MCPS will now send kids home for ten days based on symptoms only

[Anonymous]

I am so disappointed kn mcps but not surprised. This is the plan to close the schools without closing the schools. Put so many kids in quarantine that the parents demand a proper virtual and they shut down in person school. Tell your kids not to ask the teacher to go to the nurse nor complain about slight headaches or stomachaches..

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Apparently the new “guidance” confirms what we’ve been hearing. If a child has “symptoms” associated with COVID (could be a runny nose) their close contacts (this has been interpreted as the entire class in many schools) are quarantined for ten days.

This is completely ludicrous and not based in science or CDC guidelines.

Without testing this seem reasoble. Assuming anyone can simply get a rapid negative test to negate this.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am so disappointed kn mcps but not surprised. This is the plan to close the schools without closing the schools. Put so many kids in quarantine that the parents demand a proper virtual and they shut down in person school. Tell your kids not to ask the teacher to go to the nurse nor complain about slight headaches or stomachaches..

I don't think MCPS has a choice since many parents have even made it clear they're fine sending their sick kids to school and aren't concerned with the welfare of others

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don’t understand this policy at all. Why can’t the exposed kids get tested and demonstrate they’re negative? Why do we have to rely on the individual who has the symptoms? None of this makes any sense at all!! If my kid is exposed to a symptomatic kid and I get a test showing my kid is negative, then why does my Covid-free kid have to miss out on 10 days of education?!? Unbelievable this county.

They can!!! I don't understand you at all! Why can't you read!!!

Where in the guidance does it say that the exposed individuals can return with proof of negative test? The burden of proof is on the symptomatic individual.

They might move on that. Mostly the reasoning is that it takes about 4 days to develop Delta symptoms. The old guidance with previous strains, which took longer to replicate, was 10 to 14 days. So they went with 10 days, which is a bit long for Delta.

I'd tweak the rules to add that the original symptomatic student must get tested by MCPS immediately onsite.

This is really the only part that's missing from these otherwise reasonable rules.

I am one of those above complainers who is extremely opposed to these new guidelines but I agree with this. If the symptomatic student had to get immediately tested, and a negative rapid test cleared the rest of the class from quarantine, that would make a lot of sense. Then the kid would have to get a second PCR test at home to come back.

We can debate getting on a bus or whatever all day but of course there is an equality issue with then forcing the family to obtain a test. It’s also a serious practical issue- regardless of income there’s no direction that the family has to test quickly, and some tests don’t come back for days. Some parents can’t immediately get off work to test.

Also they are requiring a PCR test - they wouldn’t clear one of the classes in question yesterday on the child’s negative rapid test (even though they are most accurate when symptomatic, as someone else pointed out).

Again before people freak out and cite stats about rapid vs PCR, I am saying the rest of the class (who are masked and may not have been anywhere close to the child) should be cleared from quarantine on a negative rapid test, not the student themselves.

The main problem with this policy is that any kid with a headache can trigger their whole class to stay home for days. The kids know that, so they are now scared to go to the nurse and might not actually go if they are indeed sick with actual covid.

And I should add that is just more anxiety for these kids, on top of having to go back and forth from virtual to in person more often just because of one symptom, which is so disruptive and stressful. Delta is scary and obviously we need to take precautions, and they are already. But going overboard with these rules has actual mental health consequences on these kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
This is for MD as a whole not for MoCo with 90% of eligible population already vaccinated. MoCo cases are at 10.7.

Exactly 10.7 cases per 100,000, half of what the state of MD is seeing, and our hospitalizations are a 1/3 of what they were same time last year. https://bethesdamagazine.com/bethesda-beat/coronavirus/as-covid-19-cases-increase-hospitalizations-remain-lower-than-in-previous-waves/. here MoCo’s sweetheart Dr. Gayles acknowledges that MoCo is doing just fine.

NO. MoCo is NOT doing just fine. The trend is not going in the right direction. Surrounding counties have more cases per 100K and schools have JUST opened. What the heck do you think is going to happen?!?! It's going to go up, of course! And when do you think it's time for public health officials to act, hmm? When cases are sky-high, or when they see that it's going to become sky-high if they don't do anything? Perhaps the latter, don't you think?

This is why MCPS is acting now.

And what is the 7 day moving average of deaths in this county? You left that graph out. We have vaccines that pretty much eliminate the worst of COVID and we know kids are low risk for serious complications. Last year the narrative was vaccinate adults and there’s no reason why kids can’t be in school especially elementary. Now the narrative is elementary kids can’t be in schools because they’re not vaccinated. The policy should be changed to confirm to basically every other district and the symptomatic student only quarantines until they produce a test.

[Anonymous]

My kid got tested negative with one covid symptom ( lingering non contagious cough) right before school started this Monday, with this new MCPS announcement, I am taking him to get tested again today with doctor note just in case. We are busy working parents, i do think it is really ridiculous to send the whole class home for a child’s one symptom. At least, I will try my part to get my kid tested and my child won’t be the reason that whole class has to go home. Doctor says that non contagious cough can last for weeks. Does that mean I have to rested every week? He sometimes cough zero for a few hours, sometimes a few coughing only because of itchy throat and moisture trapped behind mask.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don’t understand this policy at all. Why can’t the exposed kids get tested and demonstrate they’re negative? Why do we have to rely on the individual who has the symptoms? None of this makes any sense at all!! If my kid is exposed to a symptomatic kid and I get a test showing my kid is negative, then why does my Covid-free kid have to miss out on 10 days of education?!? Unbelievable this county.

They can!!! I don't understand you at all! Why can't you read!!!

Where in the guidance does it say that the exposed individuals can return with proof of negative test? The burden of proof is on the symptomatic individual.

The pp is the one lacking reading comprehension skills. It a kid tests positive, the school will keep the other kids home for a minimum of 10 days. There’s no shortcut.

This is why it’s critical to never tell mcps if your child tests positive. Or help contact tracers.

Exactly

If you want schools to close for the year, go right ahead with that fool-proof strategy.

What you have to demand from MCPS, tonight, by emailing the BOE and interim super, is to test every symptomatic student onsite immediately, unless they have a doctor's note with an alternate diagnosis, such as allergies or asthma. That way, close contacts won't have to quarantine as often, since some of these symptoms won't be due to Covid.

Most. Most of those symptoms won’t be due to COVID.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
This is for MD as a whole not for MoCo with 90% of eligible population already vaccinated. MoCo cases are at 10.7.

Exactly 10.7 cases per 100,000, half of what the state of MD is seeing, and our hospitalizations are a 1/3 of what they were same time last year. https://bethesdamagazine.com/bethesda-beat/coronavirus/as-covid-19-cases-increase-hospitalizations-remain-lower-than-in-previous-waves/. here MoCo’s sweetheart Dr. Gayles acknowledges that MoCo is doing just fine.

Uhh..you divide the number in the graph by 7 to get the daily number per 100000. Which gives you 15.

Uhh no you don’t because 106 is the average over the 7 days so you take 106 divide by total county population and multiply by 100,000

Both approaches are actually valid, but they're moot. The most critical point is the trend. The context is that there is a sharp increase in cases in our entire DC, VA and MD area, and that schools have just begun to open, which means that cases will continue to increase. Looking at the Moco graph isn't actually as helpful as looking at the larger region, since we don't have border walls between counties. Both paint the same picture, however: we are going the wrong way!

Only a troll or an idiot could see this as anything but concerning.

Except that multiple studies have shown that cases in school are lower than the broader population- and that’s without mask use. Follow the science, people.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:MCPS should provide the testing. Bottom line. You want to keep schools open? Provide free testing. Larla has a cough? Bring her to the nurse, mom signs a consent form, and the school administers the test. Everyone gets to stay in school. Larla can either stay or recover at home provided the test is negative. We’re one of the wealthiest counties in the country and instead we’re acting as though we have no resources at our disposal. Heck instead of giving my 1st grader a chromebook, reallocate those funds to TESTS, so my 1st grader doesn’t have to sit at home for 10 days. Even better, administer testing of all students every damn week if you really want to keep schools open and have reliable case data.

Why is it the schools responsibility to parent your child? Why have kids if you refuse to take care of them or get health care. You need mcps to stay open. Mcps does not.

Wow, um have you ever heard of equity? Not everyone has easy access to a test and can drop everything to get their kid tested or take them to the dr. If the county is going to put in place a requirement that in turn could prevent some kids from have access to the free and public education they’re entitled to, then they need to provide the testing. This policy is going to disproportionately impact lower income parts of the county.

This has nothing to do with equity. It is parenting. The lower income are not complaining. Stop blaming them for your lazy behavior.

If my kid has the symptoms, I’d run off to my nearest testing site, get him tested immediately and have the results in hand within 12-24 hours—bc I have the means and the time to do that. Not everyone does. I don’t understand your comment at all.

Testing is free. If you are a parent, you find the time or find someone else to take your child. Stop making excuses for others. Ride on busses are free this month.

Way to miss the point. As has already been said multiple times in this thread, you are at the mercy of the one kid who coughed in class. You have no control over that kids family or circumstances. What if they don’t understand? What if they refuse to test? What if they just don’t care? What if little Johnny lied about the headache to get out of math?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don’t understand this policy at all. Why can’t the exposed kids get tested and demonstrate they’re negative? Why do we have to rely on the individual who has the symptoms? None of this makes any sense at all!! If my kid is exposed to a symptomatic kid and I get a test showing my kid is negative, then why does my Covid-free kid have to miss out on 10 days of education?!? Unbelievable this county.

They can!!! I don't understand you at all! Why can't you read!!!

Where in the guidance does it say that the exposed individuals can return with proof of negative test? The burden of proof is on the symptomatic individual.

They might move on that. Mostly the reasoning is that it takes about 4 days to develop Delta symptoms. The old guidance with previous strains, which took longer to replicate, was 10 to 14 days. So they went with 10 days, which is a bit long for Delta.

I'd tweak the rules to add that the original symptomatic student must get tested by MCPS immediately onsite.

This is really the only part that's missing from these otherwise reasonable rules.

I am one of those above complainers who is extremely opposed to these new guidelines but I agree with this. If the symptomatic student had to get immediately tested, and a negative rapid test cleared the rest of the class from quarantine, that would make a lot of sense. Then the kid would have to get a second PCR test at home to come back.

We can debate getting on a bus or whatever all day but of course there is an equality issue with then forcing the family to obtain a test. It’s also a serious practical issue- regardless of income there’s no direction that the family has to test quickly, and some tests don’t come back for days. Some parents can’t immediately get off work to test.

Also they are requiring a PCR test - they wouldn’t clear one of the classes in question yesterday on the child’s negative rapid test (even though they are most accurate when symptomatic, as someone else pointed out).

Again before people freak out and cite stats about rapid vs PCR, I am saying the rest of the class (who are masked and may not have been anywhere close to the child) should be cleared from quarantine on a negative rapid test, not the student themselves.

The main problem with this policy is that any kid with a headache can trigger their whole class to stay home for days. The kids know that, so they are now scared to go to the nurse and might not actually go if they are indeed sick with actual covid.

Agree with all of the above. Also want to point out, these kids are little and haven’t been in school for 18 months. They probably didn’t get sick at all last winter while in virtual school. They don’t have the life experience to know whether their headache may be from forgetting to drink enough water or whether their tummy ache may be because they have no idea if they’re allowed to go inside to go number 2 during recess and they hold it in.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don’t understand this policy at all. Why can’t the exposed kids get tested and demonstrate they’re negative? Why do we have to rely on the individual who has the symptoms? None of this makes any sense at all!! If my kid is exposed to a symptomatic kid and I get a test showing my kid is negative, then why does my Covid-free kid have to miss out on 10 days of education?!? Unbelievable this county.

They can!!! I don't understand you at all! Why can't you read!!!

Where in the guidance does it say that the exposed individuals can return with proof of negative test? The burden of proof is on the symptomatic individual.

They might move on that. Mostly the reasoning is that it takes about 4 days to develop Delta symptoms. The old guidance with previous strains, which took longer to replicate, was 10 to 14 days. So they went with 10 days, which is a bit long for Delta.

I'd tweak the rules to add that the original symptomatic student must get tested by MCPS immediately onsite.

This is really the only part that's missing from these otherwise reasonable rules.

I am one of those above complainers who is extremely opposed to these new guidelines but I agree with this. If the symptomatic student had to get immediately tested, and a negative rapid test cleared the rest of the class from quarantine, that would make a lot of sense. Then the kid would have to get a second PCR test at home to come back.

We can debate getting on a bus or whatever all day but of course there is an equality issue with then forcing the family to obtain a test. It’s also a serious practical issue- regardless of income there’s no direction that the family has to test quickly, and some tests don’t come back for days. Some parents can’t immediately get off work to test.

Also they are requiring a PCR test - they wouldn’t clear one of the classes in question yesterday on the child’s negative rapid test (even though they are most accurate when symptomatic, as someone else pointed out).

Again before people freak out and cite stats about rapid vs PCR, I am saying the rest of the class (who are masked and may not have been anywhere close to the child) should be cleared from quarantine on a negative rapid test, not the student themselves.

The main problem with this policy is that any kid with a headache can trigger their whole class to stay home for days. The kids know that, so they are now scared to go to the nurse and might not actually go if they are indeed sick with actual covid.

That they are requiring a PCR test is key here. It means that less than 24 hours at home is a pipe dream. The free pcr testing frequently takes much longer than that.

[Anonymous]

Is there anything we can do to stop the unnecessary disruption due to random quarantines every time some kid coughs or has a headache? This is madness! MCPS has failed our students yet again. How is it that we can’t do anything about it???

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Apparently the new “guidance” confirms what we’ve been hearing. If a child has “symptoms” associated with COVID (could be a runny nose) their close contacts (this has been interpreted as the entire class in many schools) are quarantined for ten days.

This is completely ludicrous and not based in science or CDC guidelines.

Without testing this seem reasoble. Assuming anyone can simply get a rapid negative test to negate this.

They won’t accept rapid tests.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Is there anything we can do to stop the unnecessary disruption due to random quarantines every time some kid coughs or has a headache? This is madness! MCPS has failed our students yet again. How is it that we can’t do anything about it???

Write to the board. Then write again. Call. Reach out to the dept of health. Call your principal. Write to Hogan. Make a scene. If we all do this we have a chance.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:MCPS should provide the testing. Bottom line. You want to keep schools open? Provide free testing. Larla has a cough? Bring her to the nurse, mom signs a consent form, and the school administers the test. Everyone gets to stay in school. Larla can either stay or recover at home provided the test is negative. We’re one of the wealthiest counties in the country and instead we’re acting as though we have no resources at our disposal. Heck instead of giving my 1st grader a chromebook, reallocate those funds to TESTS, so my 1st grader doesn’t have to sit at home for 10 days. Even better, administer testing of all students every damn week if you really want to keep schools open and have reliable case data.

Why is it the schools responsibility to parent your child? Why have kids if you refuse to take care of them or get health care. You need mcps to stay open. Mcps does not.

Wow, um have you ever heard of equity? Not everyone has easy access to a test and can drop everything to get their kid tested or take them to the dr. If the county is going to put in place a requirement that in turn could prevent some kids from have access to the free and public education they’re entitled to, then they need to provide the testing. This policy is going to disproportionately impact lower income parts of the county.

This has nothing to do with equity. It is parenting. The lower income are not complaining. Stop blaming them for your lazy behavior.

If my kid has the symptoms, I’d run off to my nearest testing site, get him tested immediately and have the results in hand within 12-24 hours—bc I have the means and the time to do that. Not everyone does. I don’t understand your comment at all.

Testing is free. If you are a parent, you find the time or find someone else to take your child. Stop making excuses for others. Ride on busses are free this month.

Way to miss the point. As has already been said multiple times in this thread, you are at the mercy of the one kid who coughed in class. You have no control over that kids family or circumstances. What if they don’t understand? What if they refuse to test? What if they just don’t care? What if little Johnny lied about the headache to get out of math?

This is probably the worst policy in the country. Why is MCPS so uniquely bad at this?