so let's say kids/teachers in the fall come down with positive tests, what to do?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:March on. Who cares. Unless you are elderly or sick, this is just not particularly scary. If you are elderly/sick, you need to quarantine until vaccine. Treating everyone as though health outcomes are the same is simply idiotic.

What about teachers and staff? A huge percentage of them at my child's school have pre-existing conditions or are in their 50s/60s. This is not as simple as you think. Plus, the kids will bring it home to their vulnerable parents and grandparents.

[Anonymous]

Before schools closed the health department and department of education decided not to tell people about COVID cases. They released a memo stating that as a result of community spread the students and staff at schools with a positive case were “no more likely” than anyone else to have been exposed. Obviously, this is dangerous and stupid.
The reason just one sick child or teacher can’t stay home is that they have inevitably infected other people. Say Sarah is sick. Sarah sits next to Jack who shares crayons with Mark who hugs Alice. They’re all potentially now spreading the virus asymptomatically or presymptomatically to other staff and students, and to their families. Some of those people will her seriously ill and require hospitalization and maybe ventilation. We are trying to mitigate the spread, not foster it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:March on. Who cares. Unless you are elderly or sick, this is just not particularly scary. If you are elderly/sick, you need to quarantine until vaccine. Treating everyone as though health outcomes are the same is simply idiotic.

Frankly, you are wrong. There are young, healthy people who have required hospitalization and who have lost their lives due to this virus. In NYC alone there are 15 children who became seriously ill with a secondary inflammatory condition and five who required a ventilator as a result of COVID. They did not have preexisting conditions. There are children who have passed away (infants through teens). I don’t know why you assume that more cases won’t mean more kids hospitalized and dying. Statistically they will.
A 30 year old teacher just died. There are people in their thirties and forties having strokes after displaying only mild symptoms. It must be nice to be so sure that you and your own loved ones will be spared.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Hopefully DCPS will do a better job than in March, when they basically left it up to parents to tell whomever they felt like telling.

Although I don't believe the flu comparison is correct, I don't see this going down much differently than a bad flu season at elementary schools. The focus will be on instructing symptomatic kids to stay home until fever resolves (maybe 3-7 days after no fever). The biggest disruption will be all the staff and teachers that get seriously ill/dies. That's what I am dreading -- so many of the amazing teachers & staff at our school are vulnerable.

What are you talking about? How could have DCPS done it any differently? "they basically left it up to parents to tell whomever they felt like telling"? I don't get it.

They should have informed everyone in the child's class, obviously. It's concerning you're even asking this question. Contact tracing means everyone who had sustained contact with the positive gets informed.

It's concerning that you think you are writing/communicating clearly. Still don't understand your point but....ok?

Ok, let me explain again. A child in my child's grade tested positive while school was still in session. Apparently on the advice of the DC health department, DCPS did NOT inform all the children in the class. Those children were all close contacts of the positive case, and should have been informed, per contact tracing requirements. Instead, the parent just decided to tell whomever she deemed she wanted to tell. Unless/until DCPS and the Health Dept provide coherent information on how they are going to address this situation in the future, I have very little confidence in reopening.

And we still don’t know which school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:March on. Who cares. Unless you are elderly or sick, this is just not particularly scary. If you are elderly/sick, you need to quarantine until vaccine. Treating everyone as though health outcomes are the same is simply idiotic.

What about teachers and staff? A huge percentage of them at my child's school have pre-existing conditions or are in their 50s/60s. This is not as simple as you think. Plus, the kids will bring it home to their vulnerable parents and grandparents.

Replace with smart unemployed people. There are millions.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:March on. Who cares. Unless you are elderly or sick, this is just not particularly scary. If you are elderly/sick, you need to quarantine until vaccine. Treating everyone as though health outcomes are the same is simply idiotic.

What about teachers and staff? A huge percentage of them at my child's school have pre-existing conditions or are in their 50s/60s. This is not as simple as you think. Plus, the kids will bring it home to their vulnerable parents and grandparents.

Replace with smart unemployed people. There are millions.

Maybe they should replace parents who are unable to work effectively during school closures with smart childless people. There are millions.

[Anonymous]

Amen!!! I’d love to swipe up my students parents. Such cry babies!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Before schools closed the health department and department of education decided not to tell people about COVID cases. They released a memo stating that as a result of community spread the students and staff at schools with a positive case were “no more likely” than anyone else to have been exposed. Obviously, this is dangerous and stupid.
The reason just one sick child or teacher can’t stay home is that they have inevitably infected other people. Say Sarah is sick. Sarah sits next to Jack who shares crayons with Mark who hugs Alice. They’re all potentially now spreading the virus asymptomatically or presymptomatically to other staff and students, and to their families. Some of those people will her seriously ill and require hospitalization and maybe ventilation. We are trying to mitigate the spread, not foster it.

WOW. I suspected as much. How did you get that info? I wonder if that's still going to be their plan going forward.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Hopefully DCPS will do a better job than in March, when they basically left it up to parents to tell whomever they felt like telling.

Although I don't believe the flu comparison is correct, I don't see this going down much differently than a bad flu season at elementary schools. The focus will be on instructing symptomatic kids to stay home until fever resolves (maybe 3-7 days after no fever). The biggest disruption will be all the staff and teachers that get seriously ill/dies. That's what I am dreading -- so many of the amazing teachers & staff at our school are vulnerable.

What are you talking about? How could have DCPS done it any differently? "they basically left it up to parents to tell whomever they felt like telling"? I don't get it.

They should have informed everyone in the child's class, obviously. It's concerning you're even asking this question. Contact tracing means everyone who had sustained contact with the positive gets informed.

It's concerning that you think you are writing/communicating clearly. Still don't understand your point but....ok?

Ok, let me explain again. A child in my child's grade tested positive while school was still in session. Apparently on the advice of the DC health department, DCPS did NOT inform all the children in the class. Those children were all close contacts of the positive case, and should have been informed, per contact tracing requirements. Instead, the parent just decided to tell whomever she deemed she wanted to tell. Unless/until DCPS and the Health Dept provide coherent information on how they are going to address this situation in the future, I have very little confidence in reopening.

And we still don’t know which school.

I disclosed the school on a previous thread, but now that I know that this is a district-wide policy, it doesn't seem important.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Hopefully DCPS will do a better job than in March, when they basically left it up to parents to tell whomever they felt like telling.

Although I don't believe the flu comparison is correct, I don't see this going down much differently than a bad flu season at elementary schools. The focus will be on instructing symptomatic kids to stay home until fever resolves (maybe 3-7 days after no fever). The biggest disruption will be all the staff and teachers that get seriously ill/dies. That's what I am dreading -- so many of the amazing teachers & staff at our school are vulnerable.

What are you talking about? How could have DCPS done it any differently? "they basically left it up to parents to tell whomever they felt like telling"? I don't get it.

They should have informed everyone in the child's class, obviously. It's concerning you're even asking this question. Contact tracing means everyone who had sustained contact with the positive gets informed.

It's concerning that you think you are writing/communicating clearly. Still don't understand your point but....ok?

Ok, let me explain again. A child in my child's grade tested positive while school was still in session. Apparently on the advice of the DC health department, DCPS did NOT inform all the children in the class. Those children were all close contacts of the positive case, and should have been informed, per contact tracing requirements. Instead, the parent just decided to tell whomever she deemed she wanted to tell. Unless/until DCPS and the Health Dept provide coherent information on how they are going to address this situation in the future, I have very little confidence in reopening.

And we still don’t know which school.

I disclosed the school on a previous thread, but now that I know that this is a district-wide policy, it doesn't seem important.

It does if someone’s kid goes to that school.

[Anonymous]

at some point, people will get sick of living like this, and will demand everything opens back up, virus or no virus.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Kids are going back to or are in school in China and parts of Europe. We will learn from what they are doing and implement it here. So, yes, I fully expect my child to be in school learning in September.

You're free to expect whatever you want. If it doesn't happen, what are you going to do about it?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:March on. Who cares. Unless you are elderly or sick, this is just not particularly scary. If you are elderly/sick, you need to quarantine until vaccine. Treating everyone as though health outcomes are the same is simply idiotic.

What about teachers and staff? A huge percentage of them at my child's school have pre-existing conditions or are in their 50s/60s. This is not as simple as you think. Plus, the kids will bring it home to their vulnerable parents and grandparents.

Replace with smart unemployed people. There are millions.

And you'll be calling the manager when you decide that your kid's "smart," newly employed teacher is incompetent.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:at some point, people will get sick of living like this, and will demand everything opens back up, virus or no virus.

Sure, and then they end up on a ventilator or their spouse or close friend dies of covid and they change their minds.

[Anonymous]

FWIW I think the Cathedral schools shut immediately when it was learned a member of the National Cathedral staff was a positive case (this was before the citywide shutdown). The kids don't necessarily interact with the Cathedral staff, but it was close enough to warrant an emergency shutdown.

I would suspect the same if a kid or teacher was positive.