Zero chance for school Friday, right?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Omicron will recede in February. Schools that close should reopen fairly quickly.

Re Friday, not much snow is forecast, but freezing temps will make most of it stick.

In normal times, they’d wait until 5am to decide between closure and a delay, but I doubt they have enough Covid-negative personnel to clean up all the schools in 2hrs…

… so a closure is likely. I just hope they don’t wait until 5am to announce a closure!

That's the problem. Schools should have opened in Sept 2020. But they didn't.

So yes, a temporary switch to virtual with a return at the end of Jan makes sense. But there is NO TRUST. So, as a parent of a kid who desperately needs in-person instruction, I would rather fight to hold tight for 2-3 weeks and then let cooler heads prevail once people see a peak and then a descent.

I'm also a parent of a kid who desperately needs in-person (waiting for the "you're a terrible parent" poster to hop in). At this point, I'd almost rather they rip off the Band-Aid and call it now. The not-knowing is the hardest part.

I don't believe it would only be a 2-week stint, but nor do I believe it would be the remainder of the school year. Maybe until mid-March, like last year.

Pass the tequila.

Its not about what your individual child "needs" its a public health concern.

DP, but children not having access to in-person school IS a public health problem. It may be the worst public health failure of this century, including the pandemic. It is unconscionable.

Also, what is it with this “your individual child doesn’t matter BS”? If someone said, “your individual immunocompromised parent doesn’t matter” people would lose their minds. So again, why don’t children matter?

All children matter and each child matters individually. Parents should make the best choices they can for their children. That’s why public health decisions are made by public health officials and not by polling parents. You’re right about that not being in-person for school is a public health crisis, which is why there’s such reluctance to go virtual now. However, it may become necessary due to lack of resources (staffing issues, transportation issues, very limited student attendance, inadequate testing supplies or manpower).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Between the escalating color fiasco and impending snow/ice, I figure they’ll call a snow day and give themselves another three days to cobble a plan together.

My DC high school plans for distributing rapid tests tomorrow. So we will be at school?

[Anonymous]

My Red middle schooler brought home rapid test kit today to test tonight...maybe there's hope?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Omicron will recede in February. Schools that close should reopen fairly quickly.

Re Friday, not much snow is forecast, but freezing temps will make most of it stick.

In normal times, they’d wait until 5am to decide between closure and a delay, but I doubt they have enough Covid-negative personnel to clean up all the schools in 2hrs…

… so a closure is likely. I just hope they don’t wait until 5am to announce a closure!

That's the problem. Schools should have opened in Sept 2020. But they didn't.

So yes, a temporary switch to virtual with a return at the end of Jan makes sense. But there is NO TRUST. So, as a parent of a kid who desperately needs in-person instruction, I would rather fight to hold tight for 2-3 weeks and then let cooler heads prevail once people see a peak and then a descent.

I'm also a parent of a kid who desperately needs in-person (waiting for the "you're a terrible parent" poster to hop in). At this point, I'd almost rather they rip off the Band-Aid and call it now. The not-knowing is the hardest part.

I don't believe it would only be a 2-week stint, but nor do I believe it would be the remainder of the school year. Maybe until mid-March, like last year.

Pass the tequila.

Its not about what your individual child "needs" its a public health concern.

It’s not about individual children. The evidence shows an significant number of children have suffered socially, developmentally, emotionally, and academically. This is a public health crisis.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yup. No school tomorrow. Then only virtual school until Spring.

I want the whole district to go virtual briefly, until we’re past the Omicron peak.

Two weeks to stop the spread!

Two weeks to spot the spread.... I thought that sounded strange on March 12, 2020. I asked my friend "Do you think this will go longer? I don't see how it'll all be okay after 2 weeks."

Here we are in Jan 2022. I am scared to bits that the schools will be closed for the rest of the school year.

Now you are catching on. That’s the way it will be. Virtual until at least March or April

[Anonymous]

So, if you're in the Red 11 (already virtual), do you still have school tomorrow if it's a snow day?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am not sure what a two week closure will accomplish. We will open up and find almost the same test results right away.

No, in two weeks the cases will likely be far lower. Omicron cases rise quickly and then fall quickly.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Omicron will recede in February. Schools that close should reopen fairly quickly.

Re Friday, not much snow is forecast, but freezing temps will make most of it stick.

In normal times, they’d wait until 5am to decide between closure and a delay, but I doubt they have enough Covid-negative personnel to clean up all the schools in 2hrs…

… so a closure is likely. I just hope they don’t wait until 5am to announce a closure!

That's the problem. Schools should have opened in Sept 2020. But they didn't.

So yes, a temporary switch to virtual with a return at the end of Jan makes sense. But there is NO TRUST. So, as a parent of a kid who desperately needs in-person instruction, I would rather fight to hold tight for 2-3 weeks and then let cooler heads prevail once people see a peak and then a descent.

I'm also a parent of a kid who desperately needs in-person (waiting for the "you're a terrible parent" poster to hop in). At this point, I'd almost rather they rip off the Band-Aid and call it now. The not-knowing is the hardest part.

I don't believe it would only be a 2-week stint, but nor do I believe it would be the remainder of the school year. Maybe until mid-March, like last year.

Pass the tequila.

Its not about what your individual child "needs" its a public health concern.

It’s not about individual children. The evidence shows an significant number of children have suffered socially, developmentally, emotionally, and academically. This is a public health crisis.

Right, but secondary to the other public health crisis.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So, if you're in the Red 11 (already virtual), do you still have school tomorrow if it's a snow day?

OOH, an honestly good question!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am not sure what a two week closure will accomplish. We will open up and find almost the same test results right away.

No, in two weeks the cases will likely be far lower. Omicron cases rise quickly and then fall quickly.

We cannot set a precedent that it is OK to close schools every time there is a new variant or cases rise. It is extremely dangerous far more so than covid to children and most people in MoCo.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am not sure what a two week closure will accomplish. We will open up and find almost the same test results right away.

No, in two weeks the cases will likely be far lower. Omicron cases rise quickly and then fall quickly.

We cannot set a precedent that it is OK to close schools every time there is a new variant or cases rise. It is extremely dangerous far more so than covid to children and most people in MoCo.

Why can't we set that precedence? It seems reasonable to me.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yup. No school tomorrow. Then only virtual school until Spring.

I want the whole district to go virtual briefly, until we’re past the Omicron peak.

Two weeks to stop the spread!

Two weeks to spot the spread.... I thought that sounded strange on March 12, 2020. I asked my friend "Do you think this will go longer? I don't see how it'll all be okay after 2 weeks."

Here we are in Jan 2022. I am scared to bits that the schools will be closed for the rest of the school year.

Now you are catching on. That’s the way it will be. Virtual until at least March or April

I feel the same.

The Omicron specific vaccine won’t come out until March and surely there will be some loud voices saying we need to wait until then.

Let MCPS shut schools down now and we’re done for at least a month or two.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am not sure what a two week closure will accomplish. We will open up and find almost the same test results right away.

No, in two weeks the cases will likely be far lower. Omicron cases rise quickly and then fall quickly.

We cannot set a precedent that it is OK to close schools every time there is a new variant or cases rise to a very high level. It is extremely dangerous far more so than covid to children and most people in MoCo.

DP, but uhhhhh yes we can and we should do what I bolded, at least for the foreseeable future.

It should happen rarely-- it didn't happen for delta or any other variant-- but yes, it should happen when cases are at this level and climbing, especially when there's a still substantial population, among children, that is not yet vaccinated.

And it shouldn't happen otherwise.

And it should FOLLOW lots of other things being closed-- we're all agreed on that one.

But yes, it should happen! And it always has, for severe viral outbreaks. In part because there isn't enough staff!

I don't understand your all-or-nothing mentality.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yup. No school tomorrow. Then only virtual school until Spring.

I want the whole district to go virtual briefly, until we’re past the Omicron peak.

Two weeks to stop the spread!

Two weeks to spot the spread.... I thought that sounded strange on March 12, 2020. I asked my friend "Do you think this will go longer? I don't see how it'll all be okay after 2 weeks."

Here we are in Jan 2022. I am scared to bits that the schools will be closed for the rest of the school year.

Now you are catching on. That’s the way it will be. Virtual until at least March or April

Why? Why can't MCPS just set a date like other normal counties have for mid or late January? Why does it have to be March or April? Why would we do that to ourselves? So dumb. No other county in the country is talking about staying closed until the spring. This is not 2020--I repeat this is not 2020

I feel the same.

The Omicron specific vaccine won’t come out until March and surely there will be some loud voices saying we need to wait until then.

Let MCPS shut schools down now and we’re done for at least a month or two.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yup. No school tomorrow. Then only virtual school until Spring.

I want the whole district to go virtual briefly, until we’re past the Omicron peak.

Two weeks to stop the spread!

Two weeks to spot the spread.... I thought that sounded strange on March 12, 2020. I asked my friend "Do you think this will go longer? I don't see how it'll all be okay after 2 weeks."

Here we are in Jan 2022. I am scared to bits that the schools will be closed for the rest of the school year.

Now you are catching on. That’s the way it will be. Virtual until at least March or April

I feel the same.

The Omicron specific vaccine won’t come out until March and surely there will be some loud voices saying we need to wait until then.

Let MCPS shut schools down now and we’re done for at least a month or two.

Still don't get it, eh?

If they don't shut down now, they will shut down in a few days or a week by absolute necessity.

"And then we're done for at least a month or two."

Let's say that's true. There is no stopping that outcome by not pivoting to virtual now. Case counts are continuing and will continue to rise. FFS.