How to push back against people who want to close schools AGAIN

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:https://fortune.com/2021/08/12/as-delta-infections-spiked-covid-cases-in-schools-actually-fell-a-lesson-from-england/amp/?__twitter_impression=true

As Delta infections spiked, COVID cases in schools actually fell—a lesson from England

And they didn't even mask! (Although they tested 2x / week)

DCPS is testing how many times a week again? Oh right, zero.

Oh did you skip the part where they didn’t mask? And we are?

Did YOU skip the part where masks alone will result in 40% of kids getting COVID in three months?

Could you point out that part, pls?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So I have heard that at one DC charter that already started back this week...25% of classes are now quarantining at home due to confirmed COVID cases in the room.

What a mess this will be. I think people have no idea how much of a disaster this fall will be.

What they need to do is stop quarantining everybody. If this will be a mess, it will be a mess of our own making.

You forgot the entire plot here. COVID is real. The mess of our own making is what would happen if we pretend it isn't in the classroom, and let it spread.

It’s real but it’s not usually dangerous to young kids. Adults can and should be vaccinated.

Usually. But when a virus this contagious is able to infect thousands and thousands of kids in a school district, it will be more than just a few kids who experience serious outcomes.

And that doesn’t even account for disabled children, racial/health disparities....

[Anonymous]

We aren’t in DCPS but I feel your pain. We are already seeing well off parents freaking out and requesting to quarantine everyone if there’s a case in a classroom. There is panic created and ultimately it may lead to school closures.
I feel like all these nervous people should put their kids in remote and shut up.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So I have heard that at one DC charter that already started back this week...25% of classes are now quarantining at home due to confirmed COVID cases in the room.

What a mess this will be. I think people have no idea how much of a disaster this fall will be.

What they need to do is stop quarantining everybody. If this will be a mess, it will be a mess of our own making.

You forgot the entire plot here. COVID is real. The mess of our own making is what would happen if we pretend it isn't in the classroom, and let it spread.

You forgot that the plot originally was that we need to protect the vulnerable and slow the spread so as not to overwhelm hospitals. Then the plot evolved to we need to wait for vaccines so the vulnerable can be protected. Nobody ever worried about kids until those things were achieved, and some people had now shifted their perspective to the idea that nobody must ever be put at risk of catching Covid, even if their risk of severe illness is close to zero (not zero).

Look, I’d rather my kids don’t catch Covid either. I don’t let them be unmasked in indoor public places. But schools need to function, and at some point we need to wonder if constant quarantine disruptions are worse than getting a probably mild case of Covid. Especially after they have already lost over a year of school, and given that it looks like the vaccines don’t prevent all infections either. Daily antigen testing of the whole exposed class, as was done in Britain, seems like a better approach.

I have a lot of compassion for you, your kids, and mine.

You misunderstand, or misrepresent for the sake of your point, how the plot has changed with respect to protecting children. The delta variant changed the plot. You make it sound like we are looking for excuses to disrupt normal life. That is not true. You sound like you're intentionally obscuring parts of the plot so you can pretend you can go back to an undisrupted normal life. That is not true either.

No, it really really has not changed the plot. There is NO EVIDENCE that delta causes more severe outcomes in kids. I’m so done humoring all you overly anxious control freaks who are physically incapable of properly evaluating risk.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:https://fortune.com/2021/08/12/as-delta-infections-spiked-covid-cases-in-schools-actually-fell-a-lesson-from-england/amp/?__twitter_impression=true

As Delta infections spiked, COVID cases in schools actually fell—a lesson from England

And they didn't even mask! (Although they tested 2x / week)

DCPS is testing how many times a week again? Oh right, zero.

Oh did you skip the part where they didn’t mask? And we are?

Did YOU skip the part where masks alone will result in 40% of kids getting COVID in three months?

Could you point out that part, pls?

https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2021-07-31/what-the-delta-variant-development-means-for-unvaccinated-kids

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So I have heard that at one DC charter that already started back this week...25% of classes are now quarantining at home due to confirmed COVID cases in the room.

What a mess this will be. I think people have no idea how much of a disaster this fall will be.

What they need to do is stop quarantining everybody. If this will be a mess, it will be a mess of our own making.

You forgot the entire plot here. COVID is real. The mess of our own making is what would happen if we pretend it isn't in the classroom, and let it spread.

You forgot that the plot originally was that we need to protect the vulnerable and slow the spread so as not to overwhelm hospitals. Then the plot evolved to we need to wait for vaccines so the vulnerable can be protected. Nobody ever worried about kids until those things were achieved, and some people had now shifted their perspective to the idea that nobody must ever be put at risk of catching Covid, even if their risk of severe illness is close to zero (not zero).

Look, I’d rather my kids don’t catch Covid either. I don’t let them be unmasked in indoor public places. But schools need to function, and at some point we need to wonder if constant quarantine disruptions are worse than getting a probably mild case of Covid. Especially after they have already lost over a year of school, and given that it looks like the vaccines don’t prevent all infections either. Daily antigen testing of the whole exposed class, as was done in Britain, seems like a better approach.

I have a lot of compassion for you, your kids, and mine.

You misunderstand, or misrepresent for the sake of your point, how the plot has changed with respect to protecting children. The delta variant changed the plot. You make it sound like we are looking for excuses to disrupt normal life. That is not true. You sound like you're intentionally obscuring parts of the plot so you can pretend you can go back to an undisrupted normal life. That is not true either.

No, it really really has not changed the plot. There is NO EVIDENCE that delta causes more severe outcomes in kids. I’m so done humoring all you overly anxious control freaks who are physically incapable of properly evaluating risk.

Actually doctors in hard hit states are screaming right now that they are seeing much much sicker kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So I have heard that at one DC charter that already started back this week...25% of classes are now quarantining at home due to confirmed COVID cases in the room.

What a mess this will be. I think people have no idea how much of a disaster this fall will be.

What they need to do is stop quarantining everybody. If this will be a mess, it will be a mess of our own making.

You forgot the entire plot here. COVID is real. The mess of our own making is what would happen if we pretend it isn't in the classroom, and let it spread.

You forgot that the plot originally was that we need to protect the vulnerable and slow the spread so as not to overwhelm hospitals. Then the plot evolved to we need to wait for vaccines so the vulnerable can be protected. Nobody ever worried about kids until those things were achieved, and some people had now shifted their perspective to the idea that nobody must ever be put at risk of catching Covid, even if their risk of severe illness is close to zero (not zero).

Look, I’d rather my kids don’t catch Covid either. I don’t let them be unmasked in indoor public places. But schools need to function, and at some point we need to wonder if constant quarantine disruptions are worse than getting a probably mild case of Covid. Especially after they have already lost over a year of school, and given that it looks like the vaccines don’t prevent all infections either. Daily antigen testing of the whole exposed class, as was done in Britain, seems like a better approach.

I have a lot of compassion for you, your kids, and mine.

You misunderstand, or misrepresent for the sake of your point, how the plot has changed with respect to protecting children. The delta variant changed the plot. You make it sound like we are looking for excuses to disrupt normal life. That is not true. You sound like you're intentionally obscuring parts of the plot so you can pretend you can go back to an undisrupted normal life. That is not true either.

No, it really really has not changed the plot. There is NO EVIDENCE that delta causes more severe outcomes in kids. I’m so done humoring all you overly anxious control freaks who are physically incapable of properly evaluating risk.

Here’s what people seem to be overlooking about Delta:

Let’s assume Delta severity is the same as original. The difference is that it is more contagious.

So your child snd other children are more likely to get it.

It doesn’t matter if a virus is more or less severe if your child won’t get it either way. But if lots more kids actually get the virus, then lots more severe cases will appear too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Teacher here who is wondering where all the federal pandemic funding went? Two of the most basic precautions we can take for unvaccinated elementary students are good quality masks and distanced, outdoors lunch. The former is easy - supply good quality masks. The second requires tents, tables and extra lunch duty, cafeteria/meal prep and janitorial staff. So far they seem to be leaving it to individual schools to figure out and I guarantee you the extra work/lunch duty coverage (when you can’t have several classes supervised by one teacher while others have their break) will burn out already-stressed faculty and staff.

This happened at the private school where I taught. Eventually they hired a lot of college students for the extra supervision. I agree that extra caution requires extra hands and funds. You are asking a great question. Teachers were stretched thin last year and it impacts the quality of instruction and learning.

[Anonymous]

Well, here’s what everyone flipping out about delta doesn’t want to admit: we now have no choice but to send kids to school.

It’s no longer an option. We cannot ask families to stick it out for a month or two to see if we can get numbers down. It’s too late. Kids have to go back to school, and it’s at a critical breaking point.

If we had actually provided something resembling in person school last year, maybe we wouldn’t be in this spot. But we didn’t. Not only did we not offer most kids in the district IPL at any point last year, but we kept telling families that it was coming. For a whole year! So now we have to do it.

If you are freaking out about delta now but did not push for in person last fall, when cases were low, or in the spring, when teachers were getting priority vaccines, then you should know you created this situation. Now we HAVE to send kids back to school in the middle of delta and hope for the best, because we refused to do it under better conditions sooner. If we’d prioritized IPL last year, we’d have good will to spend. We don’t.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Well, here’s what everyone flipping out about delta doesn’t want to admit: we now have no choice but to send kids to school.

It’s no longer an option. We cannot ask families to stick it out for a month or two to see if we can get numbers down. It’s too late. Kids have to go back to school, and it’s at a critical breaking point.

If we had actually provided something resembling in person school last year, maybe we wouldn’t be in this spot. But we didn’t. Not only did we not offer most kids in the district IPL at any point last year, but we kept telling families that it was coming. For a whole year! So now we have to do it.

If you are freaking out about delta now but did not push for in person last fall, when cases were low, or in the spring, when teachers were getting priority vaccines, then you should know you created this situation. Now we HAVE to send kids back to school in the middle of delta and hope for the best, because we refused to do it under better conditions sooner. If we’d prioritized IPL last year, we’d have good will to spend. We don’t.

Agree. But this should not stop people from advocating for outdoor lunch. I’m one of those people who thinks schools should be open but sees lunch as a disaster waiting to happen.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Hey this is odd to say for the 1,000th time, but no one is saying that you can't do a "virtual option." There are just limited free choices available to you through the public school system. You literally can't always get what you want. However, there are very inexpensive homeschool options.

It seems as if you're saying it yourself...

Every public school system should have a virtual arm. Now is the perfect time to develop one.

Sorry, we live in a world of limited resources for public school. They can't do it without compromising the quality of in person school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Well, here’s what everyone flipping out about delta doesn’t want to admit: we now have no choice but to send kids to school.

It’s no longer an option. We cannot ask families to stick it out for a month or two to see if we can get numbers down. It’s too late. Kids have to go back to school, and it’s at a critical breaking point.

If we had actually provided something resembling in person school last year, maybe we wouldn’t be in this spot. But we didn’t. Not only did we not offer most kids in the district IPL at any point last year, but we kept telling families that it was coming. For a whole year! So now we have to do it.

If you are freaking out about delta now but did not push for in person last fall, when cases were low, or in the spring, when teachers were getting priority vaccines, then you should know you created this situation. Now we HAVE to send kids back to school in the middle of delta and hope for the best, because we refused to do it under better conditions sooner. If we’d prioritized IPL last year, we’d have good will to spend. We don’t.

Agree. But this should not stop people from advocating for outdoor lunch. I’m one of those people who thinks schools should be open but sees lunch as a disaster waiting to happen.

PP here and I agree, but I think the way to handle at this point is to work directly with your school, either contacting the administration directly or working through the PTO or parent groups to come up with a solution and find the resources. I see people arguing that DCPS needs to implement a solution and… that’s not going to happen. People need to advocate for solutions that work with their facilities, resources, etc.

[Anonymous]

Those of you demanding a virtual option for every specific school… why? A centralized virtual option makes so much more sense. It’s more efficient, it should allow for better quality, and it won’t be a drain on individual schools that will have their hands full with in person options.

Is it fear of losing your spot in an OOB school? Fear of losing specific resources at your school? What? This is just such an unworkable and unreasonable request that it really feels purely obstructionist at this point.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Those of you demanding a virtual option for every specific school… why? A centralized virtual option makes so much more sense. It’s more efficient, it should allow for better quality, and it won’t be a drain on individual schools that will have their hands full with in person options.

Is it fear of losing your spot in an OOB school? Fear of losing specific resources at your school? What? This is just such an unworkable and unreasonable request that it really feels purely obstructionist at this point.

I am all for a centralized virtual school. It seems like a win-win. The families who believe that virtual is best is for them would get virtual and the individual schools would have less students thereby allowing more social distancing and making it safer for everyone. I don't see why this can't be done as a temporary measure until kids under 12 can get vaccinated. I would not have any problems with my child doing in-person after a vax. His medical condition is not severe enough to qualify for the current medical waiver but he has health conditions that put him at risk.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We aren’t in DCPS but I feel your pain. We are already seeing well off parents freaking out and requesting to quarantine everyone if there’s a case in a classroom. There is panic created and ultimately it may lead to school closures.
I feel like all these nervous people should put their kids in remote and shut up.

Yes. That’s what some of us are asking for and DCPS won’t let us. Would have been happy to shut up. Could have done 1 per grade for under 12s so that there isn’t simulcasting.