All schools should offer an all-virtual option

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Reminder: If everyone got vaccinated, the pandemic would be all-but-over. It's the unvaccinated who are keeping it going.

Reminder: Children under 12 can’t get vaccinated yet.

Probably, though, we could reach herd immunity if all eligible got vaxxed, as kids are only like 20% of the population.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Reminder: If everyone got vaccinated, the pandemic would be all-but-over. It's the unvaccinated who are keeping it going.

Reminder: Children under 12 can’t get vaccinated yet.

Probably, though, we could reach herd immunity if all eligible got vaxxed, as kids are only like 20% of the population.

Latest figures are 90+ because of Delta.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Reminder: If everyone got vaccinated, the pandemic would be all-but-over. It's the unvaccinated who are keeping it going.

Reminder: Children under 12 can’t get vaccinated yet.

Probably, though, we could reach herd immunity if all eligible got vaxxed, as kids are only like 20% of the population.

Latest figures are 90+ because of Delta.

Ok then maybe with the entirety of everyone eligible PLUS those kids that have already had covid.

To be clear: I was being marginally hopeful above. We will likely still need a proportion of kids <12 to be vaccinated, because of delta and because adults are dumb.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Reminder: If everyone got vaccinated, the pandemic would be all-but-over. It's the unvaccinated who are keeping it going.

Reminder: Children under 12 can’t get vaccinated yet.

Kids aren't the problem. The problem is the appalling number of adults who refuse to get vaccinated. They are the ones everyone should be focused on.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Articles specifically on delta in children:

https://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/list/990789.page

An MD"s thread specifically on delta in children:

How is Delta doing in DC? Is Childrens filled? No? Then what’s the relevance?

Stop trying to ruin school for everyone else.

Hypothetically, would you evacuate your beachfront Florida home if meteorologists told you a hurricane was coming but you couldn't see it out the window? Sounds like not.

Oh ffs. That is a totally inapt analogy. This is more like “would you bulldoze your neighbors house because you heard their may be strong winds with a 0.01% percentage of falling on your house”?

I know you feel we want to bulldoze your figurative house - you've behaved accordingly this past week. We just want to learn from home until the vaccine is ready or the virus numbers are low enough to be safe. We don't even want your kid to do that. Your kid go to school, go. No bulldozing.

YOU may homeschool. Stop demanding everyone cater to you.

After a year of DL, hybrid, concurrent, asymptomatic testing, smaller cohorts, it isn't ethical to tell families "Yeah, we're not doing any of that anymore, no version of it. We know the risks are far greater now, but we can't afford to mitigate them. So send your kids in with us or figure something out on your own." DCPS has a responsibility towards all of its students, including those whose families want their children vaccinated before going into a full classroom with delta circulating.

So much this.

Agree 100%. The delta virus is more contagious and now it is also looking to be more virulent. And hospitals are seeing more serious pediatric cases. The only reason that this is not being talked about is that no politician wants to face these facts, and no public health official wants to receive death threats from angry parents. Many schools in DCPS recognized that they could not possibly open up safely last year for 100% of their students 100% of the time, whether that was due to overcrowding or other issues. Now we are supposed to celebrate 100% re-opening for everyone 5 days a week. But the virus is more dangerous and it is more contagious, and nothing has changed about schools' ability to open safely at 100% capacity. And, yes, they have dropped mitigation measures. There is no longer random asymptomatic testing. There is no longer quarantining close contacts (based on the CDC fiction that every child will be "properly wearing a well-fitted mask.") There is no longer cohorting.
And distancing is encouraged only "when possible" (which, as previously mentioned, it is not at many schools).

As part of the pro-vax campaign, public health officials are basically now screaming from the roof tops that anyone left unvaccinated against covid will eventually catch the delta variant. Of course this also applies to unvaccinated children. I'm not sure why it is so much to ask to give parents a virtual option until their kids can be vaxed. Distance learning worked very well for both of our children last year. Not only did they not fall behind academically, they achieved MORE than they had in previous years because they had so much down time when we could add supplementary material. If your child's needs to be in-school outweigh their health concerns, then that is a fine choice. But why should we be forced into a dangerous situation when we have proven that we can excel at home, and the pediatric vaccine is on its way? Then, of course, kids should all be back at school.

It is not looking like it is more virulent for kids.

You notice that you are developing in your mind a large conspiracy about pediatricians and public health experts, yes?

Parents have been given a virtual option. You have other options.

Actually PP is correct. It is looking more virulent.

And asking parents to lose their spot in a school system that is built on the luck of the lottery is a ridiculous position to take.

I mean, the school could say "go ahead and homeschool for the semester and we will hold your spot." Which is far easier on resources than every single school expending scarce resources on virtual options for a small percentage of parents. The OP doesn't suggest this, though, which is odd. And the OP doesn't say what happened when they asked their school about their concerns. Again...why?

Otherwise, seriously, the poster is putting their lottery spot above their kids' lives (at least in their own mind). It seems a bit disingenuous.

I am firmly against the public school system offering a virtual option for any but the most medically fragile kids, but this seems like a reasonable solution. Then again, I have no stake in the charter lottery game.

[Anonymous]

Wrong. It is both. The only reason that the adults are the "problem" is that they are the ones with a choice in the matter. The adults absolutely should get vaxed. But the shift to indoor schooling just as delta cases are exploding is also going to increase the spread, and also put kids at an increased risk. How to balance that risk against the potential learning loss from not having school back to "normal" is a matter of debate. But let's not pretend that both groups do not create challenges for containing delta.

The adults that can get a vax should get a vax. For kids who need to be in congregate settings staring in the fall (which is almost all of them) we need to figure out ways to mitigate their risk. The fact that parents are in the dark about school-specific plans less than a month before school starts is concerning.

[Anonymous]

Charters did all sorts of weird stuff last year to accommodate individual parents. People lived in other countries and maintained their charter spots. People had their kids enrolled in privates and maintained their charter spots. Given that we are still in the weirdness in schooling related to the pandemic, I would go and test that water to see if they would accommodate me.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Wrong. It is both. The only reason that the adults are the "problem" is that they are the ones with a choice in the matter. The adults absolutely should get vaxed. But the shift to indoor schooling just as delta cases are exploding is also going to increase the spread, and also put kids at an increased risk. How to balance that risk against the potential learning loss from not having school back to "normal" is a matter of debate. But let's not pretend that both groups do not create challenges for containing delta.

The adults that can get a vax should get a vax. For kids who need to be in congregate settings staring in the fall (which is almost all of them) we need to figure out ways to mitigate their risk. The fact that parents are in the dark about school-specific plans less than a month before school starts is concerning.

Although, apparently we are three weeks into delta, and other countries had delta peak in 6 weeks, so it's conceivable that our delta will peak before school opens (or at least shortly thereafter). Fingers crossed!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wrong. It is both. The only reason that the adults are the "problem" is that they are the ones with a choice in the matter. The adults absolutely should get vaxed. But the shift to indoor schooling just as delta cases are exploding is also going to increase the spread, and also put kids at an increased risk. How to balance that risk against the potential learning loss from not having school back to "normal" is a matter of debate. But let's not pretend that both groups do not create challenges for containing delta.

The adults that can get a vax should get a vax. For kids who need to be in congregate settings staring in the fall (which is almost all of them) we need to figure out ways to mitigate their risk. The fact that parents are in the dark about school-specific plans less than a month before school starts is concerning.

Although, apparently we are three weeks into delta, and other countries had delta peak in 6 weeks, so it's conceivable that our delta will peak before school opens (or at least shortly thereafter). Fingers crossed!

We are less overall vaccinated than those countries.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wrong. It is both. The only reason that the adults are the "problem" is that they are the ones with a choice in the matter. The adults absolutely should get vaxed. But the shift to indoor schooling just as delta cases are exploding is also going to increase the spread, and also put kids at an increased risk. How to balance that risk against the potential learning loss from not having school back to "normal" is a matter of debate. But let's not pretend that both groups do not create challenges for containing delta.

The adults that can get a vax should get a vax. For kids who need to be in congregate settings staring in the fall (which is almost all of them) we need to figure out ways to mitigate their risk. The fact that parents are in the dark about school-specific plans less than a month before school starts is concerning.

Although, apparently we are three weeks into delta, and other countries had delta peak in 6 weeks, so it's conceivable that our delta will peak before school opens (or at least shortly thereafter). Fingers crossed!

Super-interesting point. Although, the US is so much bigger than other countries and the DC area will probably be on the later side of the Delta peak...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wrong. It is both. The only reason that the adults are the "problem" is that they are the ones with a choice in the matter. The adults absolutely should get vaxed. But the shift to indoor schooling just as delta cases are exploding is also going to increase the spread, and also put kids at an increased risk. How to balance that risk against the potential learning loss from not having school back to "normal" is a matter of debate. But let's not pretend that both groups do not create challenges for containing delta.

The adults that can get a vax should get a vax. For kids who need to be in congregate settings staring in the fall (which is almost all of them) we need to figure out ways to mitigate their risk. The fact that parents are in the dark about school-specific plans less than a month before school starts is concerning.

Although, apparently we are three weeks into delta, and other countries had delta peak in 6 weeks, so it's conceivable that our delta will peak before school opens (or at least shortly thereafter). Fingers crossed!

We are less overall vaccinated than those countries.

But sadly we probably have more natural immunity because we are more moronic.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wrong. It is both. The only reason that the adults are the "problem" is that they are the ones with a choice in the matter. The adults absolutely should get vaxed. But the shift to indoor schooling just as delta cases are exploding is also going to increase the spread, and also put kids at an increased risk. How to balance that risk against the potential learning loss from not having school back to "normal" is a matter of debate. But let's not pretend that both groups do not create challenges for containing delta.

The adults that can get a vax should get a vax. For kids who need to be in congregate settings staring in the fall (which is almost all of them) we need to figure out ways to mitigate their risk. The fact that parents are in the dark about school-specific plans less than a month before school starts is concerning.

Although, apparently we are three weeks into delta, and other countries had delta peak in 6 weeks, so it's conceivable that our delta will peak before school opens (or at least shortly thereafter). Fingers crossed!

Super-interesting point. Although, the US is so much bigger than other countries and the DC area will probably be on the later side of the Delta peak...

The things I'm also reading is that the delta increases are likely to be localized, and highly related to vaccination rates. So we can take some solace that while the U.S. sucks overall in vaccination rates, in DC ~73% of adults have had one dose already. (I would imagine some very localized outbreaks in Wards 7 and 8, though.)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Minimizing childhood Covid in the US—a play in 4 acts

Act 1 “Kids don’t get Covid”
Act 2 “Kids get Covid but don’t get ill”
Act 3 “Kids die from Covid but don’t worry, only kids with pre-existing conditions die”
Act 4 “Don’t worry, kids also die from drowning or car crashes”

zero covid deaths of kids in DC and MoCo. the understanding of covid and kids has been really pretty stable all along - taking into account, of course, the quickly changing landscape. there are certainly still some questions related to Delta, but the underlying assessment seems to be true especially wrt schools.

Four dead kids in Maryland. And counting. How many dead kids are acceptable to you?

I mean, this is going to sound callous, but if kids have died of Covid in the last 16+ months, those seem like acceptable odds.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Minimizing childhood Covid in the US—a play in 4 acts

Act 1 “Kids don’t get Covid”
Act 2 “Kids get Covid but don’t get ill”
Act 3 “Kids die from Covid but don’t worry, only kids with pre-existing conditions die”
Act 4 “Don’t worry, kids also die from drowning or car crashes”

zero covid deaths of kids in DC and MoCo. the understanding of covid and kids has been really pretty stable all along - taking into account, of course, the quickly changing landscape. there are certainly still some questions related to Delta, but the underlying assessment seems to be true especially wrt schools.

Four dead kids in Maryland. And counting. How many dead kids are acceptable to you?

I mean, this is going to sound callous, but if kids have died of Covid in the last 16+ months, those seem like acceptable odds.

Obviously any child death is horrible, but it doesn't sound like closing schools is the prevention measure. Maryland closed schools last year, aside from a few months in the Spring, and have been closed over summer (aside from limited summer school). So these four deaths are tragic but they were very unlikely to have arisen from schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Minimizing childhood Covid in the US—a play in 4 acts

Act 1 “Kids don’t get Covid”
Act 2 “Kids get Covid but don’t get ill”
Act 3 “Kids die from Covid but don’t worry, only kids with pre-existing conditions die”
Act 4 “Don’t worry, kids also die from drowning or car crashes”

zero covid deaths of kids in DC and MoCo. the understanding of covid and kids has been really pretty stable all along - taking into account, of course, the quickly changing landscape. there are certainly still some questions related to Delta, but the underlying assessment seems to be true especially wrt schools.

Four dead kids in Maryland. And counting. How many dead kids are acceptable to you?

I mean, this is going to sound callous, but if kids have died of Covid in the last 16+ months, those seem like acceptable odds.

Obviously any child death is horrible, but it doesn't sound like closing schools is the prevention measure. Maryland closed schools last year, aside from a few months in the Spring, and have been closed over summer (aside from limited summer school). So these four deaths are tragic but they were very unlikely to have arisen from schools.

You seem to be missing the point that Delta hasn’t hit us yet and we’re about to send kids into packed massless cafeterias right when it does.