Data today 7pm

[Anonymous]

I will bet they change the metric tomorrow for what will close schools. No longer 5%—maybe double to 10%?

[Anonymous]

Well, maybe you should get loud about some other stuff closing, then.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why does it always seem like Montgomery County Schools are caught flat footed? Do they not meet and talk through scenario's? What if there is big surge after the holidays? What if we don't have enough bus driver? What do we do if a whole bunch schools turn red at the same time? How will we manage lunches during a surge and cold-weather?

The list goes on and on and on.

These are good questions. I think we all know the answer: incompetence

Parents are demanding schools stay in person. What do you really want them to do?

A few loud, annoying parents are demanding this. They see no nuance. Kids could start being hospitalized and they’d still want schools open. They don’t speak for the majority.

You're wrong - those who want schools to stay open are the majority, here and elsewhere. That's because education is an essential service. But we live in a county full of neurotics led by incompetent bureaucrats who opened "escape rooms" months before the reopened schools.

Count me firmly in the keep schools open camp. I personally know more teens who have attempted suicide during the past two years than kids who got Covid (at all, let alone in school). And very afraid my kid might be next on the list if schools shut down again. This is not the way teens are supposed to grow up.

I'm sorry your family is in pain. And I know this is dcurbammom, where we tell each other to toughen up and deal, and I don't want to do that. I know suicidal teens. I was one.

But this isn't about your teen. Or your family.

If there is some quiet small way you can impart that to them and find some joy in what you all have, I recommend it.

DP, but you’re wrong. For once, we need to prioritize kids. Why is someone’s grandparent more important than this poster’s teen? I lost my beloved grandparents years ago and miss them daily, still, but enough is enough. Why are you forcing children to shoulder the burden, still?

What burden? Seriously. All the teens I’ve seen posting online don’t want to go back to school (in MCPS)… and not because they don’t like school or want to be lazy… most of them are thought out responses based on not feeling safe, not having teachers,etc. the youth are better than most of the adults in this god forsaken county

Do you follow teens online? Creepy. Any kids who want to stay home want to cheat.

And play games. No goguardian on chromebooks at home.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why does it always seem like Montgomery County Schools are caught flat footed? Do they not meet and talk through scenario's? What if there is big surge after the holidays? What if we don't have enough bus driver? What do we do if a whole bunch schools turn red at the same time? How will we manage lunches during a surge and cold-weather?

The list goes on and on and on.

These are good questions. I think we all know the answer: incompetence

Parents are demanding schools stay in person. What do you really want them to do?

A few loud, annoying parents are demanding this. They see no nuance. Kids could start being hospitalized and they’d still want schools open. They don’t speak for the majority.

You're wrong - those who want schools to stay open are the majority, here and elsewhere. That's because education is an essential service. But we live in a county full of neurotics led by incompetent bureaucrats who opened "escape rooms" months before the reopened schools.

Count me firmly in the keep schools open camp. I personally know more teens who have attempted suicide during the past two years than kids who got Covid (at all, let alone in school). And very afraid my kid might be next on the list if schools shut down again. This is not the way teens are supposed to grow up.

I'm sorry your family is in pain. And I know this is dcurbammom, where we tell each other to toughen up and deal, and I don't want to do that. I know suicidal teens. I was one.

But this isn't about your teen. Or your family.

If there is some quiet small way you can impart that to them and find some joy in what you all have, I recommend it.

DP, but you’re wrong. For once, we need to prioritize kids. Why is someone’s grandparent more important than this poster’s teen? I lost my beloved grandparents years ago and miss them daily, still, but enough is enough. Why are you forcing children to shoulder the burden, still?

So you want to risk killing someone else's child or grandparents because your kid is suicidal? In other words, you want other parents to send their kids to school and potentially contract covid to make your child feel better about themselves and seem as if everything is normal?

I know that a lot of folks have it rough at home. Terrible marriages, cramped housing, abusive parents, bad neighbors; but the school is not your marriage counselor and daycare system!!!! If you have family issues at home, solve them or at least deal with them - and if you can't do it yourself reach out for help!!!

I really can't understand how pathetic people are that because they can't hack their own problems at home, they want to blame someone else (like the school system). Don't get me wrong - MCPS has made terrible leadership decisions since about 2018. But don't use the school as your personal valet and babysitter. It just doesn't do anyone (including your own child) any good.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why does it always seem like Montgomery County Schools are caught flat footed? Do they not meet and talk through scenario's? What if there is big surge after the holidays? What if we don't have enough bus driver? What do we do if a whole bunch schools turn red at the same time? How will we manage lunches during a surge and cold-weather?

The list goes on and on and on.

These are good questions. I think we all know the answer: incompetence

Parents are demanding schools stay in person. What do you really want them to do?

A few loud, annoying parents are demanding this. They see no nuance. Kids could start being hospitalized and they’d still want schools open. They don’t speak for the majority.

You're wrong - those who want schools to stay open are the majority, here and elsewhere. That's because education is an essential service. But we live in a county full of neurotics led by incompetent bureaucrats who opened "escape rooms" months before the reopened schools.

Count me firmly in the keep schools open camp. I personally know more teens who have attempted suicide during the past two years than kids who got Covid (at all, let alone in school). And very afraid my kid might be next on the list if schools shut down again. This is not the way teens are supposed to grow up.

I'm sorry your family is in pain. And I know this is dcurbammom, where we tell each other to toughen up and deal, and I don't want to do that. I know suicidal teens. I was one.

But this isn't about your teen. Or your family.

If there is some quiet small way you can impart that to them and find some joy in what you all have, I recommend it.

DP, but you’re wrong. For once, we need to prioritize kids. Why is someone’s grandparent more important than this poster’s teen? I lost my beloved grandparents years ago and miss them daily, still, but enough is enough. Why are you forcing children to shoulder the burden, still?

So you want to risk killing someone else's child or grandparents because your kid is suicidal? In other words, you want other parents to send their kids to school and potentially contract covid to make your child feel better about themselves and seem as if everything is normal?

I know that a lot of folks have it rough at home. Terrible marriages, cramped housing, abusive parents, bad neighbors; but the school is not your marriage counselor and daycare system!!!! If you have family issues at home, solve them or at least deal with them - and if you can't do it yourself reach out for help!!!

I really can't understand how pathetic people are that because they can't hack their own problems at home, they want to blame someone else (like the school system). Don't get me wrong - MCPS has made terrible leadership decisions since about 2018. But don't use the school as your personal valet and babysitter. It just doesn't do anyone (including your own child) any good.

Don't be an ass. Perhaps they did reach out for help, and her therapist thinks school is best place for her.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I can't believe the people doubling down on "KEEP THE SCHOOLS OPEN IN THE NAME OF EDUCATION" crowd. There were so many kids who didn't get an actual education today just by being in the building bc they didn't have teachers. There were no bus drivers. Schools weren't cleaned because custodial staff have been out. Just because a school building is open doesn't mean kids are being educated. You all are the worst of the worst.

Yup. This is what I've been saying all week.

The omicron writing was already on the wall.

People kept acting like there was a real choice between "send kids to school, and maybe they get COVID, but we have to live with it now" and "go virtual*."

And I kept saying the ACTUAL choice was between "go virtual now" or "send kids into a sh!tshow, watch as numbers climb and a bunch of them get COVID, only to be forced into virtual in a week or two anyway."

But out come the shocked and horrified parents who I guess had been in some sort of denial for the past few weeks.


*And many would not consider the possibility that was actually being offered-- virtual for 2-6 weeks max. They had to build up this strawman of an evil and untrustworthy MCPS that wants to keep kids out of school for the rest of the year and would use a few weeks of virtual as cover for their nefarious plan, because... uh... teachers just love virtual, it's not a gigantic pain in their butts and... administrators eating Pringles and bonbons all day and.... reasons... yeah.

Sorry, but trust has to be earned. Our kids sat at home last year for months and months for no reason.

Okay, cool, fine, that's like, your opinion, man, but the point of my post it DOES NOT MATTER

Because schools were never going to stay in-person, because omicron spreads.

The end.

Nope, you went out of your way to complain about a straw man argument. That most certainly was at least part of your point.

No. Listen. I may have been unnecessarily snarky and I may not have been entirely clear. But it was not a straw man argument and it was relevant to my point.

Removing the sarcasm now. This is the argument I have been in all week in 100 threads. I'll call me "Me" and various DCUMers who strongly object to virtual school "Larlas" so as to be DCUM-neutral.

Me: Listen, we may not love virtual, but we might as well pivot to virtual before schools reopen, because it's going to be a sh!tshow either way, and at least this way, all our kids won't get COVID ~all at once.

Larlas: Virtual is awful. Kids have suffered so much. I can't take another virtual year! We should send our kids to school, and if they get COVID, they get COVID-- we're all getting COVID soon enough.

Me: Okay, virtual is awful. But I'm not talking about a year. I'm talking about a preemptive, proactive 2-6 weeks.

Larlas: Ha! You think if MCPS says it will be 2-6 weeks, it will ACTUALLY be 2-6 weeks? How can you trust them after March 2020?

Me: But see... there is no choice. If MCPS sticks to this 5% metric they set, we will all be pivoting to virtual in a week or two anyway. Why not avoid expose all our kids to COVID at the same time before we do?

Larlas: I'm not agreeing to 2 or 4 or 6 weeks, because if I give MCPS that inch, they will take a mile.

Me: I don't feel like you're hearing what I'm saying. If you don't agree to 2 or 4 or 6 weeks now, they will take 2 or 4 or 6 weeks anyway, it will just be slightly delayed after every school shoots right past the 5% metric, while also spreading COVID, needlessly. If you distrust MCPS, that's fine. But by not "giving" them 2 weeks because you're sure they'll use the opportunity to keep schools closed for 6 months, you are doing nothing more than delaying that entire sequence of events.

---

If you firmly believe that MCPS will stay virtual for many months if you give them 2 proactive weeks of virtual to slow the spread of COVID in schools, what's to stop them from staying virtual for many months when they take 2 reactive weeks to deal with a school population that's now riddled with COVID?

Granted, for the most part our support or opposition to an MCPS plan isn't going to influence it. But I think I've made my point.

The straw man here was not one created by me. Rather, what I saw was a red herring. Or frankly, a bit of grasping. Understandable, maybe? But the fact that "MCPS can't be trusted" was being used as an argument against proactively going virtual. And I'm saying it's all irrelevant. It's not even an argument that supports your position.

The only way it makes sense is if you think MCPS wasn't necessarily going to go virtual based on case counts. That was the only reason to "take your chances" and maybe not end up in virtual vs (in some minds) definitely going virtual and definitely being forced to stay there. But my argument was always... there were no chances to take. There was no chance we wouldn't end up in virtual either way.

With the perpetual caveat that MCPS didn't move the goalposts to 7%, 10% or whatever. Which they might. But they will end up right back in the same position in another week, with even more trust lost.

[Anonymous]

People should please keep an eye on this national tracker before they come to the conclusion that this is just an MCPS problem:

https://cai.burbio.com/school-opening-tracker/?utm_medium=email&_hsmi=2&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-8di51zkNK2wUD4PgxaZls6-hl05C9JLyDOtQ1jJ_1JTXnbHbzhiLXhLoRqY0Mo9omFEPjMacu4skVIh4xKdZbj9ZXHkg&utm_content=2&utm_source=hs_email

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why does it always seem like Montgomery County Schools are caught flat footed? Do they not meet and talk through scenario's? What if there is big surge after the holidays? What if we don't have enough bus driver? What do we do if a whole bunch schools turn red at the same time? How will we manage lunches during a surge and cold-weather?

The list goes on and on and on.

These are good questions. I think we all know the answer: incompetence

Parents are demanding schools stay in person. What do you really want them to do?

A few loud, annoying parents are demanding this. They see no nuance. Kids could start being hospitalized and they’d still want schools open. They don’t speak for the majority.

You're wrong - those who want schools to stay open are the majority, here and elsewhere. That's because education is an essential service. But we live in a county full of neurotics led by incompetent bureaucrats who opened "escape rooms" months before the reopened schools.

Count me firmly in the keep schools open camp. I personally know more teens who have attempted suicide during the past two years than kids who got Covid (at all, let alone in school). And very afraid my kid might be next on the list if schools shut down again. This is not the way teens are supposed to grow up.

I'm sorry your family is in pain. And I know this is dcurbammom, where we tell each other to toughen up and deal, and I don't want to do that. I know suicidal teens. I was one.

But this isn't about your teen. Or your family.

If there is some quiet small way you can impart that to them and find some joy in what you all have, I recommend it.

DP, but you’re wrong. For once, we need to prioritize kids. Why is someone’s grandparent more important than this poster’s teen? I lost my beloved grandparents years ago and miss them daily, still, but enough is enough. Why are you forcing children to shoulder the burden, still?

So you want to risk killing someone else's child or grandparents because your kid is suicidal? In other words, you want other parents to send their kids to school and potentially contract covid to make your child feel better about themselves and seem as if everything is normal?

I know that a lot of folks have it rough at home. Terrible marriages, cramped housing, abusive parents, bad neighbors; but the school is not your marriage counselor and daycare system!!!! If you have family issues at home, solve them or at least deal with them - and if you can't do it yourself reach out for help!!!

I really can't understand how pathetic people are that because they can't hack their own problems at home, they want to blame someone else (like the school system). Don't get me wrong - MCPS has made terrible leadership decisions since about 2018. But don't use the school as your personal valet and babysitter. It just doesn't do anyone (including your own child) any good.

how is going to school risking killing someone else? who precisely is dying in this scenario? i mean this is not 2020 where we were suddenly faced with a deadly virus and we all had to hit the pause button to protect others from dying. the virus has evolved, so your thinking on this should too. and newsflash--schools have historically been a safe haven for kids. lots of kids who need that positive influence in their lives and school provides that for them. many kids have suffered as a result of sitting at home not being in school. school provides structure and normalcy for many kids whether you like it or not from your perfect little place in the world.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:People should please keep an eye on this national tracker before they come to the conclusion that this is just an MCPS problem:

https://cai.burbio.com/school-opening-tracker/?utm_medium=email&_hsmi=2&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-8di51zkNK2wUD4PgxaZls6-hl05C9JLyDOtQ1jJ_1JTXnbHbzhiLXhLoRqY0Mo9omFEPjMacu4skVIh4xKdZbj9ZXHkg&utm_content=2&utm_source=hs_email

People, schools should be the last essential service to close. Schools have been on winter break for two weeks. Community spread is not happening in schools.

Close bars. Close malls. Close restaurants. Test to stay but don’t close schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:People should please keep an eye on this national tracker before they come to the conclusion that this is just an MCPS problem:

https://cai.burbio.com/school-opening-tracker/?utm_medium=email&_hsmi=2&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-8di51zkNK2wUD4PgxaZls6-hl05C9JLyDOtQ1jJ_1JTXnbHbzhiLXhLoRqY0Mo9omFEPjMacu4skVIh4xKdZbj9ZXHkg&utm_content=2&utm_source=hs_email

Don't go tossing facts on a DCUM firestorm!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:People should please keep an eye on this national tracker before they come to the conclusion that this is just an MCPS problem:

https://cai.burbio.com/school-opening-tracker/?utm_medium=email&_hsmi=2&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-8di51zkNK2wUD4PgxaZls6-hl05C9JLyDOtQ1jJ_1JTXnbHbzhiLXhLoRqY0Mo9omFEPjMacu4skVIh4xKdZbj9ZXHkg&utm_content=2&utm_source=hs_email

People, schools should be the last essential service to close. Schools have been on winter break for two weeks. Community spread is not happening in schools.

Close bars. Close malls. Close restaurants. Test to stay but don’t close schools.

All businesses close when they run out of employees. It’s not a question of “should.”

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:People should please keep an eye on this national tracker before they come to the conclusion that this is just an MCPS problem:

https://cai.burbio.com/school-opening-tracker/?utm_medium=email&_hsmi=2&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-8di51zkNK2wUD4PgxaZls6-hl05C9JLyDOtQ1jJ_1JTXnbHbzhiLXhLoRqY0Mo9omFEPjMacu4skVIh4xKdZbj9ZXHkg&utm_content=2&utm_source=hs_email

People, schools should be the last essential service to close. Schools have been on winter break for two weeks. Community spread is not happening in schools.

Close bars. Close malls. Close restaurants. Test to stay but don’t close schools.

This. To the PPs who support the school closures, please go out and advocate for closing everything else. After all, granny's life is at stake, right?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I can't believe the people doubling down on "KEEP THE SCHOOLS OPEN IN THE NAME OF EDUCATION" crowd. There were so many kids who didn't get an actual education today just by being in the building bc they didn't have teachers. There were no bus drivers. Schools weren't cleaned because custodial staff have been out. Just because a school building is open doesn't mean kids are being educated. You all are the worst of the worst.

Yup. This is what I've been saying all week.

The omicron writing was already on the wall.

People kept acting like there was a real choice between "send kids to school, and maybe they get COVID, but we have to live with it now" and "go virtual*."

And I kept saying the ACTUAL choice was between "go virtual now" or "send kids into a sh!tshow, watch as numbers climb and a bunch of them get COVID, only to be forced into virtual in a week or two anyway."

But out come the shocked and horrified parents who I guess had been in some sort of denial for the past few weeks.


*And many would not consider the possibility that was actually being offered-- virtual for 2-6 weeks max. They had to build up this strawman of an evil and untrustworthy MCPS that wants to keep kids out of school for the rest of the year and would use a few weeks of virtual as cover for their nefarious plan, because... uh... teachers just love virtual, it's not a gigantic pain in their butts and... administrators eating Pringles and bonbons all day and.... reasons... yeah.

Sorry, but trust has to be earned. Our kids sat at home last year for months and months for no reason.

Okay, cool, fine, that's like, your opinion, man, but the point of my post it DOES NOT MATTER

Because schools were never going to stay in-person, because omicron spreads.

The end.

Nope, you went out of your way to complain about a straw man argument. That most certainly was at least part of your point.

No. Listen. I may have been unnecessarily snarky and I may not have been entirely clear. But it was not a straw man argument and it was relevant to my point.

Removing the sarcasm now. This is the argument I have been in all week in 100 threads. I'll call me "Me" and various DCUMers who strongly object to virtual school "Larlas" so as to be DCUM-neutral.

Me: Listen, we may not love virtual, but we might as well pivot to virtual before schools reopen, because it's going to be a sh!tshow either way, and at least this way, all our kids won't get COVID ~all at once.

Larlas: Virtual is awful. Kids have suffered so much. I can't take another virtual year! We should send our kids to school, and if they get COVID, they get COVID-- we're all getting COVID soon enough.

Me: Okay, virtual is awful. But I'm not talking about a year. I'm talking about a preemptive, proactive 2-6 weeks.

Larlas: Ha! You think if MCPS says it will be 2-6 weeks, it will ACTUALLY be 2-6 weeks? How can you trust them after March 2020?

Me: But see... there is no choice. If MCPS sticks to this 5% metric they set, we will all be pivoting to virtual in a week or two anyway. Why not avoid expose all our kids to COVID at the same time before we do?

Larlas: I'm not agreeing to 2 or 4 or 6 weeks, because if I give MCPS that inch, they will take a mile.

Me: I don't feel like you're hearing what I'm saying. If you don't agree to 2 or 4 or 6 weeks now, they will take 2 or 4 or 6 weeks anyway, it will just be slightly delayed after every school shoots right past the 5% metric, while also spreading COVID, needlessly. If you distrust MCPS, that's fine. But by not "giving" them 2 weeks because you're sure they'll use the opportunity to keep schools closed for 6 months, you are doing nothing more than delaying that entire sequence of events.

---

If you firmly believe that MCPS will stay virtual for many months if you give them 2 proactive weeks of virtual to slow the spread of COVID in schools, what's to stop them from staying virtual for many months when they take 2 reactive weeks to deal with a school population that's now riddled with COVID?

Granted, for the most part our support or opposition to an MCPS plan isn't going to influence it. But I think I've made my point.

The straw man here was not one created by me. Rather, what I saw was a red herring. Or frankly, a bit of grasping. Understandable, maybe? But the fact that "MCPS can't be trusted" was being used as an argument against proactively going virtual. And I'm saying it's all irrelevant. It's not even an argument that supports your position.

The only way it makes sense is if you think MCPS wasn't necessarily going to go virtual based on case counts. That was the only reason to "take your chances" and maybe not end up in virtual vs (in some minds) definitely going virtual and definitely being forced to stay there. But my argument was always... there were no chances to take. There was no chance we wouldn't end up in virtual either way.

With the perpetual caveat that MCPS didn't move the goalposts to 7%, 10% or whatever. Which they might. But they will end up right back in the same position in another week, with even more trust lost.

A+. PP For Superintendent!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:People should please keep an eye on this national tracker before they come to the conclusion that this is just an MCPS problem:

https://cai.burbio.com/school-opening-tracker/?utm_medium=email&_hsmi=2&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-8di51zkNK2wUD4PgxaZls6-hl05C9JLyDOtQ1jJ_1JTXnbHbzhiLXhLoRqY0Mo9omFEPjMacu4skVIh4xKdZbj9ZXHkg&utm_content=2&utm_source=hs_email

People, schools should be the last essential service to close. Schools have been on winter break for two weeks. Community spread is not happening in schools.

Close bars. Close malls. Close restaurants. Test to stay but don’t close schools.

Then folks should not complain about anything that comes from trying to keep schools open(bus routes not able to be run, kids shuttled between classes for coverage, kids getting sick, etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:People should please keep an eye on this national tracker before they come to the conclusion that this is just an MCPS problem:

https://cai.burbio.com/school-opening-tracker/?utm_medium=email&_hsmi=2&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-8di51zkNK2wUD4PgxaZls6-hl05C9JLyDOtQ1jJ_1JTXnbHbzhiLXhLoRqY0Mo9omFEPjMacu4skVIh4xKdZbj9ZXHkg&utm_content=2&utm_source=hs_email

People, schools should be the last essential service to close. Schools have been on winter break for two weeks. Community spread is not happening in schools.

Close bars. Close malls. Close restaurants. Test to stay but don’t close schools.

Then folks should not complain about anything that comes from trying to keep schools open(bus routes not able to be run, kids shuttled between classes for coverage, kids getting sick, etc.

I drove my child to school. I got my child vaccinated. We didn’t take a winter break trip. I think sending him to school is worth the risk.

Schools have been closed for two weeks. The overinflated COVID count by MCPS is no spread from staff and students being in schools.