MCPS Officially announces schools opening as planned
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Anonymous
Edit - It's NOT on the MCPS website. |
Anonymous
| It’s crazy that here we are in almost 2022 with a vaccine available to almost all school aged kids and you folks are screaming to shut schools down like it is just a snow day. Our kids were home for a year!! No more. |
Anonymous
Me? I would keep home but my spouse disagrees. I'm going to try to pull out for lunch and take a few more steps forward in being "that crazy mom" at the school who is concerned. I resisted this for a long time because I felt like it would be bothering a lot of people who had little agency in their situation and the best I could do was try and mitigate risk for my children. If it wasn't high school at this point I'd probably see if I could swing a gap year. Kids are young for their age. Taking another year to finish hs doesn't seem the worst thing. We could call it "homeschooling." But it is high school and the academics are too intense for that. So I guess I'm that mom now. |
Anonymous
TV channels are saying " kids need to be back in school and we need to get people back to work". I am not sure that that means in terms of health and safety of children |
Anonymous
| No one wants schools closed, snow day poster. We just want tests available, screening, hepa filters, good masks, outdoor lunch as an option, and the ability to have faith that sociopaths like you aren't going to send sick kids to school. |
Anonymous
Sounds like the kid is lucky to have dad to balance that out. |
Anonymous
| I clicked on the link in the letter to schedule a county test. Nope- none available tomorrow. Surprised? No. But asking families to test before returning without offering any tests is not helpful. |
Anonymous
And the feds can't keep smithsonian museums open, either. |
Anonymous
Link no longer works. Did they change their minds?! |
Anonymous
I understand your frustration, but PP's post is not aligned with our reality. We didn't open schools during the first wave. The experience in Montgomery County and many other places is that once schools were closed, the bar to reopening was always impossibly high, until the vaccines came. You say it will be a couple of weeks, but in two weeks we'll have people (yes, MCEA members) screeching that cases haven't gone down enough, that they can't possibly teach in KN95 masks, that they need their fourth booster shot first before the elderly and the child care workers etc. etc. etc. Nobody believes MCPS is capable of reopening after a "temporary" systemwide closure. It is concerning that many if not all schools may have to close temporarily, but hopefully if it is at the individual school level it will be easier to reopen them. Or maybe not, maybe students are in for another couple months of virtual "learning", which I think will be awful. |
Anonymous
| Hmm... I just tried the link and it says 404: Page not Found... |
Anonymous
No, they walked that back. No plans to reopen on Sundays. |
Anonymous
Uh oh! 
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Anonymous
| I am an MCPS employee and haven’t received an email with the link/letter posted earlier (not a working link anymore). |
Anonymous
Hm. Maybe published too soon or in error. Like an obituary before a celebrity is declared dead. I took screenshots and it's still up on my browser-- let me copy and paste. Apologies for bad formatting. ALL SCHOOLS SCHEDULED TO REOPEN MONDAY, JAN. 3 December 30, 2021 Dear MCPS Community, As we near the end of winter break, we want to share some important information about the return to school. As of today, all 209 schools in MCPS are scheduled to reopen on Monday, January 3, 2022, for in-person instruction. Safety continues to be our top priority so we strongly encourage everyone to support us in the following ways: Continue to report positive cases. If your child tests positive, please report it to MCPS using this form. Beginning Monday, January 3, you may call your child’s school if you are not able to submit the information electronically. Get a COVID-19 test prior to returning to school if possible. Check with your healthcare provider, local clinic, pharmacy or the Montgomery County Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) to identify where and how to have your children tested. Keep children home if they have any symptoms of illness and get them tested for COVID-19. It’s important that students don't spread their illness to others. Please keep them home when they are sick and have them tested for COVID-19 as an extra precaution. Say Yes to the Test. Parents must give their permission for in-school testing and they can do so by completing this form. For more details, please visit our "Say Yes to the Test" website. We recognize that COVID-19 positive cases are rising in Montgomery County and across the country. The decision to open all schools was made after careful consideration and ongoing collaboration with the Montgomery County Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS). As we work to ensure the safety of our students, staff, family, and community members we are implementing additional mitigation measures in the coming days. Home rapid test kits for all students and staff This morning we learned that the Montgomery County Government will be providing at-home rapid test kits for all students and staff over the next two weeks. All families will be asked to administer the tests to their children and then report any positive test results. More details about the distribution of these test kits will be provided next week. Masks for staff members All staff members will receive KN-95 masks during the week of January 3. In-school testing for students continues We will be increasing the amount of screening tests for students who do not have symptoms and focus on schools with higher rates of cases. In addition, we will continue to provide free COVID-19 testing in schools for students – rapid testing in school health rooms for students who have symptoms and weekly screening tests for those who do not have symptoms. Current quarantine guidelines still in effect In alignment with current DHHS recommendations, MCPS will continue to use the same quarantine guidelines announced in November until further guidance is provided from the Maryland Department of Health (MDH). Individuals who test positive will need to continue to isolate for 10 days from the onset of symptoms, or 10 days from the date of the positive test for asymptomatic cases. While the Centers for Disease Control released a media statement earlier this week regarding changes to their isolation and quarantine guidance, MDH has not yet adopted these guidance changes. Guidelines for in-person non-athletic extracurricular activities In-person non-athletic extracurricular activities remain suspended through Friday, January 7. DHHS will be evaluating whether to extend or expand this suspension during the first week of January. Criteria for transitioning to virtual learning We are continuing to monitor cases on a daily basis. As we shared earlier, if 5 percent or more of unrelated students/teachers/staff (minimum of 10 of these individuals) tests positive in a 14-day period, a determination will be made as to whether the school should be closed for 14 calendar days and transition to virtual instruction. Please note that the 5 percent threshold does not automatically result in school closure; the primary factor to consider will be the level of the spread of the virus in the school. MCPS central office staff will work with DHHS in making this decision, and parents/guardians at the school will be notified when this occurs. Thank you for your support as we prepare for the first day of school in 2022! Montgomery County Public Schools Important Resources Need the shot? Visit the DHHS website to find a clinic and to register for a free vaccine. Do you have COVID-19 symptoms? Did you travel over winter break? Get a free test. |