They bring it back to their families. How do you not get that. I don’t want to be sick. If you do, good on you.

Under control? Do you understand how new highly infectious viruses get “under control”? Through acquired immunity. There are two ways to do that: vaccination and infection. Vaccination is working to reduce severity, but won’t eliminate cases. Whatever additional immunity is possible will come from infections. You don’t have to like it, but at some point you’re going to have to accept it.

And did you say many people are living normally? Including many high-risk individuals. How many grandparents do you think saw their grandkids today? How many fat people 55 and over are going to bars, restaurants, parties, and other crowded events? Those are the people creating problems, not kids going to school.

I wouldn't know as we didn't see family. You are truly obnoxious.

Those same people are the ones sending their kids ot school sick and passing it on to the rest of us. I shouldn't have to get covid from my child because you don't care and about the harm you do to others.

These vaccinations are a temporary fix and they are no longer a fix. With this many, there are bound to be more mutations. So, we have people like you to thank.

Your poor kids are stuck in virtual because they know your anxiety is through the roof.

What's your grand plan for avoiding covid for the rest of your life?

Being cautious is good judgement. You should try having some. Maybe you should get your anxiety/depression treated for your family/home life struggles. Your homelife must be so difficult if you have to escape and not enjoy time together as a family.

I’m serious— what’s your longer-term plan? You might be staying home with your kids now, but presumably that will end at some point, won’t it? COVID will still be around. The vaccines can’t get that much better, and will likely never provide durable protection against infection. So what’s your plan?

Why do you care? I truly hope the vaccine will get better as reality is after two doses there is zero point in taking more if they only last 10 weeks and not effective with the new variants.

What is your agenda? What are you teaching your kids about community responsibility during a health pandemic? How long can you go on denying the seriousness of covid? What will it take to get you to take it seriously? Watching one of your family members getting really sick? Dying?

Why do I care? Because people like you trying to hurt my kids by closing schools, apparently motivated by a futile effort to avoid being exposed to covid combined with a fear of getting a booster.

At least, I assume you haven’t gotten a booster based on your comment about two doses. And who is the one not talking covid seriously and accepting personal responsibility?

You sound like an awful person. What the PP wrote is completely reasonable and you'd be well served by taking it to heart.

You’re the people trying to close schools, and halt my kid’s IEP’s supports and services after already having lost them for 18 months, all because
people like the earlier poster are scared to get boosted, unwilling to take steps to protect themselves, and that have wildly unrealistic expectations for the trajectory of covid.

Getting boosted and wearing actual PPE if you're high risk is completely reasonable. Closing schools is not.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Listen, MCPS is in he'll right now. You parents need to ask your kids specific details like what classroom they were in today. I am a Para at a school in Gaithersburg. We had up to 12 teachers out at one point, 5 classes quarantined, triage and nurse rooms were full, kids throwing up or really sick everywhere at school, most without proper masks, a lot of classes were combined with other classes because there were no teacher or sub that day. Two quarantined classes got quarantined because of combining classes and covid cases popped up. The teachers are mainly out with sick or quarantined kids. They have kids too. Tensions are VERY high in schools. Everyone is on edge and burnt out. Behavior from kids is appalling: fights, getting cursed out, kids running out of schools and threats. Some kids have tantrums and scream for hours on end with staff standing in a circle to contain them. They are not Kinder or 1st either. Parents have absolutely no idea what goes on in these schools. The W schools are not too much better either. Virtual might be better.

No. Full stop.

So you think the chaos the poster described above is better for our kids? It will only get worse. The root of the problem is parents not taking any responsibility for trying to keep schools open by being safe with their families, wearing masks and taking measures to stay well, keeping kids hime when sick and taking the step to get them tested to make sure they are not asymptomatic. Schools cannot do that too. Do you really think your child will do great things in a chaotic environment like that describes above? But, let's keep them open and dysfunctional so that you and others that have no ethics or morals can get what you want.

I agree with you that in person but chaotic is not great, but disagree that the burden is totally on families - school system should have purchased and sent home rapid tests over Xmas (Boston just did this) and have more rapid tests available for pick up by families any time, plus they should test every child on entry back to school. If the school system organized saliva based pool testing by classroom daily, school would be a lot safer place.

Same with mask distribution - schools should be providing n-95s weekly to every student and sending more home for families.

It’s our own short-sightedness and scrooge mentality that prevents us from organizing society to pay for these things because of people’s preconceptions about what is capitalism and what is communism.

Cases are too high for pooled testing to work. There would be far too many positive tests, so they’d need many of the pools through individual PCRs to figure out which student needs to be sent home.

Rapid antigen testing has always been the real answer. Implement test-to-stay in classrooms with cases, including with vaccinated students. Stop using PCRs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Listen, MCPS is in he'll right now. You parents need to ask your kids specific details like what classroom they were in today. I am a Para at a school in Gaithersburg. We had up to 12 teachers out at one point, 5 classes quarantined, triage and nurse rooms were full, kids throwing up or really sick everywhere at school, most without proper masks, a lot of classes were combined with other classes because there were no teacher or sub that day. Two quarantined classes got quarantined because of combining classes and covid cases popped up. The teachers are mainly out with sick or quarantined kids. They have kids too. Tensions are VERY high in schools. Everyone is on edge and burnt out. Behavior from kids is appalling: fights, getting cursed out, kids running out of schools and threats. Some kids have tantrums and scream for hours on end with staff standing in a circle to contain them. They are not Kinder or 1st either. Parents have absolutely no idea what goes on in these schools. The W schools are not too much better either. Virtual might be better.

No. Full stop.

So you think the chaos the poster described above is better for our kids? It will only get worse. The root of the problem is parents not taking any responsibility for trying to keep schools open by being safe with their families, wearing masks and taking measures to stay well, keeping kids hime when sick and taking the step to get them tested to make sure they are not asymptomatic. Schools cannot do that too. Do you really think your child will do great things in a chaotic environment like that describes above? But, let's keep them open and dysfunctional so that you and others that have no ethics or morals can get what you want.

I agree with you that in person but chaotic is not great, but disagree that the burden is totally on families - school system should have purchased and sent home rapid tests over Xmas (Boston just did this) and have more rapid tests available for pick up by families any time, plus they should test every child on entry back to school. If the school system organized saliva based pool testing by classroom daily, school would be a lot safer place.

Same with mask distribution - schools should be providing n-95s weekly to every student and sending more home for families.

It’s our own short-sightedness and scrooge mentality that prevents us from organizing society to pay for these things because of people’s preconceptions about what is capitalism and what is communism.

Cases are too high for pooled testing to work. There would be far too many positive tests, so they’d need many of the pools through individual PCRs to figure out which student needs to be sent home.

Rapid antigen testing has always been the real answer. Implement test-to-stay in classrooms with cases, including with vaccinated students. Stop using PCRs.

I could not agree with this more. The focus has got to shift to keeping as many kids in school as possible, rather than arbitrarily quarantining “close contacts” which vary from school to school. It’s a public policy issue at this point. It’s more important to keep kids, particularly those whose needs can’t be me virtually, in school. There are vaccines available to all school age kids and adults now. Either avail yourself of them or don’t.

Newsflash - large quarantines and school closures aren’t stemming the tide of covid at this point anyway. The greater risk is to the kids education and social emotional well-being by not being in school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Listen, MCPS is in he'll right now. You parents need to ask your kids specific details like what classroom they were in today. I am a Para at a school in Gaithersburg. We had up to 12 teachers out at one point, 5 classes quarantined, triage and nurse rooms were full, kids throwing up or really sick everywhere at school, most without proper masks, a lot of classes were combined with other classes because there were no teacher or sub that day. Two quarantined classes got quarantined because of combining classes and covid cases popped up. The teachers are mainly out with sick or quarantined kids. They have kids too. Tensions are VERY high in schools. Everyone is on edge and burnt out. Behavior from kids is appalling: fights, getting cursed out, kids running out of schools and threats. Some kids have tantrums and scream for hours on end with staff standing in a circle to contain them. They are not Kinder or 1st either. Parents have absolutely no idea what goes on in these schools. The W schools are not too much better either. Virtual might be better.

No. Full stop.

So you think the chaos the poster described above is better for our kids? It will only get worse. The root of the problem is parents not taking any responsibility for trying to keep schools open by being safe with their families, wearing masks and taking measures to stay well, keeping kids hime when sick and taking the step to get them tested to make sure they are not asymptomatic. Schools cannot do that too. Do you really think your child will do great things in a chaotic environment like that describes above? But, let's keep them open and dysfunctional so that you and others that have no ethics or morals can get what you want.

I agree with you that in person but chaotic is not great, but disagree that the burden is totally on families - school system should have purchased and sent home rapid tests over Xmas (Boston just did this) and have more rapid tests available for pick up by families any time, plus they should test every child on entry back to school. If the school system organized saliva based pool testing by classroom daily, school would be a lot safer place.

Same with mask distribution - schools should be providing n-95s weekly to every student and sending more home for families.

It’s our own short-sightedness and scrooge mentality that prevents us from organizing society to pay for these things because of people’s preconceptions about what is capitalism and what is communism.

Cases are too high for pooled testing to work. There would be far too many positive tests, so they’d need many of the pools through individual PCRs to figure out which student needs to be sent home.

Rapid antigen testing has always been the real answer. Implement test-to-stay in classrooms with cases, including with vaccinated students. Stop using PCRs.

I could not agree with this more. The focus has got to shift to keeping as many kids in school as possible, rather than arbitrarily quarantining “close contacts” which vary from school to school. It’s a public policy issue at this point. It’s more important to keep kids, particularly those whose needs can’t be me virtually, in school. There are vaccines available to all school age kids and adults now. Either avail yourself of them or don’t.

Newsflash - large quarantines and school closures aren’t stemming the tide of covid at this point anyway. The greater risk is to the kids education and social emotional well-being by not being in school.

+100

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Listen, MCPS is in he'll right now. You parents need to ask your kids specific details like what classroom they were in today. I am a Para at a school in Gaithersburg. We had up to 12 teachers out at one point, 5 classes quarantined, triage and nurse rooms were full, kids throwing up or really sick everywhere at school, most without proper masks, a lot of classes were combined with other classes because there were no teacher or sub that day. Two quarantined classes got quarantined because of combining classes and covid cases popped up. The teachers are mainly out with sick or quarantined kids. They have kids too. Tensions are VERY high in schools. Everyone is on edge and burnt out. Behavior from kids is appalling: fights, getting cursed out, kids running out of schools and threats. Some kids have tantrums and scream for hours on end with staff standing in a circle to contain them. They are not Kinder or 1st either. Parents have absolutely no idea what goes on in these schools. The W schools are not too much better either. Virtual might be better.

No. Full stop.

So you think the chaos the poster described above is better for our kids? It will only get worse. The root of the problem is parents not taking any responsibility for trying to keep schools open by being safe with their families, wearing masks and taking measures to stay well, keeping kids hime when sick and taking the step to get them tested to make sure they are not asymptomatic. Schools cannot do that too. Do you really think your child will do great things in a chaotic environment like that describes above? But, let's keep them open and dysfunctional so that you and others that have no ethics or morals can get what you want.

I agree with you that in person but chaotic is not great, but disagree that the burden is totally on families - school system should have purchased and sent home rapid tests over Xmas (Boston just did this) and have more rapid tests available for pick up by families any time, plus they should test every child on entry back to school. If the school system organized saliva based pool testing by classroom daily, school would be a lot safer place.

Same with mask distribution - schools should be providing n-95s weekly to every student and sending more home for families.

It’s our own short-sightedness and scrooge mentality that prevents us from organizing society to pay for these things because of people’s preconceptions about what is capitalism and what is communism.

Cases are too high for pooled testing to work. There would be far too many positive tests, so they’d need many of the pools through individual PCRs to figure out which student needs to be sent home.

Rapid antigen testing has always been the real answer. Implement test-to-stay in classrooms with cases, including with vaccinated students. Stop using PCRs.

I could not agree with this more. The focus has got to shift to keeping as many kids in school as possible, rather than arbitrarily quarantining “close contacts” which vary from school to school. It’s a public policy issue at this point. It’s more important to keep kids, particularly those whose needs can’t be me virtually, in school. There are vaccines available to all school age kids and adults now. Either avail yourself of them or don’t.

Newsflash - large quarantines and school closures aren’t stemming the tide of covid at this point anyway. The greater risk is to the kids education and social emotional well-being by not being in school.

+100

Put 'em school. Go ahead. No problem if there aren't enough adults to drive the buses, serve lunch or teach. At least they are in school and their mental health will be stellar!! It's all about the building, not the people.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Listen, MCPS is in he'll right now. You parents need to ask your kids specific details like what classroom they were in today. I am a Para at a school in Gaithersburg. We had up to 12 teachers out at one point, 5 classes quarantined, triage and nurse rooms were full, kids throwing up or really sick everywhere at school, most without proper masks, a lot of classes were combined with other classes because there were no teacher or sub that day. Two quarantined classes got quarantined because of combining classes and covid cases popped up. The teachers are mainly out with sick or quarantined kids. They have kids too. Tensions are VERY high in schools. Everyone is on edge and burnt out. Behavior from kids is appalling: fights, getting cursed out, kids running out of schools and threats. Some kids have tantrums and scream for hours on end with staff standing in a circle to contain them. They are not Kinder or 1st either. Parents have absolutely no idea what goes on in these schools. The W schools are not too much better either. Virtual might be better.

No. Full stop.

So you think the chaos the poster described above is better for our kids? It will only get worse. The root of the problem is parents not taking any responsibility for trying to keep schools open by being safe with their families, wearing masks and taking measures to stay well, keeping kids hime when sick and taking the step to get them tested to make sure they are not asymptomatic. Schools cannot do that too. Do you really think your child will do great things in a chaotic environment like that describes above? But, let's keep them open and dysfunctional so that you and others that have no ethics or morals can get what you want.

I agree with you that in person but chaotic is not great, but disagree that the burden is totally on families - school system should have purchased and sent home rapid tests over Xmas (Boston just did this) and have more rapid tests available for pick up by families any time, plus they should test every child on entry back to school. If the school system organized saliva based pool testing by classroom daily, school would be a lot safer place.

Same with mask distribution - schools should be providing n-95s weekly to every student and sending more home for families.

It’s our own short-sightedness and scrooge mentality that prevents us from organizing society to pay for these things because of people’s preconceptions about what is capitalism and what is communism.

Cases are too high for pooled testing to work. There would be far too many positive tests, so they’d need many of the pools through individual PCRs to figure out which student needs to be sent home.

Rapid antigen testing has always been the real answer. Implement test-to-stay in classrooms with cases, including with vaccinated students. Stop using PCRs.

I could not agree with this more. The focus has got to shift to keeping as many kids in school as possible, rather than arbitrarily quarantining “close contacts” which vary from school to school. It’s a public policy issue at this point. It’s more important to keep kids, particularly those whose needs can’t be me virtually, in school. There are vaccines available to all school age kids and adults now. Either avail yourself of them or don’t.

Newsflash - large quarantines and school closures aren’t stemming the tide of covid at this point anyway. The greater risk is to the kids education and social emotional well-being by not being in school.

+100

Put 'em school. Go ahead. No problem if there aren't enough adults to drive the buses, serve lunch or teach. At least they are in school and their mental health will be stellar!! It's all about the building, not the people.

You're being deliberately obtuse. Of course it is about the people. That's why in-person is so critical. You can't have meaningful interactions between people- students, teachers, paraeducators, and therapists- with virtual classes.

[Anonymous]

The policies need to change. Anyone who is healthy should be in school. Anyone with symptoms should stay home, return when symptom-free for 24 hours. Eliminate quarantines. Less testing. Vaccination status doesn’t matter.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Listen, MCPS is in he'll right now. You parents need to ask your kids specific details like what classroom they were in today. I am a Para at a school in Gaithersburg. We had up to 12 teachers out at one point, 5 classes quarantined, triage and nurse rooms were full, kids throwing up or really sick everywhere at school, most without proper masks, a lot of classes were combined with other classes because there were no teacher or sub that day. Two quarantined classes got quarantined because of combining classes and covid cases popped up. The teachers are mainly out with sick or quarantined kids. They have kids too. Tensions are VERY high in schools. Everyone is on edge and burnt out. Behavior from kids is appalling: fights, getting cursed out, kids running out of schools and threats. Some kids have tantrums and scream for hours on end with staff standing in a circle to contain them. They are not Kinder or 1st either. Parents have absolutely no idea what goes on in these schools. The W schools are not too much better either. Virtual might be better.

No. Full stop.

So you think the chaos the poster described above is better for our kids? It will only get worse. The root of the problem is parents not taking any responsibility for trying to keep schools open by being safe with their families, wearing masks and taking measures to stay well, keeping kids hime when sick and taking the step to get them tested to make sure they are not asymptomatic. Schools cannot do that too. Do you really think your child will do great things in a chaotic environment like that describes above? But, let's keep them open and dysfunctional so that you and others that have no ethics or morals can get what you want.

I agree with you that in person but chaotic is not great, but disagree that the burden is totally on families - school system should have purchased and sent home rapid tests over Xmas (Boston just did this) and have more rapid tests available for pick up by families any time, plus they should test every child on entry back to school. If the school system organized saliva based pool testing by classroom daily, school would be a lot safer place.

Same with mask distribution - schools should be providing n-95s weekly to every student and sending more home for families.

It’s our own short-sightedness and scrooge mentality that prevents us from organizing society to pay for these things because of people’s preconceptions about what is capitalism and what is communism.

It's absurd to expect schools to do everything, including provide masks. They should provide them to low income families but its not reasonable for them to buy every student an N95 per day.

Same with testing. As a parent, get your kid tested. Rapid tests can cause false positives and negatives. Your plan is a really bad one. The burden should be on the families. They are YOUR kids. Stop expecting others to parent your kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Listen, MCPS is in he'll right now. You parents need to ask your kids specific details like what classroom they were in today. I am a Para at a school in Gaithersburg. We had up to 12 teachers out at one point, 5 classes quarantined, triage and nurse rooms were full, kids throwing up or really sick everywhere at school, most without proper masks, a lot of classes were combined with other classes because there were no teacher or sub that day. Two quarantined classes got quarantined because of combining classes and covid cases popped up. The teachers are mainly out with sick or quarantined kids. They have kids too. Tensions are VERY high in schools. Everyone is on edge and burnt out. Behavior from kids is appalling: fights, getting cursed out, kids running out of schools and threats. Some kids have tantrums and scream for hours on end with staff standing in a circle to contain them. They are not Kinder or 1st either. Parents have absolutely no idea what goes on in these schools. The W schools are not too much better either. Virtual might be better.

No. Full stop.

So you think the chaos the poster described above is better for our kids? It will only get worse. The root of the problem is parents not taking any responsibility for trying to keep schools open by being safe with their families, wearing masks and taking measures to stay well, keeping kids hime when sick and taking the step to get them tested to make sure they are not asymptomatic. Schools cannot do that too. Do you really think your child will do great things in a chaotic environment like that describes above? But, let's keep them open and dysfunctional so that you and others that have no ethics or morals can get what you want.

I agree with you that in person but chaotic is not great, but disagree that the burden is totally on families - school system should have purchased and sent home rapid tests over Xmas (Boston just did this) and have more rapid tests available for pick up by families any time, plus they should test every child on entry back to school. If the school system organized saliva based pool testing by classroom daily, school would be a lot safer place.

Same with mask distribution - schools should be providing n-95s weekly to every student and sending more home for families.

It’s our own short-sightedness and scrooge mentality that prevents us from organizing society to pay for these things because of people’s preconceptions about what is capitalism and what is communism.

Cases are too high for pooled testing to work. There would be far too many positive tests, so they’d need many of the pools through individual PCRs to figure out which student needs to be sent home.

Rapid antigen testing has always been the real answer. Implement test-to-stay in classrooms with cases, including with vaccinated students. Stop using PCRs.

I could not agree with this more. The focus has got to shift to keeping as many kids in school as possible, rather than arbitrarily quarantining “close contacts” which vary from school to school. It’s a public policy issue at this point. It’s more important to keep kids, particularly those whose needs can’t be me virtually, in school. There are vaccines available to all school age kids and adults now. Either avail yourself of them or don’t.

Newsflash - large quarantines and school closures aren’t stemming the tide of covid at this point anyway. The greater risk is to the kids education and social emotional well-being by not being in school.

+100

Put 'em school. Go ahead. No problem if there aren't enough adults to drive the buses, serve lunch or teach. At least they are in school and their mental health will be stellar!! It's all about the building, not the people.

You're being deliberately obtuse. Of course it is about the people. That's why in-person is so critical. You can't have meaningful interactions between people- students, teachers, paraeducators, and therapists- with virtual classes.

You absolutely can have meaningful interactions with people virtually. Many students are still in virtual.

These don't have mental health issues due to covid. These kids had mental health issues long before covid and will have them long after. The mental health is just the talking point for parents who cannot handle being full time parents to their kids. They have them as something is off in their life and their parents need to get them help. Just sending them to in person school isn't the fix and the fix needs to come from the home/parents. School can be an escape, but again, these kids will never find true happiness with neglectful parents who refuse to be part of the solution.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Listen, MCPS is in he'll right now. You parents need to ask your kids specific details like what classroom they were in today. I am a Para at a school in Gaithersburg. We had up to 12 teachers out at one point, 5 classes quarantined, triage and nurse rooms were full, kids throwing up or really sick everywhere at school, most without proper masks, a lot of classes were combined with other classes because there were no teacher or sub that day. Two quarantined classes got quarantined because of combining classes and covid cases popped up. The teachers are mainly out with sick or quarantined kids. They have kids too. Tensions are VERY high in schools. Everyone is on edge and burnt out. Behavior from kids is appalling: fights, getting cursed out, kids running out of schools and threats. Some kids have tantrums and scream for hours on end with staff standing in a circle to contain them. They are not Kinder or 1st either. Parents have absolutely no idea what goes on in these schools. The W schools are not too much better either. Virtual might be better.

No. Full stop.

So you think the chaos the poster described above is better for our kids? It will only get worse. The root of the problem is parents not taking any responsibility for trying to keep schools open by being safe with their families, wearing masks and taking measures to stay well, keeping kids hime when sick and taking the step to get them tested to make sure they are not asymptomatic. Schools cannot do that too. Do you really think your child will do great things in a chaotic environment like that describes above? But, let's keep them open and dysfunctional so that you and others that have no ethics or morals can get what you want.

I agree with you that in person but chaotic is not great, but disagree that the burden is totally on families - school system should have purchased and sent home rapid tests over Xmas (Boston just did this) and have more rapid tests available for pick up by families any time, plus they should test every child on entry back to school. If the school system organized saliva based pool testing by classroom daily, school would be a lot safer place.

Same with mask distribution - schools should be providing n-95s weekly to every student and sending more home for families.

It’s our own short-sightedness and scrooge mentality that prevents us from organizing society to pay for these things because of people’s preconceptions about what is capitalism and what is communism.

Cases are too high for pooled testing to work. There would be far too many positive tests, so they’d need many of the pools through individual PCRs to figure out which student needs to be sent home.

Rapid antigen testing has always been the real answer. Implement test-to-stay in classrooms with cases, including with vaccinated students. Stop using PCRs.

I could not agree with this more. The focus has got to shift to keeping as many kids in school as possible, rather than arbitrarily quarantining “close contacts” which vary from school to school. It’s a public policy issue at this point. It’s more important to keep kids, particularly those whose needs can’t be me virtually, in school. There are vaccines available to all school age kids and adults now. Either avail yourself of them or don’t.

Newsflash - large quarantines and school closures aren’t stemming the tide of covid at this point anyway. The greater risk is to the kids education and social emotional well-being by not being in school.

+100

Put 'em school. Go ahead. No problem if there aren't enough adults to drive the buses, serve lunch or teach. At least they are in school and their mental health will be stellar!! It's all about the building, not the people.

You're being deliberately obtuse. Of course it is about the people. That's why in-person is so critical. You can't have meaningful interactions between people- students, teachers, paraeducators, and therapists- with virtual classes.

You absolutely can have meaningful interactions with people virtually. Many students are still in virtual.

These don't have mental health issues due to covid. These kids had mental health issues long before covid and will have them long after. The mental health is just the talking point for parents who cannot handle being full time parents to their kids. They have them as something is off in their life and their parents need to get them help. Just sending them to in person school isn't the fix and the fix needs to come from the home/parents. School can be an escape, but again, these kids will never find true happiness with neglectful parents who refuse to be part of the solution.

Besides the horrible experience that many of our kids had in virtual last year, let's use a more recent example from a post earlier about VA:

Keep up with what's going on as it impacts my kids. We don't have enough staff, no activities, and don't have many other things a traditional school has. Lower school doesn't have enough teachers to fully staff classes and its a lot of asynchronous teaching and very limited class hours. We strictly got a computer (which all kids get) and a few useless supplies and for some classes a workbook and that's it. The staff are trying very hard but funding/staffing is a huge issue. But, they are doing a great job at making it work with the resources they have and we are very happy in it. We do hope to return in person in the fall but thankful for it this year.

That sure doesn't sound like meaningful interactions between students/peers and staff. And that's with a program specifically intended for virtual, with students/families having planned for virtual. Things would be even worse in regular classes sent home.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Listen, MCPS is in he'll right now. You parents need to ask your kids specific details like what classroom they were in today. I am a Para at a school in Gaithersburg. We had up to 12 teachers out at one point, 5 classes quarantined, triage and nurse rooms were full, kids throwing up or really sick everywhere at school, most without proper masks, a lot of classes were combined with other classes because there were no teacher or sub that day. Two quarantined classes got quarantined because of combining classes and covid cases popped up. The teachers are mainly out with sick or quarantined kids. They have kids too. Tensions are VERY high in schools. Everyone is on edge and burnt out. Behavior from kids is appalling: fights, getting cursed out, kids running out of schools and threats. Some kids have tantrums and scream for hours on end with staff standing in a circle to contain them. They are not Kinder or 1st either. Parents have absolutely no idea what goes on in these schools. The W schools are not too much better either. Virtual might be better.

No. Full stop.

So you think the chaos the poster described above is better for our kids? It will only get worse. The root of the problem is parents not taking any responsibility for trying to keep schools open by being safe with their families, wearing masks and taking measures to stay well, keeping kids hime when sick and taking the step to get them tested to make sure they are not asymptomatic. Schools cannot do that too. Do you really think your child will do great things in a chaotic environment like that describes above? But, let's keep them open and dysfunctional so that you and others that have no ethics or morals can get what you want.

I agree with you that in person but chaotic is not great, but disagree that the burden is totally on families - school system should have purchased and sent home rapid tests over Xmas (Boston just did this) and have more rapid tests available for pick up by families any time, plus they should test every child on entry back to school. If the school system organized saliva based pool testing by classroom daily, school would be a lot safer place.

Same with mask distribution - schools should be providing n-95s weekly to every student and sending more home for families.

It’s our own short-sightedness and scrooge mentality that prevents us from organizing society to pay for these things because of people’s preconceptions about what is capitalism and what is communism.

Cases are too high for pooled testing to work. There would be far too many positive tests, so they’d need many of the pools through individual PCRs to figure out which student needs to be sent home.

Rapid antigen testing has always been the real answer. Implement test-to-stay in classrooms with cases, including with vaccinated students. Stop using PCRs.

I could not agree with this more. The focus has got to shift to keeping as many kids in school as possible, rather than arbitrarily quarantining “close contacts” which vary from school to school. It’s a public policy issue at this point. It’s more important to keep kids, particularly those whose needs can’t be me virtually, in school. There are vaccines available to all school age kids and adults now. Either avail yourself of them or don’t.

Newsflash - large quarantines and school closures aren’t stemming the tide of covid at this point anyway. The greater risk is to the kids education and social emotional well-being by not being in school.

+100

Put 'em school. Go ahead. No problem if there aren't enough adults to drive the buses, serve lunch or teach. At least they are in school and their mental health will be stellar!! It's all about the building, not the people.

You're being deliberately obtuse. Of course it is about the people. That's why in-person is so critical. You can't have meaningful interactions between people- students, teachers, paraeducators, and therapists- with virtual classes.

You absolutely can have meaningful interactions with people virtually. Many students are still in virtual.

These don't have mental health issues due to covid. These kids had mental health issues long before covid and will have them long after. The mental health is just the talking point for parents who cannot handle being full time parents to their kids. They have them as something is off in their life and their parents need to get them help. Just sending them to in person school isn't the fix and the fix needs to come from the home/parents. School can be an escape, but again, these kids will never find true happiness with neglectful parents who refuse to be part of the solution.

One of the parents with “mental health talking points” is the Surgeon General. But what does he know? https://www.hhs.gov/about/news/2021/12/07/us-surgeon-general-issues-advisory-on-youth-mental-health-crisis-further-exposed-by-covid-19-pandemic.html. Suicidal ideation is up 51% in girls age 12 and black kids are 3 times as likely to die of suicide as white kids. But you enjoy your bubble!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Listen, MCPS is in he'll right now. You parents need to ask your kids specific details like what classroom they were in today. I am a Para at a school in Gaithersburg. We had up to 12 teachers out at one point, 5 classes quarantined, triage and nurse rooms were full, kids throwing up or really sick everywhere at school, most without proper masks, a lot of classes were combined with other classes because there were no teacher or sub that day. Two quarantined classes got quarantined because of combining classes and covid cases popped up. The teachers are mainly out with sick or quarantined kids. They have kids too. Tensions are VERY high in schools. Everyone is on edge and burnt out. Behavior from kids is appalling: fights, getting cursed out, kids running out of schools and threats. Some kids have tantrums and scream for hours on end with staff standing in a circle to contain them. They are not Kinder or 1st either. Parents have absolutely no idea what goes on in these schools. The W schools are not too much better either. Virtual might be better.

No. Full stop.

So you think the chaos the poster described above is better for our kids? It will only get worse. The root of the problem is parents not taking any responsibility for trying to keep schools open by being safe with their families, wearing masks and taking measures to stay well, keeping kids hime when sick and taking the step to get them tested to make sure they are not asymptomatic. Schools cannot do that too. Do you really think your child will do great things in a chaotic environment like that describes above? But, let's keep them open and dysfunctional so that you and others that have no ethics or morals can get what you want.

I agree with you that in person but chaotic is not great, but disagree that the burden is totally on families - school system should have purchased and sent home rapid tests over Xmas (Boston just did this) and have more rapid tests available for pick up by families any time, plus they should test every child on entry back to school. If the school system organized saliva based pool testing by classroom daily, school would be a lot safer place.

Same with mask distribution - schools should be providing n-95s weekly to every student and sending more home for families.

It’s our own short-sightedness and scrooge mentality that prevents us from organizing society to pay for these things because of people’s preconceptions about what is capitalism and what is communism.

It's absurd to expect schools to do everything, including provide masks. They should provide them to low income families but its not reasonable for them to buy every student an N95 per day.

Same with testing. As a parent, get your kid tested. Rapid tests can cause false positives and negatives. Your plan is a really bad one. The burden should be on the families. They are YOUR kids. Stop expecting others to parent your kids.

MCPS has tons of money. Tons. These are your tax dollars at work. They also got special funding for covid. They should absolutely be buying masks and rapid tests. It’s a much better use of funds than virtual tutoring, hiring a covid PR team, etc. Come on!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Listen, MCPS is in he'll right now. You parents need to ask your kids specific details like what classroom they were in today. I am a Para at a school in Gaithersburg. We had up to 12 teachers out at one point, 5 classes quarantined, triage and nurse rooms were full, kids throwing up or really sick everywhere at school, most without proper masks, a lot of classes were combined with other classes because there were no teacher or sub that day. Two quarantined classes got quarantined because of combining classes and covid cases popped up. The teachers are mainly out with sick or quarantined kids. They have kids too. Tensions are VERY high in schools. Everyone is on edge and burnt out. Behavior from kids is appalling: fights, getting cursed out, kids running out of schools and threats. Some kids have tantrums and scream for hours on end with staff standing in a circle to contain them. They are not Kinder or 1st either. Parents have absolutely no idea what goes on in these schools. The W schools are not too much better either. Virtual might be better.

No. Full stop.

So you think the chaos the poster described above is better for our kids? It will only get worse. The root of the problem is parents not taking any responsibility for trying to keep schools open by being safe with their families, wearing masks and taking measures to stay well, keeping kids hime when sick and taking the step to get them tested to make sure they are not asymptomatic. Schools cannot do that too. Do you really think your child will do great things in a chaotic environment like that describes above? But, let's keep them open and dysfunctional so that you and others that have no ethics or morals can get what you want.

I agree with you that in person but chaotic is not great, but disagree that the burden is totally on families - school system should have purchased and sent home rapid tests over Xmas (Boston just did this) and have more rapid tests available for pick up by families any time, plus they should test every child on entry back to school. If the school system organized saliva based pool testing by classroom daily, school would be a lot safer place.

Same with mask distribution - schools should be providing n-95s weekly to every student and sending more home for families.

It’s our own short-sightedness and scrooge mentality that prevents us from organizing society to pay for these things because of people’s preconceptions about what is capitalism and what is communism.

It's absurd to expect schools to do everything, including provide masks. They should provide them to low income families but its not reasonable for them to buy every student an N95 per day.

Same with testing. As a parent, get your kid tested. Rapid tests can cause false positives and negatives. Your plan is a really bad one. The burden should be on the families. They are YOUR kids. Stop expecting others to parent your kids.

Agreed. Let parents do what they think is best for their own children. Let them pick masks according to their own risk tolerance, or choose to forgo masks entirely. As the pp said, the school shouldn't be testing students, either. Parents can get their kids tested if they think that is necessary under the circumstances, and if recommended by their children's doctors. Schools shouldn't be dictating those things.

Basically, do what we've always done in the past with other illnesses.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Listen, MCPS is in he'll right now. You parents need to ask your kids specific details like what classroom they were in today. I am a Para at a school in Gaithersburg. We had up to 12 teachers out at one point, 5 classes quarantined, triage and nurse rooms were full, kids throwing up or really sick everywhere at school, most without proper masks, a lot of classes were combined with other classes because there were no teacher or sub that day. Two quarantined classes got quarantined because of combining classes and covid cases popped up. The teachers are mainly out with sick or quarantined kids. They have kids too. Tensions are VERY high in schools. Everyone is on edge and burnt out. Behavior from kids is appalling: fights, getting cursed out, kids running out of schools and threats. Some kids have tantrums and scream for hours on end with staff standing in a circle to contain them. They are not Kinder or 1st either. Parents have absolutely no idea what goes on in these schools. The W schools are not too much better either. Virtual might be better.

No. Full stop.

Yes. Full stop.