The prospect of kids not going back to school until 2021

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I swear those of you saying there is no way we go back in the fall have no concept of how well the county has been doing. Have you even looked at the dashboard at all? Seen how things are literally getting notably better every single day?

And that's with daycares being open. Some being open since the beginning and others recently.

And we still have more than two months. If the trend continues what are you scared of exactly?

Of course a second wave is possible but do you really think it's responsible to keep kids out of school for something that MIGHT happen?

Could you imagine if we did DL until January just as a means of caution and the state never spikes at all? I'm sure you would all still say "it never happened because we weren't in school" but there is no way to know that. Yet the lasting negative effects on our children are absolutely going to happen if they stay out.

I'm not saying what I want to happen - I'm saying what I "think" will happen. I seriously doubt our schools are going to open in any meaningful way this fall. I hope I'm wrong.

I hope so too. We simply can't keep kids out of school potentially for *years*.

https://www.npr.org/2020/06/17/879255417/amid-confusion-about-reopening-an-expert-explains-how-to-assess-covid-risk

If it's not safe, we certainly can. It's better to stay alive.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

If it's not safe, we certainly can. It's better to stay alive.

You know what's a really, really, really bad outcome for public health? Keeping kids out of school for years.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Just watch, by Mid-August, every other county in Maryland will have announced that they will be open in the fall but MoCo will not have made an announcement. Residents will be enraged, Elrich will be shamed, and schools will open. Mark my words. Our leadership is a joke.

They have to announce by 8/14.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just watch, by Mid-August, every other county in Maryland will have announced that they will be open in the fall but MoCo will not have made an announcement. Residents will be enraged, Elrich will be shamed, and schools will open. Mark my words. Our leadership is a joke.

They have to announce by 8/14.

What is special about that day?

[Anonymous]

Oh gosh I hope they announce way sooner.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just watch, by Mid-August, every other county in Maryland will have announced that they will be open in the fall but MoCo will not have made an announcement. Residents will be enraged, Elrich will be shamed, and schools will open. Mark my words. Our leadership is a joke.

They have to announce by 8/14.

I thought every county owes a plan to the state dept of education by 7/10?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:All things being equal kids are less infectious than adults. However, Kids are just as infectious once you factor in proximity, time, and difficulty following all the all the regulations. This is what China has learned and why they are shutting down schools.

- citation?

The point is that the current data show that child-to-child and child-to-adult transmission is rare. I don't think they were able to contact-trace a single case of that kind. What you are claiming implies that it has somehow been shown that kids are less infectious per se, but that in practice they do transmit the virus just as much as adults due to their behaviors and the school setting. I would like to know what that is based on besides pure conjecture. Is China shutting down schools because they have that sort of evidence, or are they shutting them down because they are panicking about a general rise in cases?

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/05/health/coronavirus-children-transmission-school.html

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:All things being equal kids are less infectious than adults. However, Kids are just as infectious once you factor in proximity, time, and difficulty following all the all the regulations. This is what China has learned and why they are shutting down schools.

- citation?

The point is that the current data show that child-to-child and child-to-adult transmission is rare. I don't think they were able to contact-trace a single case of that kind. What you are claiming implies that it has somehow been shown that kids are less infectious per se, but that in practice they do transmit the virus just as much as adults due to their behaviors and the school setting. I would like to know what that is based on besides pure conjecture. Is China shutting down schools because they have that sort of evidence, or are they shutting them down because they are panicking about a general rise in cases?

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/05/health/coronavirus-children-transmission-school.html

Something to note on these studies is that study #1 is a simulation. #2 is saying kids have just as much virus as adults. Neither study cites evidence that kids have actually spread the virus.

But even if they do, hopefully in the span of two months, we will have more knowledge of the virus, we will have more treatments, we will have gotten the R0 low enough that school can resume, schools reopening in other countries may give us a road map. We may just need to figure out how to live with this, just as we do many other viruses where there aren't vaccines. A widely available vaccine in the fall or early 2021 isn't a guarantee.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just watch, by Mid-August, every other county in Maryland will have announced that they will be open in the fall but MoCo will not have made an announcement. Residents will be enraged, Elrich will be shamed, and schools will open. Mark my words. Our leadership is a joke.

They have to announce by 8/14.

I thought every county owes a plan to the state dept of education by 7/10?

Both of those things are true. The state has to approve the plan. The plan has to be posted in the district’s website. Obviously the state wants to see the plan to force any tweaks before the public sees it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:All things being equal kids are less infectious than adults. However, Kids are just as infectious once you factor in proximity, time, and difficulty following all the all the regulations. This is what China has learned and why they are shutting down schools.

- citation?

The point is that the current data show that child-to-child and child-to-adult transmission is rare. I don't think they were able to contact-trace a single case of that kind. What you are claiming implies that it has somehow been shown that kids are less infectious per se, but that in practice they do transmit the virus just as much as adults due to their behaviors and the school setting. I would like to know what that is based on besides pure conjecture. Is China shutting down schools because they have that sort of evidence, or are they shutting them down because they are panicking about a general rise in cases?

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/05/health/coronavirus-children-transmission-school.html

Something to note on these studies is that study #1 is a simulation. #2 is saying kids have just as much virus as adults. Neither study cites evidence that kids have actually spread the virus.

But even if they do, hopefully in the span of two months, we will have more knowledge of the virus, we will have more treatments, we will have gotten the R0 low enough that school can resume, schools reopening in other countries may give us a road map. We may just need to figure out how to live with this, just as we do many other viruses where there aren't vaccines. A widely available vaccine in the fall or early 2021 isn't a guarantee.

What if that road map is all the places that reclosed or never reopened?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just watch, by Mid-August, every other county in Maryland will have announced that they will be open in the fall but MoCo will not have made an announcement. Residents will be enraged, Elrich will be shamed, and schools will open. Mark my words. Our leadership is a joke.

They have to announce by 8/14.

What is special about that day?

Clearly none of y’all screaming online bothered to actual read the state plan.

Page 5 says “LOCAL SCHOOL SYSTEMS MUST HAVE THEIR RECOVERY PLANS COMPLETED AND POSTED TO THEIR WEBSITES BY AUGUST 14, 2020. THE MSDE WILL REVIEW ALL LOCAL RECOVERY PLANS TO ENSURE THAT THE PLANS INCLUDE AND ADDRESS ALL REQUIREMENTS FOR OPENING SCHOOLS.“

Read the freaking plan before you start throwing around your opinion on what MCPS can do and should do. They have to follow state guidelines. Don’t like the state guidelines, move to Virginia, PA, DE, or WV.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:All things being equal kids are less infectious than adults. However, Kids are just as infectious once you factor in proximity, time, and difficulty following all the all the regulations. This is what China has learned and why they are shutting down schools.

- citation?

The point is that the current data show that child-to-child and child-to-adult transmission is rare. I don't think they were able to contact-trace a single case of that kind. What you are claiming implies that it has somehow been shown that kids are less infectious per se, but that in practice they do transmit the virus just as much as adults due to their behaviors and the school setting. I would like to know what that is based on besides pure conjecture. Is China shutting down schools because they have that sort of evidence, or are they shutting them down because they are panicking about a general rise in cases?

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/05/health/coronavirus-children-transmission-school.html

Something to note on these studies is that study #1 is a simulation. #2 is saying kids have just as much virus as adults. Neither study cites evidence that kids have actually spread the virus.

But even if they do, hopefully in the span of two months, we will have more knowledge of the virus, we will have more treatments, we will have gotten the R0 low enough that school can resume, schools reopening in other countries may give us a road map. We may just need to figure out how to live with this, just as we do many other viruses where there aren't vaccines. A widely available vaccine in the fall or early 2021 isn't a guarantee.

What if that road map is all the places that reclosed or never reopened?

What if anything? What if the aliens land? What if the Yellowstone caldera blows up? What if it turns out that catnip tea cures covid?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:All things being equal kids are less infectious than adults. However, Kids are just as infectious once you factor in proximity, time, and difficulty following all the all the regulations. This is what China has learned and why they are shutting down schools.

- citation?

The point is that the current data show that child-to-child and child-to-adult transmission is rare. I don't think they were able to contact-trace a single case of that kind. What you are claiming implies that it has somehow been shown that kids are less infectious per se, but that in practice they do transmit the virus just as much as adults due to their behaviors and the school setting. I would like to know what that is based on besides pure conjecture. Is China shutting down schools because they have that sort of evidence, or are they shutting them down because they are panicking about a general rise in cases?

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/05/health/coronavirus-children-transmission-school.html

Something to note on these studies is that study #1 is a simulation. #2 is saying kids have just as much virus as adults. Neither study cites evidence that kids have actually spread the virus.

But even if they do, hopefully in the span of two months, we will have more knowledge of the virus, we will have more treatments, we will have gotten the R0 low enough that school can resume, schools reopening in other countries may give us a road map. We may just need to figure out how to live with this, just as we do many other viruses where there aren't vaccines. A widely available vaccine in the fall or early 2021 isn't a guarantee.

Yes, these are old news, and do NOT prove or even study if kids actually transmit the virus.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:All things being equal kids are less infectious than adults. However, Kids are just as infectious once you factor in proximity, time, and difficulty following all the all the regulations. This is what China has learned and why they are shutting down schools.

- citation?

The point is that the current data show that child-to-child and child-to-adult transmission is rare. I don't think they were able to contact-trace a single case of that kind. What you are claiming implies that it has somehow been shown that kids are less infectious per se, but that in practice they do transmit the virus just as much as adults due to their behaviors and the school setting. I would like to know what that is based on besides pure conjecture. Is China shutting down schools because they have that sort of evidence, or are they shutting them down because they are panicking about a general rise in cases?

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/05/health/coronavirus-children-transmission-school.html

Something to note on these studies is that study #1 is a simulation. #2 is saying kids have just as much virus as adults. Neither study cites evidence that kids have actually spread the virus.

But even if they do, hopefully in the span of two months, we will have more knowledge of the virus, we will have more treatments, we will have gotten the R0 low enough that school can resume, schools reopening in other countries may give us a road map. We may just need to figure out how to live with this, just as we do many other viruses where there aren't vaccines. A widely available vaccine in the fall or early 2021 isn't a guarantee.

What if that road map is all the places that reclosed or never reopened?

What if anything? What if the aliens land? What if the Yellowstone caldera blows up? What if it turns out that catnip tea cures covid?

No, I mean would you accept that road map or will you just want F2F school anywhere? Because some posters have backtracked about following other countries once they saw those plans fall apart. I would love to see just one F2F poster say that they would accept staying closed based on the example of a country that had to consider.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just watch, by Mid-August, every other county in Maryland will have announced that they will be open in the fall but MoCo will not have made an announcement. Residents will be enraged, Elrich will be shamed, and schools will open. Mark my words. Our leadership is a joke.

They have to announce by 8/14.

What is special about that day?

Clearly none of y’all screaming online bothered to actual read the state plan.

Page 5 says “LOCAL SCHOOL SYSTEMS MUST HAVE THEIR RECOVERY PLANS COMPLETED AND POSTED TO THEIR WEBSITES BY AUGUST 14, 2020. THE MSDE WILL REVIEW ALL LOCAL RECOVERY PLANS TO ENSURE THAT THE PLANS INCLUDE AND ADDRESS ALL REQUIREMENTS FOR OPENING SCHOOLS.“

Read the freaking plan before you start throwing around your opinion on what MCPS can do and should do. They have to follow state guidelines. Don’t like the state guidelines, move to Virginia, PA, DE, or WV.

Read the plan and the CDC guidance and think about how you accomplish the CDC recommendations in the buildings and in transporting students. Then consider equity issues, and think about how to best promote mitigation measures, including sanitizing, social distancing, and limiting the size and scope of the physical interactions within a school day (or how to keep groups small), obtaining appropriate PPE. as well as contact tracing, and then offer your opinions. Then think about what how to fund it, including what should be cut in order to do what needs to be done.

No one thinks in person school isn't important. Think about ways to do it safely, not just for staff, teachers, and students, but for the entire community. in other words, move past your "hardly any kids die" thinking, and think of how we can open safely with measure in place to prevent the virus from spreading both within the school community and the community at large. Keeping people in smaller groups to minimize exposure and allow isolation and contact tracing is good. Putting adults and students into small spaces without social distancing for extended periods of time is bad. Figure it out, offer ideas, or stop complaining. School administrators are not able to proceed based on the assumption that this is just like the flu. Let that go. It's not. Also, they aren't public health experts. If you have innovative ideas, offer them up.

I just completed the required parent survey for our county. It was hard to answer the questions in a meaningful way because so much is unknown. One of the questions was how you would handle transportation if schools reopened in person - bus, walking, or driving. Walking is out of the question, as our high school is 9 miles away. Bus or driving? Who knows? I can't tell you that because I don't know what my other kids' school will be doing, I don't know when or if I will have to return to the office, and I don't know when my husband's business will be able to expand its operations. You can't reopen based on the expectation that more than half the school population with drive kids to school when parents don't know what our professional lives will look like in the fall. The districts will have to have staff in place so they almost have to assume that everyone will come to school on buses as usual. The same is true for parents who expressed interest in doing all virtual learning. They might say that now but change their minds by August. Or their work situation might change to make it impossible to do virtual school. So many variables.