Why aren’t schools with high COVID rates masking?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Because most people have already had it. Because vaccines have been available to almost all age groups for a long, long time now. Because it’s generally mild for most people, particularly those who are vaccinated.

Perhaps most important, because we need to maintain some capital for requiring masks in the future if a variant emerges that is more harmful to children than this variant. It’s been over two years of disruption. It’s been, what, two months of kids being able to forego masks? Even here, most people don’t have the appetite for restrictions anymore, given the current conditions.

Masking in school reduces some transmission, but thinking that they’re incredibly effective is misinformed.

Please show me evidence for your last statement.

Please show me evidence that they ARE highly effective in K-12 school settings. The burden of proof is on the intervention.

OP, I understand that you're upset, but denigrating people doesn't help. And, as someone pointed out, the school with the highest COVID rate *is* masking. If you're hoping for a return to MCPS-wide mask mandates, you're unlikely to get one now.

Sure, here you go.

https://www.edweek.org/leadership/mask-mandates-cut-covid-19-spread-in-schools-studies-find/2022/03

I’m not some pro mask hack - I hate wearing a KN95 as much as the next person - but the Pediatrics Duke study shows that schools with universal masking had nearly 90 percent lower infection rates. That seems pretty convincing.

Thanks - I hadn't seen that one before. It's one study, of course, and there are others that don't have results as convincing. Plenty of kids got Omicron during January 2022 here, and we had a mask mandate in place, so there's also that.

Again, the larger point about maintaining political capital for future restrictions is important here. There are many, many people, even in MoCo, who no longer support universal mask mandates. If you want them to cooperate in the future, you can't push them too hard now. Does it suck for some people? Yes. Might it suck even harder in the future if we push mask mandates again now, and people refuse to cooperate with other public health measures? Also yes.

I mean, if MCPS had reopened in-person, or at least *offered* the option back in September 2021, they would have gained some capital with parents who wanted in-person. But they didn't, and partially because of that decision (among others), here we are.

Here’s where I come out: assuming the choice is get covid/my kids get covid or wear a n-95 7 hours a day for years I would get covid. Every time. I would get it twice a year if that was the choice. So there isn’t any data on mask effectiveness that could sway me. I am happy to assume they are 100% effective. I’m still not depriving my kids of fresh air and a normal childhood. And for the record we have not masked anywhere since the mandates lifted and have not gotten covid so this idea that you’ll get it more than once or twice a year seems wrong.

Your children's only access to fresh air comes during the school day? Wow.

If her kids are in before school care, school, after school care and don't get home till 6-7 she has bigger issues than fresh air. Poor kids. They see their parents maybe an hour or two a day and know they aren't really wanted.

This is why your crowd (the restriction/mandate crowd) isn't taken seriously. You think that because you have a WFH/SAHM situation, everybody else should just suck it up and align with you. Your crowd has been a bunch of selfish clowns from day one. And thankfully, leadership has finally tuned you out. Which is why we have all the whining and wailing on this board now.

FFS, can we please stop lumping WFH and SAH together? Please? Those of us who work from home are WORKING (except when they take days off). The WFH families we know, ours included, do use before and/or aftercare because, again, we're WORKING and no, we can't all magically stagger our hours every day to fit neatly in the six hour box MCPS grants us, never mind the random days off, half days, etc. Jesus, people.

Okay, fair enough. I agree with you. WFH had it "slightly" easier last year because at least the childcare was technically covered, but the educational experience was still a complete disaster because of the need to focus on work.

Well it was also a complete disaster because staring at a screen for hours per day is not effective way to learn for many kids (or even advised),

With the right supports, it absolutely can work.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Because most people have already had it. Because vaccines have been available to almost all age groups for a long, long time now. Because it’s generally mild for most people, particularly those who are vaccinated.

Perhaps most important, because we need to maintain some capital for requiring masks in the future if a variant emerges that is more harmful to children than this variant. It’s been over two years of disruption. It’s been, what, two months of kids being able to forego masks? Even here, most people don’t have the appetite for restrictions anymore, given the current conditions.

Masking in school reduces some transmission, but thinking that they’re incredibly effective is misinformed.

Please show me evidence for your last statement.

Please show me evidence that they ARE highly effective in K-12 school settings. The burden of proof is on the intervention.

OP, I understand that you're upset, but denigrating people doesn't help. And, as someone pointed out, the school with the highest COVID rate *is* masking. If you're hoping for a return to MCPS-wide mask mandates, you're unlikely to get one now.

Sure, here you go.

https://www.edweek.org/leadership/mask-mandates-cut-covid-19-spread-in-schools-studies-find/2022/03

I’m not some pro mask hack - I hate wearing a KN95 as much as the next person - but the Pediatrics Duke study shows that schools with universal masking had nearly 90 percent lower infection rates. That seems pretty convincing.

Thanks - I hadn't seen that one before. It's one study, of course, and there are others that don't have results as convincing. Plenty of kids got Omicron during January 2022 here, and we had a mask mandate in place, so there's also that.

Again, the larger point about maintaining political capital for future restrictions is important here. There are many, many people, even in MoCo, who no longer support universal mask mandates. If you want them to cooperate in the future, you can't push them too hard now. Does it suck for some people? Yes. Might it suck even harder in the future if we push mask mandates again now, and people refuse to cooperate with other public health measures? Also yes.

I mean, if MCPS had reopened in-person, or at least *offered* the option back in September 2021, they would have gained some capital with parents who wanted in-person. But they didn't, and partially because of that decision (among others), here we are.

Here’s where I come out: assuming the choice is get covid/my kids get covid or wear a n-95 7 hours a day for years I would get covid. Every time. I would get it twice a year if that was the choice. So there isn’t any data on mask effectiveness that could sway me. I am happy to assume they are 100% effective. I’m still not depriving my kids of fresh air and a normal childhood. And for the record we have not masked anywhere since the mandates lifted and have not gotten covid so this idea that you’ll get it more than once or twice a year seems wrong.

Your children's only access to fresh air comes during the school day? Wow.

If her kids are in before school care, school, after school care and don't get home till 6-7 she has bigger issues than fresh air. Poor kids. They see their parents maybe an hour or two a day and know they aren't really wanted.

This is why your crowd (the restriction/mandate crowd) isn't taken seriously. You think that because you have a WFH/SAHM situation, everybody else should just suck it up and align with you. Your crowd has been a bunch of selfish clowns from day one. And thankfully, leadership has finally tuned you out. Which is why we have all the whining and wailing on this board now.

FFS, can we please stop lumping WFH and SAH together? Please? Those of us who work from home are WORKING (except when they take days off). The WFH families we know, ours included, do use before and/or aftercare because, again, we're WORKING and no, we can't all magically stagger our hours every day to fit neatly in the six hour box MCPS grants us, never mind the random days off, half days, etc. Jesus, people.

Okay, fair enough. I agree with you. WFH had it "slightly" easier last year because at least the childcare was technically covered, but the educational experience was still a complete disaster because of the need to focus on work.

Well it was also a complete disaster because staring at a screen for hours per day is not effective way to learn for many kids (or even advised),

With the right supports, it absolutely can work.

Before the pandemic, it was widely advised that kids be limited to 2hrs screentime per day. Is that no longer a thing?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Because most people have already had it. Because vaccines have been available to almost all age groups for a long, long time now. Because it’s generally mild for most people, particularly those who are vaccinated.

Perhaps most important, because we need to maintain some capital for requiring masks in the future if a variant emerges that is more harmful to children than this variant. It’s been over two years of disruption. It’s been, what, two months of kids being able to forego masks? Even here, most people don’t have the appetite for restrictions anymore, given the current conditions.

Masking in school reduces some transmission, but thinking that they’re incredibly effective is misinformed.

Please show me evidence for your last statement.

Please show me evidence that they ARE highly effective in K-12 school settings. The burden of proof is on the intervention.

OP, I understand that you're upset, but denigrating people doesn't help. And, as someone pointed out, the school with the highest COVID rate *is* masking. If you're hoping for a return to MCPS-wide mask mandates, you're unlikely to get one now.

Sure, here you go.

https://www.edweek.org/leadership/mask-mandates-cut-covid-19-spread-in-schools-studies-find/2022/03

I’m not some pro mask hack - I hate wearing a KN95 as much as the next person - but the Pediatrics Duke study shows that schools with universal masking had nearly 90 percent lower infection rates. That seems pretty convincing.

Thanks - I hadn't seen that one before. It's one study, of course, and there are others that don't have results as convincing. Plenty of kids got Omicron during January 2022 here, and we had a mask mandate in place, so there's also that.

Again, the larger point about maintaining political capital for future restrictions is important here. There are many, many people, even in MoCo, who no longer support universal mask mandates. If you want them to cooperate in the future, you can't push them too hard now. Does it suck for some people? Yes. Might it suck even harder in the future if we push mask mandates again now, and people refuse to cooperate with other public health measures? Also yes.

I mean, if MCPS had reopened in-person, or at least *offered* the option back in September 2021, they would have gained some capital with parents who wanted in-person. But they didn't, and partially because of that decision (among others), here we are.

Here’s where I come out: assuming the choice is get covid/my kids get covid or wear a n-95 7 hours a day for years I would get covid. Every time. I would get it twice a year if that was the choice. So there isn’t any data on mask effectiveness that could sway me. I am happy to assume they are 100% effective. I’m still not depriving my kids of fresh air and a normal childhood. And for the record we have not masked anywhere since the mandates lifted and have not gotten covid so this idea that you’ll get it more than once or twice a year seems wrong.

Your children's only access to fresh air comes during the school day? Wow.

If her kids are in before school care, school, after school care and don't get home till 6-7 she has bigger issues than fresh air. Poor kids. They see their parents maybe an hour or two a day and know they aren't really wanted.

This is why your crowd (the restriction/mandate crowd) isn't taken seriously. You think that because you have a WFH/SAHM situation, everybody else should just suck it up and align with you. Your crowd has been a bunch of selfish clowns from day one. And thankfully, leadership has finally tuned you out. Which is why we have all the whining and wailing on this board now.

FFS, can we please stop lumping WFH and SAH together? Please? Those of us who work from home are WORKING (except when they take days off). The WFH families we know, ours included, do use before and/or aftercare because, again, we're WORKING and no, we can't all magically stagger our hours every day to fit neatly in the six hour box MCPS grants us, never mind the random days off, half days, etc. Jesus, people.

Okay, fair enough. I agree with you. WFH had it "slightly" easier last year because at least the childcare was technically covered, but the educational experience was still a complete disaster because of the need to focus on work.

Well it was also a complete disaster because staring at a screen for hours per day is not effective way to learn for many kids (or even advised),

With the right supports, it absolutely can work.

Some of you are so tiring. Your personal experience does not make it a fact. Get a hobby because clearly supervising your kids virtual learning all day isn’t enough for you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Because most people have already had it. Because vaccines have been available to almost all age groups for a long, long time now. Because it’s generally mild for most people, particularly those who are vaccinated.

Perhaps most important, because we need to maintain some capital for requiring masks in the future if a variant emerges that is more harmful to children than this variant. It’s been over two years of disruption. It’s been, what, two months of kids being able to forego masks? Even here, most people don’t have the appetite for restrictions anymore, given the current conditions.

Masking in school reduces some transmission, but thinking that they’re incredibly effective is misinformed.

Please show me evidence for your last statement.

Please show me evidence that they ARE highly effective in K-12 school settings. The burden of proof is on the intervention.

OP, I understand that you're upset, but denigrating people doesn't help. And, as someone pointed out, the school with the highest COVID rate *is* masking. If you're hoping for a return to MCPS-wide mask mandates, you're unlikely to get one now.

Sure, here you go.

https://www.edweek.org/leadership/mask-mandates-cut-covid-19-spread-in-schools-studies-find/2022/03

I’m not some pro mask hack - I hate wearing a KN95 as much as the next person - but the Pediatrics Duke study shows that schools with universal masking had nearly 90 percent lower infection rates. That seems pretty convincing.

Thanks - I hadn't seen that one before. It's one study, of course, and there are others that don't have results as convincing. Plenty of kids got Omicron during January 2022 here, and we had a mask mandate in place, so there's also that.

Again, the larger point about maintaining political capital for future restrictions is important here. There are many, many people, even in MoCo, who no longer support universal mask mandates. If you want them to cooperate in the future, you can't push them too hard now. Does it suck for some people? Yes. Might it suck even harder in the future if we push mask mandates again now, and people refuse to cooperate with other public health measures? Also yes.

I mean, if MCPS had reopened in-person, or at least *offered* the option back in September 2021, they would have gained some capital with parents who wanted in-person. But they didn't, and partially because of that decision (among others), here we are.

Here’s where I come out: assuming the choice is get covid/my kids get covid or wear a n-95 7 hours a day for years I would get covid. Every time. I would get it twice a year if that was the choice. So there isn’t any data on mask effectiveness that could sway me. I am happy to assume they are 100% effective. I’m still not depriving my kids of fresh air and a normal childhood. And for the record we have not masked anywhere since the mandates lifted and have not gotten covid so this idea that you’ll get it more than once or twice a year seems wrong.

Your children's only access to fresh air comes during the school day? Wow.

If her kids are in before school care, school, after school care and don't get home till 6-7 she has bigger issues than fresh air. Poor kids. They see their parents maybe an hour or two a day and know they aren't really wanted.

This is why your crowd (the restriction/mandate crowd) isn't taken seriously. You think that because you have a WFH/SAHM situation, everybody else should just suck it up and align with you. Your crowd has been a bunch of selfish clowns from day one. And thankfully, leadership has finally tuned you out. Which is why we have all the whining and wailing on this board now.

It has nothing to do with WFH/SAHM situation. If your kids are in care for 12 hours a day and neither parents cannot work out a more reasonable schedule, then why have kids?

I'm one of the PPs who mentioned before/aftercare. I never said my kid was in care for 12 hours a day- where did you get that? But yes it's on the order of 8.5-9 hours total, which is a large portion of the day when they sleep for another 10 hours. Again, you can mask your kid as hard and for as long as you want, I really don't care.

(You know who whose kids were sometimes in care for 12 hours per day at one point- my neighbors' who were both working in hospitals throughout the pandemic. Wouldn't hurt to think a little bit before you spout off next time)

You can easily hire an after school babysitter. Problem solved.

Yes, my kids always mask but they are decent people who understand the impact covid can have on others. You do realize it will be much harder on you if you have to take a week off work because your kids got sick vs. a simple thing like masking. Or, worse, a few weeks off because it cycles through the house at differ times. Or, is your plan to send in your kids sick and not care about the impact it has on others.

Hi mommy martyr! Glad to hear you are still spending your day spamming DCUM.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Because most people have already had it. Because vaccines have been available to almost all age groups for a long, long time now. Because it’s generally mild for most people, particularly those who are vaccinated.

Perhaps most important, because we need to maintain some capital for requiring masks in the future if a variant emerges that is more harmful to children than this variant. It’s been over two years of disruption. It’s been, what, two months of kids being able to forego masks? Even here, most people don’t have the appetite for restrictions anymore, given the current conditions.

Masking in school reduces some transmission, but thinking that they’re incredibly effective is misinformed.

Please show me evidence for your last statement.

Please show me evidence that they ARE highly effective in K-12 school settings. The burden of proof is on the intervention.

OP, I understand that you're upset, but denigrating people doesn't help. And, as someone pointed out, the school with the highest COVID rate *is* masking. If you're hoping for a return to MCPS-wide mask mandates, you're unlikely to get one now.

Sure, here you go.

https://www.edweek.org/leadership/mask-mandates-cut-covid-19-spread-in-schools-studies-find/2022/03

I’m not some pro mask hack - I hate wearing a KN95 as much as the next person - but the Pediatrics Duke study shows that schools with universal masking had nearly 90 percent lower infection rates. That seems pretty convincing.

Thanks - I hadn't seen that one before. It's one study, of course, and there are others that don't have results as convincing. Plenty of kids got Omicron during January 2022 here, and we had a mask mandate in place, so there's also that.

Again, the larger point about maintaining political capital for future restrictions is important here. There are many, many people, even in MoCo, who no longer support universal mask mandates. If you want them to cooperate in the future, you can't push them too hard now. Does it suck for some people? Yes. Might it suck even harder in the future if we push mask mandates again now, and people refuse to cooperate with other public health measures? Also yes.

I mean, if MCPS had reopened in-person, or at least *offered* the option back in September 2021, they would have gained some capital with parents who wanted in-person. But they didn't, and partially because of that decision (among others), here we are.

Here’s where I come out: assuming the choice is get covid/my kids get covid or wear a n-95 7 hours a day for years I would get covid. Every time. I would get it twice a year if that was the choice. So there isn’t any data on mask effectiveness that could sway me. I am happy to assume they are 100% effective. I’m still not depriving my kids of fresh air and a normal childhood. And for the record we have not masked anywhere since the mandates lifted and have not gotten covid so this idea that you’ll get it more than once or twice a year seems wrong.

Your children's only access to fresh air comes during the school day? Wow.

If her kids are in before school care, school, after school care and don't get home till 6-7 she has bigger issues than fresh air. Poor kids. They see their parents maybe an hour or two a day and know they aren't really wanted.

This is why your crowd (the restriction/mandate crowd) isn't taken seriously. You think that because you have a WFH/SAHM situation, everybody else should just suck it up and align with you. Your crowd has been a bunch of selfish clowns from day one. And thankfully, leadership has finally tuned you out. Which is why we have all the whining and wailing on this board now.

FFS, can we please stop lumping WFH and SAH together? Please? Those of us who work from home are WORKING (except when they take days off). The WFH families we know, ours included, do use before and/or aftercare because, again, we're WORKING and no, we can't all magically stagger our hours every day to fit neatly in the six hour box MCPS grants us, never mind the random days off, half days, etc. Jesus, people.

Okay, fair enough. I agree with you. WFH had it "slightly" easier last year because at least the childcare was technically covered, but the educational experience was still a complete disaster because of the need to focus on work.

Well it was also a complete disaster because staring at a screen for hours per day is not effective way to learn for many kids (or even advised),

With the right supports, it absolutely can work.

Before the pandemic, it was widely advised that kids be limited to 2hrs screentime per day. Is that no longer a thing?

lol teenagers always spend more time on screens than that. Now ES is a different story, I will give you that.

[Anonymous]

I thought community levels would be used for masking decisions? And MoCo is at high now right? Seems like MCPS would be well with its right to being back mask mandates until the county goes back down again. I think that’s just more straightforward than piecemeal by school. By the time the cases at a school are “high”, however you define that, it’s likely already spread around.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I thought community levels would be used for masking decisions? And MoCo is at high now right? Seems like MCPS would be well with its right to being back mask mandates until the county goes back down again. I think that’s just more straightforward than piecemeal by school. By the time the cases at a school are “high”, however you define that, it’s likely already spread around.

Masking doesn't stop spread, it reduces it. When there is little spread, masks don't have a very large effect. When there is a lot of spread, the number of cases prevented by mask wearing is higher.

Yes, individuals that can properly wear a high quality mask should do so right now as cases are very high. My DH has COVID. He used a rapid test. Does not want to report it because they ask you for a ton of information. He's not the only one. Medical providers are actively discouraging PCR tests. It's not paranoia to say cases are severely underreported.

If you think you're ruining your kids' childhood, well that's a bit silly, they obviously won't have to wear masks forever as there is no requirement to wear them so they can stop whenever they want.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Because most people have already had it. Because vaccines have been available to almost all age groups for a long, long time now. Because it’s generally mild for most people, particularly those who are vaccinated.

Perhaps most important, because we need to maintain some capital for requiring masks in the future if a variant emerges that is more harmful to children than this variant. It’s been over two years of disruption. It’s been, what, two months of kids being able to forego masks? Even here, most people don’t have the appetite for restrictions anymore, given the current conditions.

Masking in school reduces some transmission, but thinking that they’re incredibly effective is misinformed.

Please show me evidence for your last statement.

Please show me evidence that they ARE highly effective in K-12 school settings. The burden of proof is on the intervention.

OP, I understand that you're upset, but denigrating people doesn't help. And, as someone pointed out, the school with the highest COVID rate *is* masking. If you're hoping for a return to MCPS-wide mask mandates, you're unlikely to get one now.

Sure, here you go.

https://www.edweek.org/leadership/mask-mandates-cut-covid-19-spread-in-schools-studies-find/2022/03

I’m not some pro mask hack - I hate wearing a KN95 as much as the next person - but the Pediatrics Duke study shows that schools with universal masking had nearly 90 percent lower infection rates. That seems pretty convincing.

Thanks - I hadn't seen that one before. It's one study, of course, and there are others that don't have results as convincing. Plenty of kids got Omicron during January 2022 here, and we had a mask mandate in place, so there's also that.

Again, the larger point about maintaining political capital for future restrictions is important here. There are many, many people, even in MoCo, who no longer support universal mask mandates. If you want them to cooperate in the future, you can't push them too hard now. Does it suck for some people? Yes. Might it suck even harder in the future if we push mask mandates again now, and people refuse to cooperate with other public health measures? Also yes.

I mean, if MCPS had reopened in-person, or at least *offered* the option back in September 2021, they would have gained some capital with parents who wanted in-person. But they didn't, and partially because of that decision (among others), here we are.

Here’s where I come out: assuming the choice is get covid/my kids get covid or wear a n-95 7 hours a day for years I would get covid. Every time. I would get it twice a year if that was the choice. So there isn’t any data on mask effectiveness that could sway me. I am happy to assume they are 100% effective. I’m still not depriving my kids of fresh air and a normal childhood. And for the record we have not masked anywhere since the mandates lifted and have not gotten covid so this idea that you’ll get it more than once or twice a year seems wrong.

Your children's only access to fresh air comes during the school day? Wow.

If her kids are in before school care, school, after school care and don't get home till 6-7 she has bigger issues than fresh air. Poor kids. They see their parents maybe an hour or two a day and know they aren't really wanted.

This is why your crowd (the restriction/mandate crowd) isn't taken seriously. You think that because you have a WFH/SAHM situation, everybody else should just suck it up and align with you. Your crowd has been a bunch of selfish clowns from day one. And thankfully, leadership has finally tuned you out. Which is why we have all the whining and wailing on this board now.

FFS, can we please stop lumping WFH and SAH together? Please? Those of us who work from home are WORKING (except when they take days off). The WFH families we know, ours included, do use before and/or aftercare because, again, we're WORKING and no, we can't all magically stagger our hours every day to fit neatly in the six hour box MCPS grants us, never mind the random days off, half days, etc. Jesus, people.

Okay, fair enough. I agree with you. WFH had it "slightly" easier last year because at least the childcare was technically covered, but the educational experience was still a complete disaster because of the need to focus on work.

Well it was also a complete disaster because staring at a screen for hours per day is not effective way to learn for many kids (or even advised),

With the right supports, it absolutely can work.

Before the pandemic, it was widely advised that kids be limited to 2hrs screentime per day. Is that no longer a thing?

School is not exactly screen time and lets be real, most kids when they are older do far more than that a day. And, they all have computers in MCPS schools so you are kidding yourself to think your kids are not on the computer all day at school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I thought community levels would be used for masking decisions? And MoCo is at high now right? Seems like MCPS would be well with its right to being back mask mandates until the county goes back down again. I think that’s just more straightforward than piecemeal by school. By the time the cases at a school are “high”, however you define that, it’s likely already spread around.

There are so many in the wEwiLLhAVetowEArMaSKsfoRevEr crowd who can't be reasonable and just wear high quality masks when transmission is medium to high versus when it is low.

I would assume school administrators are wishing for the end of the school year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I thought community levels would be used for masking decisions? And MoCo is at high now right? Seems like MCPS would be well with its right to being back mask mandates until the county goes back down again. I think that’s just more straightforward than piecemeal by school. By the time the cases at a school are “high”, however you define that, it’s likely already spread around.

Masking doesn't stop spread, it reduces it. When there is little spread, masks don't have a very large effect. When there is a lot of spread, the number of cases prevented by mask wearing is higher.

Yes, individuals that can properly wear a high quality mask should do so right now as cases are very high. My DH has COVID. He used a rapid test. Does not want to report it because they ask you for a ton of information. He's not the only one. Medical providers are actively discouraging PCR tests. It's not paranoia to say cases are severely underreported.

If you think you're ruining your kids' childhood, well that's a bit silly, they obviously won't have to wear masks forever as there is no requirement to wear them so they can stop whenever they want.

There is zero reason to report covid as an adult. Any reduction is better than nothing. Any precautions are better than nothing. Most doctors don't want you to come in if you have covid, and it makes sense except if its severe. It would be nice if ER's would set up a separate clinic for just covid. Our insurance does not encourage PCR's except if its bad and they do a heavy screening and actively refuse it when you show up. So, the numbers are probably much lower than reality.

Masking right now makes sense. We have a few more weeks till the end of the school year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I thought community levels would be used for masking decisions? And MoCo is at high now right? Seems like MCPS would be well with its right to being back mask mandates until the county goes back down again. I think that’s just more straightforward than piecemeal by school. By the time the cases at a school are “high”, however you define that, it’s likely already spread around.

There are so many in the wEwiLLhAVetowEArMaSKsfoRevEr crowd who can't be reasonable and just wear high quality masks when transmission is medium to high versus when it is low.

I would assume school administrators are wishing for the end of the school year.

Even a cloth mask is better than nothing. In reality the person here screaming about it probably feels guilty her kids are in before school care, school and after school and that's their way of alleviating their parenting guilt. Funny though they seem to have plenty of time to post here, and yet, cannot pick up their kids till the evening.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:Because most people have already had it. Because vaccines have been available to almost all age groups for a long, long time now. Because it’s generally mild for most people, particularly those who are vaccinated.

Perhaps most important, because we need to maintain some capital for requiring masks in the future if a variant emerges that is more harmful to children than this variant. It’s been over two years of disruption. It’s been, what, two months of kids being able to forego masks? Even here, most people don’t have the appetite for restrictions anymore, given the current conditions.

Masking in school reduces some transmission, but thinking that they’re incredibly effective is misinformed.

Please show me evidence for your last statement.

Please show me evidence that they ARE highly effective in K-12 school settings. The burden of proof is on the intervention.

OP, I understand that you're upset, but denigrating people doesn't help. And, as someone pointed out, the school with the highest COVID rate *is* masking. If you're hoping for a return to MCPS-wide mask mandates, you're unlikely to get one now.

Sure, here you go.

https://www.edweek.org/leadership/mask-mandates-cut-covid-19-spread-in-schools-studies-find/2022/03

I’m not some pro mask hack - I hate wearing a KN95 as much as the next person - but the Pediatrics Duke study shows that schools with universal masking had nearly 90 percent lower infection rates. That seems pretty convincing.

Thanks - I hadn't seen that one before. It's one study, of course, and there are others that don't have results as convincing. Plenty of kids got Omicron during January 2022 here, and we had a mask mandate in place, so there's also that.

Again, the larger point about maintaining political capital for future restrictions is important here. There are many, many people, even in MoCo, who no longer support universal mask mandates. If you want them to cooperate in the future, you can't push them too hard now. Does it suck for some people? Yes. Might it suck even harder in the future if we push mask mandates again now, and people refuse to cooperate with other public health measures? Also yes.

I mean, if MCPS had reopened in-person, or at least *offered* the option back in September 2021, they would have gained some capital with parents who wanted in-person. But they didn't, and partially because of that decision (among others), here we are.

Here’s where I come out: assuming the choice is get covid/my kids get covid or wear a n-95 7 hours a day for years I would get covid. Every time. I would get it twice a year if that was the choice. So there isn’t any data on mask effectiveness that could sway me. I am happy to assume they are 100% effective. I’m still not depriving my kids of fresh air and a normal childhood. And for the record we have not masked anywhere since the mandates lifted and have not gotten covid so this idea that you’ll get it more than once or twice a year seems wrong.

Your children's only access to fresh air comes during the school day? Wow.

If her kids are in before school care, school, after school care and don't get home till 6-7 she has bigger issues than fresh air. Poor kids. They see their parents maybe an hour or two a day and know they aren't really wanted.

This is why your crowd (the restriction/mandate crowd) isn't taken seriously. You think that because you have a WFH/SAHM situation, everybody else should just suck it up and align with you. Your crowd has been a bunch of selfish clowns from day one. And thankfully, leadership has finally tuned you out. Which is why we have all the whining and wailing on this board now.

It has nothing to do with WFH/SAHM situation. If your kids are in care for 12 hours a day and neither parents cannot work out a more reasonable schedule, then why have kids?

I'm one of the PPs who mentioned before/aftercare. I never said my kid was in care for 12 hours a day- where did you get that? But yes it's on the order of 8.5-9 hours total, which is a large portion of the day when they sleep for another 10 hours. Again, you can mask your kid as hard and for as long as you want, I really don't care.

(You know who whose kids were sometimes in care for 12 hours per day at one point- my neighbors' who were both working in hospitals throughout the pandemic. Wouldn't hurt to think a little bit before you spout off next time)

You can easily hire an after school babysitter. Problem solved.

Yes, my kids always mask but they are decent people who understand the impact covid can have on others. You do realize it will be much harder on you if you have to take a week off work because your kids got sick vs. a simple thing like masking. Or, worse, a few weeks off because it cycles through the house at differ times. Or, is your plan to send in your kids sick and not care about the impact it has on others.

Hi mommy martyr! Glad to hear you are still spending your day spamming DCUM.

Yup, I do...and I have plenty of time to take care of my kids as well. Its a great life. And, yet, you are also here spamming DCUM when you should be working or getting your kids from school.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:Because most people have already had it. Because vaccines have been available to almost all age groups for a long, long time now. Because it’s generally mild for most people, particularly those who are vaccinated.

Perhaps most important, because we need to maintain some capital for requiring masks in the future if a variant emerges that is more harmful to children than this variant. It’s been over two years of disruption. It’s been, what, two months of kids being able to forego masks? Even here, most people don’t have the appetite for restrictions anymore, given the current conditions.

Masking in school reduces some transmission, but thinking that they’re incredibly effective is misinformed.

Please show me evidence for your last statement.

Please show me evidence that they ARE highly effective in K-12 school settings. The burden of proof is on the intervention.

OP, I understand that you're upset, but denigrating people doesn't help. And, as someone pointed out, the school with the highest COVID rate *is* masking. If you're hoping for a return to MCPS-wide mask mandates, you're unlikely to get one now.

Sure, here you go.

https://www.edweek.org/leadership/mask-mandates-cut-covid-19-spread-in-schools-studies-find/2022/03

I’m not some pro mask hack - I hate wearing a KN95 as much as the next person - but the Pediatrics Duke study shows that schools with universal masking had nearly 90 percent lower infection rates. That seems pretty convincing.

Thanks - I hadn't seen that one before. It's one study, of course, and there are others that don't have results as convincing. Plenty of kids got Omicron during January 2022 here, and we had a mask mandate in place, so there's also that.

Again, the larger point about maintaining political capital for future restrictions is important here. There are many, many people, even in MoCo, who no longer support universal mask mandates. If you want them to cooperate in the future, you can't push them too hard now. Does it suck for some people? Yes. Might it suck even harder in the future if we push mask mandates again now, and people refuse to cooperate with other public health measures? Also yes.

I mean, if MCPS had reopened in-person, or at least *offered* the option back in September 2021, they would have gained some capital with parents who wanted in-person. But they didn't, and partially because of that decision (among others), here we are.

Here’s where I come out: assuming the choice is get covid/my kids get covid or wear a n-95 7 hours a day for years I would get covid. Every time. I would get it twice a year if that was the choice. So there isn’t any data on mask effectiveness that could sway me. I am happy to assume they are 100% effective. I’m still not depriving my kids of fresh air and a normal childhood. And for the record we have not masked anywhere since the mandates lifted and have not gotten covid so this idea that you’ll get it more than once or twice a year seems wrong.

Your children's only access to fresh air comes during the school day? Wow.

If her kids are in before school care, school, after school care and don't get home till 6-7 she has bigger issues than fresh air. Poor kids. They see their parents maybe an hour or two a day and know they aren't really wanted.

This is why your crowd (the restriction/mandate crowd) isn't taken seriously. You think that because you have a WFH/SAHM situation, everybody else should just suck it up and align with you. Your crowd has been a bunch of selfish clowns from day one. And thankfully, leadership has finally tuned you out. Which is why we have all the whining and wailing on this board now.

It has nothing to do with WFH/SAHM situation. If your kids are in care for 12 hours a day and neither parents cannot work out a more reasonable schedule, then why have kids?

I'm one of the PPs who mentioned before/aftercare. I never said my kid was in care for 12 hours a day- where did you get that? But yes it's on the order of 8.5-9 hours total, which is a large portion of the day when they sleep for another 10 hours. Again, you can mask your kid as hard and for as long as you want, I really don't care.

(You know who whose kids were sometimes in care for 12 hours per day at one point- my neighbors' who were both working in hospitals throughout the pandemic. Wouldn't hurt to think a little bit before you spout off next time)

You can easily hire an after school babysitter. Problem solved.

Yes, my kids always mask but they are decent people who understand the impact covid can have on others. You do realize it will be much harder on you if you have to take a week off work because your kids got sick vs. a simple thing like masking. Or, worse, a few weeks off because it cycles through the house at differ times. Or, is your plan to send in your kids sick and not care about the impact it has on others.

Will your kids be teaching your judgmental self how to be decent as well?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I thought community levels would be used for masking decisions? And MoCo is at high now right? Seems like MCPS would be well with its right to being back mask mandates until the county goes back down again. I think that’s just more straightforward than piecemeal by school. By the time the cases at a school are “high”, however you define that, it’s likely already spread around.

Masking doesn't stop spread, it reduces it. When there is little spread, masks don't have a very large effect. When there is a lot of spread, the number of cases prevented by mask wearing is higher.

Yes, individuals that can properly wear a high quality mask should do so right now as cases are very high. My DH has COVID. He used a rapid test. Does not want to report it because they ask you for a ton of information. He's not the only one. Medical providers are actively discouraging PCR tests. It's not paranoia to say cases are severely underreported.

If you think you're ruining your kids' childhood, well that's a bit silly, they obviously won't have to wear masks forever as there is no requirement to wear them so they can stop whenever they want.

There is zero reason to report covid as an adult. Any reduction is better than nothing. Any precautions are better than nothing. Most doctors don't want you to come in if you have covid, and it makes sense except if its severe. It would be nice if ER's would set up a separate clinic for just covid. Our insurance does not encourage PCR's except if its bad and they do a heavy screening and actively refuse it when you show up. So, the numbers are probably much lower than reality.

Masking right now makes sense. We have a few more weeks till the end of the school year.

No, if cases are low we know it is not worth it if people are being honest about how comfortable it is to wear a respirator for 6-8 hours a day. If cases are high as they are right now, yes I think it is worth it. Who wants to get sick? I know a bunch of people that were really miserable with this thing and a couple with long COVID. The nice thing is you don't have to wait for the BOE to gather up the courage to drop the mandate, which means if it stops being worth it for you, you don't have to keep wearing it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I thought community levels would be used for masking decisions? And MoCo is at high now right? Seems like MCPS would be well with its right to being back mask mandates until the county goes back down again. I think that’s just more straightforward than piecemeal by school. By the time the cases at a school are “high”, however you define that, it’s likely already spread around.

No, MoCo is medium: https://www.montgomerycountymd.gov/covid19/data/