COVID policy for 2023-24 school year

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:At an MCPS sports orientation last night, the athletic director said Covid diagnosis required 5 days off followed by 5 days masked.

That is ridiculous. And bad public health policy. What science are they basing that policy on?

No good reason to require 5 days off and then 5 days masked.

That is exactly why people just simply won’t test. If you don’t test, you don’t get the Covid diagnosis and can just go on assuming it’s a cold.

Don’t be that person.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:At an MCPS sports orientation last night, the athletic director said Covid diagnosis required 5 days off followed by 5 days masked.

That is ridiculous. And bad public health policy. What science are they basing that policy on?

No good reason to require 5 days off and then 5 days masked.

That is exactly why people just simply won’t test. If you don’t test, you don’t get the Covid diagnosis and can just go on assuming it’s a cold.

I agree. Such strict rules make people way less likely to test. Also, similar rules don’t exist for flu, which is I think in most cases is worse.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If you are extremely concerned about illness you have the option to homeschool. If you send your kids to school, you are accepting the risk.

Man, what an exceptionally privileged thing to say. How’d that homeschooling work out for you during the shutdowns? I assume not well, given the absolute insistence that “education is so important that your kids can’t take a sick day to avoid getting others sick.” Would you like to pay my mortgage so that I can homeschool my kids because you chose not to care about anyone but yourself?

And re the comment that if we send kids to school, we’re accepting risk… I was accepting that risk in the apparently naive hope that people had SOME level of personal responsibility and an understanding that: 1) teachers getting sick hurts all kids 2) your snotty kid getting a kid sick whose parents DO practice personal responsibility and follows covid guidelines costs THAT kid and THAT family and 3) lots of people still live in multi-generational households where covid can create real risk.

And before you come at me saying Covid isn’t as serious as the flu—I’d say the same thing about the flu, strep, norovirus, etc. Keep your sick kids home, let them rest and recover. I’m sure you’d curse whatever parents sent their kid to school with a stomach virus when that same stomach virus hits your house. Don’t be that parent.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you are extremely concerned about illness you have the option to homeschool. If you send your kids to school, you are accepting the risk.

Man, what an exceptionally privileged thing to say. How’d that homeschooling work out for you during the shutdowns? I assume not well, given the absolute insistence that “education is so important that your kids can’t take a sick day to avoid getting others sick.” Would you like to pay my mortgage so that I can homeschool my kids because you chose not to care about anyone but yourself?

And re the comment that if we send kids to school, we’re accepting risk… I was accepting that risk in the apparently naive hope that people had SOME level of personal responsibility and an understanding that: 1) teachers getting sick hurts all kids 2) your snotty kid getting a kid sick whose parents DO practice personal responsibility and follows covid guidelines costs THAT kid and THAT family and 3) lots of people still live in multi-generational households where covid can create real risk.

And before you come at me saying Covid isn’t as serious as the flu—I’d say the same thing about the flu, strep, norovirus, etc. Keep your sick kids home, let them rest and recover. I’m sure you’d curse whatever parents sent their kid to school with a stomach virus when that same stomach virus hits your house. Don’t be that parent.

If you have school-aged kids now, then you made the choice to have them before covid. Even then there was a recognition that kids get sick a lot, and that most people deemed it impractical to keep a child home any time they might have a contagious infection.

As you seemed to allude to, we’re far enough along with covid that it no longer significantly changes the overall risk landscape in schools. So it is natural to approach it in a similar way to other illnesses.

You may not like how society approaches illnesses, but don’t pretend it was a big surprise.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:At an MCPS sports orientation last night, the athletic director said Covid diagnosis required 5 days off followed by 5 days masked.

That is ridiculous. And bad public health policy. What science are they basing that policy on?

No good reason to require 5 days off and then 5 days masked.

That is exactly why people just simply won’t test. If you don’t test, you don’t get the Covid diagnosis and can just go on assuming it’s a cold.

Don’t be that person.

What person?

Fever free for 24 hours and the kid can go back to school. Why would we have a different rule for Covid versus the flu at this point?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:At an MCPS sports orientation last night, the athletic director said Covid diagnosis required 5 days off followed by 5 days masked.

That is ridiculous. And bad public health policy. What science are they basing that policy on?

No good reason to require 5 days off and then 5 days masked.

That is exactly why people just simply won’t test. If you don’t test, you don’t get the Covid diagnosis and can just go on assuming it’s a cold.

Don’t be that person.

What person?

Fever free for 24 hours and the kid can go back to school. Why would we have a different rule for Covid versus the flu at this point?

I interpreted it as don’t be a person that unnecessarily keeps your kids out of school because of the irrational fears of a small number of people with health anxiety.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:At an MCPS sports orientation last night, the athletic director said Covid diagnosis required 5 days off followed by 5 days masked.

That is ridiculous. And bad public health policy. What science are they basing that policy on?

No good reason to require 5 days off and then 5 days masked.

That is exactly why people just simply won’t test. If you don’t test, you don’t get the Covid diagnosis and can just go on assuming it’s a cold.

Don’t be that person.

What person?

Fever free for 24 hours and the kid can go back to school. Why would we have a different rule for Covid versus the flu at this point?

I interpreted it as don’t be a person that unnecessarily keeps your kids out of school because of the irrational fears of a small number of people with health anxiety.

+1 million to this.

No fever, and the kid is up for it - he/she is going to school. Not keeping an asymptomatic kid home from school for no good reason.

[Anonymous]

We avoid testing DD because she's had documented false positives on a couple of occasions. IMO the best way we can prevent her getting people sick is to keep her home on those days when she starts to feel off (runny nose, tired look, but no fever) and give her time to rest.

[Anonymous]

Why should MCPS be in the business of adopting a Covid policy separate from the CDC? Do you really think the district that has bungled up nearly everything else can get health policy better?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:At an MCPS sports orientation last night, the athletic director said Covid diagnosis required 5 days off followed by 5 days masked.

That is ridiculous. And bad public health policy. What science are they basing that policy on?

No good reason to require 5 days off and then 5 days masked.

That is exactly why people just simply won’t test. If you don’t test, you don’t get the Covid diagnosis and can just go on assuming it’s a cold.

Don’t be that person.

What person?

Fever free for 24 hours and the kid can go back to school. Why would we have a different rule for Covid versus the flu at this point?

I interpreted it as don’t be a person that unnecessarily keeps your kids out of school because of the irrational fears of a small number of people with health anxiety.

You mean because one parent has serious health issues. You clearly don’t get the difference between documented medical issues and mental health issues. A simple cold is no big deal to you. A simple cold lasts weeks for me and usually needs multiple rounds of antibiotics and steroids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why should MCPS be in the business of adopting a Covid policy separate from the CDC? Do you really think the district that has bungled up nearly everything else can get health policy better?

The cdc is not considering large high schools with poor air quality and no ability to distance.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:At an MCPS sports orientation last night, the athletic director said Covid diagnosis required 5 days off followed by 5 days masked.

That is ridiculous. And bad public health policy. What science are they basing that policy on?

No good reason to require 5 days off and then 5 days masked.

That is exactly why people just simply won’t test. If you don’t test, you don’t get the Covid diagnosis and can just go on assuming it’s a cold.

Don’t be that person.

What person?

Fever free for 24 hours and the kid can go back to school. Why would we have a different rule for Covid versus the flu at this point?

I interpreted it as don’t be a person that unnecessarily keeps your kids out of school because of the irrational fears of a small number of people with health anxiety.

+1 million to this.

No fever, and the kid is up for it - he/she is going to school. Not keeping an asymptomatic kid home from school for no good reason.

If a child has a fever, runny nose, cough and other symptoms they are symptomatic and probably contagious.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why should MCPS be in the business of adopting a Covid policy separate from the CDC? Do you really think the district that has bungled up nearly everything else can get health policy better?

The cdc is not considering large high schools with poor air quality and no ability to distance.

My response was more to the huge number of people on this thread who think the CDC guidance of 5 days out of school (really 6) and 5 additional days masking is too little.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why should MCPS be in the business of adopting a Covid policy separate from the CDC? Do you really think the district that has bungled up nearly everything else can get health policy better?

The cdc is not considering large high schools with poor air quality and no ability to distance.

My response was more to the huge number of people on this thread who think the CDC guidance of 5 days out of school (really 6) and 5 additional days masking is too little.

Sorry, meant too much!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:At an MCPS sports orientation last night, the athletic director said Covid diagnosis required 5 days off followed by 5 days masked.

That is ridiculous. And bad public health policy. What science are they basing that policy on?

No good reason to require 5 days off and then 5 days masked.

That is exactly why people just simply won’t test. If you don’t test, you don’t get the Covid diagnosis and can just go on assuming it’s a cold.

Don’t be that person.

What person?

Fever free for 24 hours and the kid can go back to school. Why would we have a different rule for Covid versus the flu at this point?

I interpreted it as don’t be a person that unnecessarily keeps your kids out of school because of the irrational fears of a small number of people with health anxiety.

You mean because one parent has serious health issues. You clearly don’t get the difference between documented medical issues and mental health issues. A simple cold is no big deal to you. A simple cold lasts weeks for me and usually needs multiple rounds of antibiotics and steroids.

OK- so what did you do before covid? Because we’re all going to do that.