People asking why we aren't "up in arms" about ridiculous policies. This is why. And many people are in similar boats, or some even think the policies are good and wanted. |
Yes, MDH/MSDE has guidelines, but they're specifically not requirements. Did you read the document? I did, and I talked to the head of Early Childhood Development in MSDE about them. |
It's actually MDH/MSDE document |
And they said the guidelines aren't mandatory? It's just suggestive? |
To quote Steven Hicks, "This is guidance. Child care programs and schools should follow the directive of their local health department." Further, the MDH/MSDE document itself says: "By law, each local school system, nonpublic school, and child care program may set their own policies and procedures for their schools, students/children, teachers, and staff. However, MDH and MSDE strongly recommend that these entities work with local health departments to implement the layered prevention strategies needed to protect students/children, teachers, and staff in their setting and adopt policies consistent with the recommendations in this guidance." |
Well our public school system is virtual and our county has been the most restrictive due to high cases and was the last to remove restrictions so it matches. It's not like childcare choices abound AND it seems like they are following guidance it's just there is not systemic support for kids and their parents. Yet again we are protecting everyone else at the expense of families. |
It is not a directive. They are enforcing it with orders from the governor if need be to close down childcare facilities that don’t listen to them. |
This is OP. Hasn’t this convo gone off the rails?
Frankly, omicron scares me. If it doesn’t scare you, perhaps you aren’t reading the news. |
No, they're not. I quoted the person that heads the division responsible for regulating child care and preschool in Maryland. These aren't requirements, and weren't intended to be. But I understand that many providers and counties view them as requirements. That disconnect is a problem. |
So, you haven't read the news reports showing that the real-world data involving hospitalizations suggests Omicron is less virulent than Delta? https://www.nytimes.com/2021/12/17/world/south-africa-omicron-hospitalizations.html |
OP, I'm reading the news, and while there is still potential for it to be quite bad, there is also a reasonable chance that it won't be so bao, in particular for the vaccinated and the young/healthy. So, yes, my 3 year old is much more likely to get COVID than she was pre-Omicron, and I hate that. But she was always low risk, and remains to be. I do feel for the more medically vulnerable, though. (But also, you and other concerned parents are a reason I'm not "up in arms" requesting different policies. Now is just not the time. People are scared, and they are not crazy to be scared. I think they are wrong, but... maybe I'm the one who is wrong. We'll know more in 2 or 3 weeks.) |
There is **no** reason preschoolers and children in daycare settings shouldn't be able to do things like test out of quarantine 5 days after an exposure. Dropping masks? Sure, now might not be the best time for that. But there's low-hanging fruit that can make things better for kids while having no adverse impact. |
All the adults in my family are vaxed and boosted. The children too young to be vaxed are also at the least risk from Covid. At this point I’m honestly more scared of constant childcare disruptions than I am of actually getting sick. |
And are you doing anything about that? I can't even get state and local leaders to comment on preschool or child care. They're pretending it doesn't exist, or at least that there's no problem. I suspect they thought they could avoid the issue entirely until the vaccine solved the quarantine problem. But now we can't even count on that. |
No. I’m not sure what I could do about it. When my infant had a close contact in her classroom and the school required not only her, but also her bother - in the preschool classroom where there was no exposure - to quarantine for 14 days I complained to the director. A close contact of a close contact doesn’t need to quarantine according to the health department. The baby tested negative, her brother was not exposed, why do I have to keep them both home? I got a long paragraph about keeping the school community safe. And I mean, I can’t blame the director. It’s a hard job under these circumstances. They can’t have Covid ripping through their whole childcare center, I get that. I did look at comparable centers in my area. None have any less risk adverse policies, several are more risk adverse. Many require masks over 2. Mine doesn’t and I don’t want my 4 year old masked all day. So we’re not switching daycares. Again, I’m not sure what else I could do. |