Last minute plan B if schools don’t open?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have never seen anyone, no matter how much in favor of IPL, say they would send their kids to school with Covid. Come on.

Also, asking an anonymous poster to commit to doing everything on your personal laundry list of safety precautions is beyond pointless. An excuse to argue.

I am in favor of asymptomatic testing, cohosting rules, travel restrictions and quarantines. Also favor masking and even brief periods of DL if the public health situation merits it (talking hiring rates not only of Covid but of hospitalizations, and obviously any uptick in serious illnesses or death should be taken very seriously), though I would like to see them linked to specific Covid metrics so that we know when we can ditch these measures, which I think have the most significant negative impact on school.

Once the policies are in place, you assume some amount of freeloading and rule breaking. I'm not going to freak out about that and I'm not going to expect or require 100% compliance because it's unrealistic. We're talking risk mitigation. 100% would be ideal, but 80% is pretty good.

And then I think public health policy makers need to go all in on vaccination. Bribes, rewards, requirements wherever we can. Restrictions and inconveniences for people who can vax and don't. I mean, the first thing we need to do is get rid of the emergency status for the adult vaccinations because that will actually free governments to do things like require vaccination or limit what unvaccinated people can do. And that should trickle down to kids as the vaccine is available to them. Very hard to require a vaccine under an emergency provision in order to go to school. Much easier once it has a regular approval. We need to be pushing on those decisions and doing whatever additional trials or research is necessary to get these vaccines to full approval for all ages as soon as possible.

Until then, accept there will be some measure of risk in schools. Do what we can to mitigate, but also just accept we have to live with it. Telling people "Your kids can't go to school in person unless we can guarantee that all people will comply 100% with restrictions until we have 100% vaccine uptake" is just another way of saying "No school for the foreseeable future.

The purpose of the question is to see the overlap between those who reject virtual learning and those who reject measures that would make in-person learning safe. It's obviously not asking to commit to a laundry list.

and I am saying that your “commitments” are largely pointless until ALL adults in DCPS are vaccinated. I’ll follow the rules as I encounter them. Won’t worry about the stupid ones nobody enforces (travel).

Yeah I get you think the travel one is pointless, but others don’t. If others can’t pick and choose, you shouldn’t either. It is awful to say “so sorry your kid got sick, mine didn’t.”

I’m not sure what any of that has to do with mandatory vaccination for DCPS staff & teachers. They STILL make up a giant share of cases, many times out of proportion to their numbers. And it’s mainly staff, not teachers. We need all adults vaxxed who set foot in a school. I’m not going to spend a second worrying about useless things like travel.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have never seen anyone, no matter how much in favor of IPL, say they would send their kids to school with Covid. Come on.

Also, asking an anonymous poster to commit to doing everything on your personal laundry list of safety precautions is beyond pointless. An excuse to argue.

I am in favor of asymptomatic testing, cohosting rules, travel restrictions and quarantines. Also favor masking and even brief periods of DL if the public health situation merits it (talking hiring rates not only of Covid but of hospitalizations, and obviously any uptick in serious illnesses or death should be taken very seriously), though I would like to see them linked to specific Covid metrics so that we know when we can ditch these measures, which I think have the most significant negative impact on school.

Once the policies are in place, you assume some amount of freeloading and rule breaking. I'm not going to freak out about that and I'm not going to expect or require 100% compliance because it's unrealistic. We're talking risk mitigation. 100% would be ideal, but 80% is pretty good.

And then I think public health policy makers need to go all in on vaccination. Bribes, rewards, requirements wherever we can. Restrictions and inconveniences for people who can vax and don't. I mean, the first thing we need to do is get rid of the emergency status for the adult vaccinations because that will actually free governments to do things like require vaccination or limit what unvaccinated people can do. And that should trickle down to kids as the vaccine is available to them. Very hard to require a vaccine under an emergency provision in order to go to school. Much easier once it has a regular approval. We need to be pushing on those decisions and doing whatever additional trials or research is necessary to get these vaccines to full approval for all ages as soon as possible.

Until then, accept there will be some measure of risk in schools. Do what we can to mitigate, but also just accept we have to live with it. Telling people "Your kids can't go to school in person unless we can guarantee that all people will comply 100% with restrictions until we have 100% vaccine uptake" is just another way of saying "No school for the foreseeable future.

The purpose of the question is to see the overlap between those who reject virtual learning and those who reject measures that would make in-person learning safe. It's obviously not asking to commit to a laundry list.

Ah, so you are trying to do a study on an anonymous forum! Well, that’s just as pointless.

I don't know where you're going with this existential questioning. Any conversation on here is pointless. You could also just tell me to shut up. Or go whine in Website Feedback to find out whether I'm inconsistent in my posts and 'just fear-mongering" or "have an agenda."

No, not all conversations here are pointless. What’s pointless is to pretend like you can make any inferences from a few responses from anonymous posters on the extent of an “overlap” between two groups of anonymous posters. We can have discussions here, it’s not a place to run surveys.

The rest of your post is a total non sequitur to my comment.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have never seen anyone, no matter how much in favor of IPL, say they would send their kids to school with Covid. Come on.

Also, asking an anonymous poster to commit to doing everything on your personal laundry list of safety precautions is beyond pointless. An excuse to argue.

I am in favor of asymptomatic testing, cohosting rules, travel restrictions and quarantines. Also favor masking and even brief periods of DL if the public health situation merits it (talking hiring rates not only of Covid but of hospitalizations, and obviously any uptick in serious illnesses or death should be taken very seriously), though I would like to see them linked to specific Covid metrics so that we know when we can ditch these measures, which I think have the most significant negative impact on school.

Once the policies are in place, you assume some amount of freeloading and rule breaking. I'm not going to freak out about that and I'm not going to expect or require 100% compliance because it's unrealistic. We're talking risk mitigation. 100% would be ideal, but 80% is pretty good.

And then I think public health policy makers need to go all in on vaccination. Bribes, rewards, requirements wherever we can. Restrictions and inconveniences for people who can vax and don't. I mean, the first thing we need to do is get rid of the emergency status for the adult vaccinations because that will actually free governments to do things like require vaccination or limit what unvaccinated people can do. And that should trickle down to kids as the vaccine is available to them. Very hard to require a vaccine under an emergency provision in order to go to school. Much easier once it has a regular approval. We need to be pushing on those decisions and doing whatever additional trials or research is necessary to get these vaccines to full approval for all ages as soon as possible.

Until then, accept there will be some measure of risk in schools. Do what we can to mitigate, but also just accept we have to live with it. Telling people "Your kids can't go to school in person unless we can guarantee that all people will comply 100% with restrictions until we have 100% vaccine uptake" is just another way of saying "No school for the foreseeable future.

The purpose of the question is to see the overlap between those who reject virtual learning and those who reject measures that would make in-person learning safe. It's obviously not asking to commit to a laundry list.

and I am saying that your “commitments” are largely pointless until ALL adults in DCPS are vaccinated. I’ll follow the rules as I encounter them. Won’t worry about the stupid ones nobody enforces (travel).

Yeah I get you think the travel one is pointless, but others don’t. If others can’t pick and choose, you shouldn’t either. It is awful to say “so sorry your kid got sick, mine didn’t.”

DP. Your list would make more sense if there was any sort of expert consensus or data to show that travel quarantines and asymptomatic testing actually make schools safer.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If no one leaves the classroom except to go outside then we are back in the no-school wednesday zone since teacher's need planning time. I cant speak for others but no-school wednesday was worse for us than distance learning and required a lot of compromises with our work. Now that we are about to have to go back into the office it would be a logistical nightmare.

Damn, I loved no-school Wednesdays. There could be a compromise there, with optional in-person asynchronous Wednesdays.

What???? You want to repeat system-sanctioned truancy (our kids missed out on 20% of the school year)? For what benefit?

[Anonymous]

I also loved Wednesdays as a teacher and as a parents of ES kids. It was a true blessing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I also loved Wednesdays as a teacher and as a parents of ES kids. It was a true blessing.

Yeah, obviously a teacher would love it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Those of you angry about school closures or virtual learning, whose kids struggled so much last school year, will you do your part to make school safe and open by opting IN to in-school asymptomatic testing, respecting travel quarantine rules, avoiding indoor sports and unmasked indoor gatherings this winter? Will you make sure your kid stays home when sick, and provide them with a well-fitting quality mask?

No, but I will advocate for the thing that will ACTUALLY make it safer: mandatory vax for all adults in dcps schools.

NP. You won’t commit to any of those? Not even not sending your sick kid to school?

No, but NOPE. Onus should be on unvaxed adults. My kids have done enough.

So wait, you are saying you would send your kids to school WITH covid? Because your kids have done enough?

My kids are vaxxed and I would do a Covid test if they are symptomatic. But I am honestly pissed at the prospect of them having to wear masks and have another subpar year. They are in MS and HS. I want mandatory vaxes for 12 and up.

My question was implicitly directed at the parents of kids too young for vaccines. Thanks for sharing, though. The age of your kids clarified what sounded like an extreme position, although I am concerned that some parents of younger kids would feel the same way, alas, from what I've read on this board.

I’m the DP above who will send my kid in with runny noses and lingering coughs. They are 7 and 5...

And they will be sent home again, and you’ll be asked to pick them up and get a Covid test because runny noses happen to be one of the symptoms of Delta (it wasn’t a symptom, nor was sneezing, of the original disease which was a great thing for allergy sufferers all year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Those of you angry about school closures or virtual learning, whose kids struggled so much last school year, will you do your part to make school safe and open by opting IN to in-school asymptomatic testing, respecting travel quarantine rules, avoiding indoor sports and unmasked indoor gatherings this winter? Will you make sure your kid stays home when sick, and provide them with a well-fitting quality mask?

No, but I will advocate for the thing that will ACTUALLY make it safer: mandatory vax for all adults in dcps schools.

NP. You won’t commit to any of those? Not even not sending your sick kid to school?

No, but NOPE. Onus should be on unvaxed adults. My kids have done enough.

So wait, you are saying you would send your kids to school WITH covid? Because your kids have done enough?

My kids are vaxxed and I would do a Covid test if they are symptomatic. But I am honestly pissed at the prospect of them having to wear masks and have another subpar year. They are in MS and HS. I want mandatory vaxes for 12 and up.

My question was implicitly directed at the parents of kids too young for vaccines. Thanks for sharing, though. The age of your kids clarified what sounded like an extreme position, although I am concerned that some parents of younger kids would feel the same way, alas, from what I've read on this board.

I’m the DP above who will send my kid in with runny noses and lingering coughs. They are 7 and 5...

And they will be sent home again, and you’ll be asked to pick them up and get a Covid test because runny noses happen to be one of the symptoms of Delta (it wasn’t a symptom, nor was sneezing, of the original disease which was a great thing for allergy sufferers all year.

Is there currently guidance from OSSE that says that or are you thinking that will happen?

[Anonymous]

Just looking for support (or solid information if people have it).

I am absolutely terrified right now that school is either:

(1) going to be very short lived and we will be dealing with a long shut down of at least most of Term 2 due to delta or a subsequent variant
(2) that cases at our school will be so frequent that we will be in and out of cohort quarantine most of the year and it will be almost worse than last year because of how inconsistent it is

I am feeling panicked because I don't have a Plan B and I don't really even know how to craft one for either of these possibilities. How can I plan for a midyear shut down with no known end date, especially when everyone else will be scrambling for childcare at the same time? How can I plan for intermittent quarantines throughout the year, or try and plan for childcare with no notice of when I might need it?

My DH has been forced back into the office 3 days a week so most of this is going to fall on me. I'm already so burned out -- I feel like I'm just barely making it through this summer and one of the only things keeping me going is the belief, now shaken, that schools will be open in the fall.

I don't know what to do, or if there is anything I can do. I just have this horrible uneasy feeling all the time and I feel like this year it really will break me. My DH and I have talked about what we'd do and neither of us want me to quit my job (and it would put us in a real bind financially) but I just don't know that I can be the point person for childcare most of the week and work and still function anymore. Even if he takes time off so he can stay home some days, that's finite -- he still has a job and if they say he has to do it in person, that's what he has to do.

Is anyone else in this place? It's really hitting me this week as I start pulling together stuff for school and I just feel like "What is this even for, this isn't going to happen."

Just me?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Just looking for support (or solid information if people have it).

I am absolutely terrified right now that school is either:

(1) going to be very short lived and we will be dealing with a long shut down of at least most of Term 2 due to delta or a subsequent variant
(2) that cases at our school will be so frequent that we will be in and out of cohort quarantine most of the year and it will be almost worse than last year because of how inconsistent it is

I am feeling panicked because I don't have a Plan B and I don't really even know how to craft one for either of these possibilities. How can I plan for a midyear shut down with no known end date, especially when everyone else will be scrambling for childcare at the same time? How can I plan for intermittent quarantines throughout the year, or try and plan for childcare with no notice of when I might need it?

My DH has been forced back into the office 3 days a week so most of this is going to fall on me. I'm already so burned out -- I feel like I'm just barely making it through this summer and one of the only things keeping me going is the belief, now shaken, that schools will be open in the fall.

I don't know what to do, or if there is anything I can do. I just have this horrible uneasy feeling all the time and I feel like this year it really will break me. My DH and I have talked about what we'd do and neither of us want me to quit my job (and it would put us in a real bind financially) but I just don't know that I can be the point person for childcare most of the week and work and still function anymore. Even if he takes time off so he can stay home some days, that's finite -- he still has a job and if they say he has to do it in person, that's what he has to do.

Is anyone else in this place? It's really hitting me this week as I start pulling together stuff for school and I just feel like "What is this even for, this isn't going to happen."

Just me?

Can you go live with or near family as a back up? Society has really left families to fend for ourselves. Please take care of yourself. Burnout is scary. Ask for help. I know I can’t do it all again, I was a mess. I will leave town this time around if I have to.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Those of you angry about school closures or virtual learning, whose kids struggled so much last school year, will you do your part to make school safe and open by opting IN to in-school asymptomatic testing, respecting travel quarantine rules, avoiding indoor sports and unmasked indoor gatherings this winter? Will you make sure your kid stays home when sick, and provide them with a well-fitting quality mask?

No, but I will advocate for the thing that will ACTUALLY make it safer: mandatory vax for all adults in dcps schools.

NP. You won’t commit to any of those? Not even not sending your sick kid to school?

No, but NOPE. Onus should be on unvaxed adults. My kids have done enough.

So wait, you are saying you would send your kids to school WITH covid? Because your kids have done enough?

My kids are vaxxed and I would do a Covid test if they are symptomatic. But I am honestly pissed at the prospect of them having to wear masks and have another subpar year. They are in MS and HS. I want mandatory vaxes for 12 and up.

My question was implicitly directed at the parents of kids too young for vaccines. Thanks for sharing, though. The age of your kids clarified what sounded like an extreme position, although I am concerned that some parents of younger kids would feel the same way, alas, from what I've read on this board.

I’m the DP above who will send my kid in with runny noses and lingering coughs. They are 7 and 5...

And they will be sent home again, and you’ll be asked to pick them up and get a Covid test because runny noses happen to be one of the symptoms of Delta (it wasn’t a symptom, nor was sneezing, of the original disease which was a great thing for allergy sufferers all year.

My kids were in DCPS in person in the spring and in DCPS camp this summer and never got sent home for runny noses and lingering coughs

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Just looking for support (or solid information if people have it).

I am absolutely terrified right now that school is either:

(1) going to be very short lived and we will be dealing with a long shut down of at least most of Term 2 due to delta or a subsequent variant
(2) that cases at our school will be so frequent that we will be in and out of cohort quarantine most of the year and it will be almost worse than last year because of how inconsistent it is

I am feeling panicked because I don't have a Plan B and I don't really even know how to craft one for either of these possibilities. How can I plan for a midyear shut down with no known end date, especially when everyone else will be scrambling for childcare at the same time? How can I plan for intermittent quarantines throughout the year, or try and plan for childcare with no notice of when I might need it?

My DH has been forced back into the office 3 days a week so most of this is going to fall on me. I'm already so burned out -- I feel like I'm just barely making it through this summer and one of the only things keeping me going is the belief, now shaken, that schools will be open in the fall.

I don't know what to do, or if there is anything I can do. I just have this horrible uneasy feeling all the time and I feel like this year it really will break me. My DH and I have talked about what we'd do and neither of us want me to quit my job (and it would put us in a real bind financially) but I just don't know that I can be the point person for childcare most of the week and work and still function anymore. Even if he takes time off so he can stay home some days, that's finite -- he still has a job and if they say he has to do it in person, that's what he has to do.

Is anyone else in this place? It's really hitting me this week as I start pulling together stuff for school and I just feel like "What is this even for, this isn't going to happen."

Just me?

Don't borrow this stress, PP. Politicians heads will roll if schools don't stay open, so I'd wager that they will. Have a little faith - the problems you worry about haven't arisen yet and probably never will in a city where almost all adults are vaccinated. I'd focus on feeling less burned out for now and leave it at that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Those of you angry about school closures or virtual learning, whose kids struggled so much last school year, will you do your part to make school safe and open by opting IN to in-school asymptomatic testing, respecting travel quarantine rules, avoiding indoor sports and unmasked indoor gatherings this winter? Will you make sure your kid stays home when sick, and provide them with a well-fitting quality mask?

No, but I will advocate for the thing that will ACTUALLY make it safer: mandatory vax for all adults in dcps schools.

NP. You won’t commit to any of those? Not even not sending your sick kid to school?

No, but NOPE. Onus should be on unvaxed adults. My kids have done enough.

So wait, you are saying you would send your kids to school WITH covid? Because your kids have done enough?

My kids are vaxxed and I would do a Covid test if they are symptomatic. But I am honestly pissed at the prospect of them having to wear masks and have another subpar year. They are in MS and HS. I want mandatory vaxes for 12 and up.

My question was implicitly directed at the parents of kids too young for vaccines. Thanks for sharing, though. The age of your kids clarified what sounded like an extreme position, although I am concerned that some parents of younger kids would feel the same way, alas, from what I've read on this board.

I’m the DP above who will send my kid in with runny noses and lingering coughs. They are 7 and 5...

And they will be sent home again, and you’ll be asked to pick them up and get a Covid test because runny noses happen to be one of the symptoms of Delta (it wasn’t a symptom, nor was sneezing, of the original disease which was a great thing for allergy sufferers all year.

My kids were in DCPS in person in the spring and in DCPS camp this summer and never got sent home for runny noses and lingering coughs

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Those of you angry about school closures or virtual learning, whose kids struggled so much last school year, will you do your part to make school safe and open by opting IN to in-school asymptomatic testing, respecting travel quarantine rules, avoiding indoor sports and unmasked indoor gatherings this winter? Will you make sure your kid stays home when sick, and provide them with a well-fitting quality mask?

No, but I will advocate for the thing that will ACTUALLY make it safer: mandatory vax for all adults in dcps schools.

NP. You won’t commit to any of those? Not even not sending your sick kid to school?

No, but NOPE. Onus should be on unvaxed adults. My kids have done enough.

So wait, you are saying you would send your kids to school WITH covid? Because your kids have done enough?

My kids are vaxxed and I would do a Covid test if they are symptomatic. But I am honestly pissed at the prospect of them having to wear masks and have another subpar year. They are in MS and HS. I want mandatory vaxes for 12 and up.

My question was implicitly directed at the parents of kids too young for vaccines. Thanks for sharing, though. The age of your kids clarified what sounded like an extreme position, although I am concerned that some parents of younger kids would feel the same way, alas, from what I've read on this board.

I’m the DP above who will send my kid in with runny noses and lingering coughs. They are 7 and 5...

And they will be sent home again, and you’ll be asked to pick them up and get a Covid test because runny noses happen to be one of the symptoms of Delta (it wasn’t a symptom, nor was sneezing, of the original disease which was a great thing for allergy sufferers all year.

My kids were in DCPS in person in the spring and in DCPS camp this summer and never got sent home for runny noses and lingering coughs

+1. My youngest has had a runny nose for 2 weeks. Multiple negative CoVID tests.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Those of you angry about school closures or virtual learning, whose kids struggled so much last school year, will you do your part to make school safe and open by opting IN to in-school asymptomatic testing, respecting travel quarantine rules, avoiding indoor sports and unmasked indoor gatherings this winter? Will you make sure your kid stays home when sick, and provide them with a well-fitting quality mask?

No, but I will advocate for the thing that will ACTUALLY make it safer: mandatory vax for all adults in dcps schools.

NP. You won’t commit to any of those? Not even not sending your sick kid to school?

No, but NOPE. Onus should be on unvaxed adults. My kids have done enough.

So wait, you are saying you would send your kids to school WITH covid? Because your kids have done enough?

My kids are vaxxed and I would do a Covid test if they are symptomatic. But I am honestly pissed at the prospect of them having to wear masks and have another subpar year. They are in MS and HS. I want mandatory vaxes for 12 and up.

My question was implicitly directed at the parents of kids too young for vaccines. Thanks for sharing, though. The age of your kids clarified what sounded like an extreme position, although I am concerned that some parents of younger kids would feel the same way, alas, from what I've read on this board.

I’m the DP above who will send my kid in with runny noses and lingering coughs. They are 7 and 5...

And they will be sent home again, and you’ll be asked to pick them up and get a Covid test because runny noses happen to be one of the symptoms of Delta (it wasn’t a symptom, nor was sneezing, of the original disease which was a great thing for allergy sufferers all year.

My kids were in DCPS in person in the spring and in DCPS camp this summer and never got sent home for runny noses and lingering coughs

+1. My youngest has had a runny nose for 2 weeks. Multiple negative CoVID tests.

+1

I just don’t think they can be that strict on things like a runny nose. Those can last a week or longer. They can’t keep kids out every time that happens.