MCPS will now send kids home for ten days based on symptoms only

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Teacher here, and it's just a matter of time before some sixth grade kid decides to be funny and impress his or her friends and get them all out of class by claiming they have a "sore throat" or, even better, "diarrhea." Anyway, this policy is designed to make sure schools have the staffing to teach quarantined kids without having to ask multiple teachers to work on Zoom with those kids during their planning periods. I smell an ulterior motive. Not cool. These kids need to be in school.

If you want kids at school, you need to curb your behavior at home to help stop the spread. 6th graders are generally not vaccinated and its very easy to spread it. But, keep denying covid and have a huge school outbreak that impacts others schools, families and our community. Great plans.

WTF do you mean by that?

They mean hide in your basement, otherwise apparently you're a COVID denier.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:None of this would be necessary if they would simply use the testing that is freely available.

How so? Wouldn't any positive test still send the class home?

Yes, but if Larlo has a loose stool after taco Tuesday and tests negative on a rapid, they could skip the whole quarantine charade.

[Anonymous]

I give up. It's probably just easier to do virtual until our kids can get vaccinated than deal with the roadblocks this idiotic Board wants to throw up. At least there's stability with virtual.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:None of this would be necessary if they would simply use the testing that is freely available.

How so? Wouldn't any positive test still send the class home?

The point of this thread is that MCPS wants to enforce quarantines based on symptoms, not test results.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I give up. It's probably just easier to do virtual until our kids can get vaccinated than deal with the roadblocks this idiotic Board wants to throw up. At least there's stability with virtual.

They need to stop the spread. Some people are clearly ok with getting covid as they don't care about anyone but themselves, even their kids and send them to school sick and don't care the impact it has on others.

I don't get the complaining. It was clear this would happen, so deal with it. Just like the same families told those of us concerned to just deal with it. Your turn. Virtual has a waitlist and isn't taking new families but go ahead and apply.

[Anonymous]

There is someone crowdsourcing data about entire class quarantines. If your kid is effected, consider filling out this short survey. They will take it to the BOE, county council and others to implement change.

https://forms.gle/aCURZHikVwLzMiGL6

[Anonymous]

My kid doesn’t have a diagnosed medical condition but does get headaches from time to time, as do most kids that I have ever known, from reading, stress, allergies, etc. I used to go to the nurses office as a kid and they would give me a Tylenol. My kid doesn’t typically go to the health room because the techs won’t do anything anyway. But the idea that you would send the whole class home for a minimum of a day while the parent gets a test on the kid (and what is the parent is busy or lazy and doesn’t take the kid promptly) is super ridiculous. The school at least needs to test those kids and not let a parent hold an entire class hostage for 10 days. And they should take coughing (unless severe or persistent) and headaches (unless severe) off the list.
I’m also giving my kid allergy medicine daily because otherwise she might cough.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is the dumbest policy in a long line of many. Allergies, asthma, chronic headaches, cold season coming up. It's utter nonsense. Seriously, how stupid can people be and feel like they need to one up the CDC and state officials?

WOW. absurd. I'm glad I moved to the South. It's no panacea here, but very very glad to not have to deal with this.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is the dumbest policy in a long line of many. Allergies, asthma, chronic headaches, cold season coming up. It's utter nonsense. Seriously, how stupid can people be and feel like they need to one up the CDC and state officials?

+1 I feel for you ES parents.

my kids are in MS/HS, but DC gets migraines, have had them since 6 yrs old, DC also has asthma. Other DC has terrible allergies, including in the fall.

I have stated before.. MoCo leadership, including the BOE are waaaay too conservative and are driven by fear rather than science.

+100

[Anonymous]

Pretty easy to get the negative test and get everyone back within a day. Seems like NBD.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Apparently the new “guidance” confirms what we’ve been hearing. If a child has “symptoms” associated with COVID (could be a runny nose) their close contacts (this has been interpreted as the entire class in many schools) are quarantined for ten days.

This is completely ludicrous and not based in science or CDC guidelines.

It’s not “symptoms,” it’s symptom! One symptom!

“ This is particularly important as if your child has any of the following single symptoms they will be sent home and not be able to return to school until they have a negative test, alternate diagnosis, or complete a full 10-day quarantine. During that period of time, all other students who have been in their close contact will have to be in a temporary quarantine while the other families wait on the outcome of that testing for your child. This could be potentially disruptive to your children and families moving in and out of quarantine and to avoid it takes all of us working together. It is a collective responsibility that we exercise extreme caution and be conservative in our approach.

The single symptoms that the health room staff screen for and will result in quarantine are cough, difficulty breathing, new loss of taste or smell, fever ≥100.4°, sore throat, severe Headache, diarrhea or vomiting. Please do not send your children to school with any of these symptoms. This is essential for us to continue to remain in school without quarantine.”

What choice do they have, though? I'm in favor of in-person and my kids went back in spring. But what else can they do?

It also doesn't say runny nose, at least, because then no one would be in school from Nov.-March.

What else can they do? They can not quarantine entire classrooms of masked kids based on one sniffle. They could follow the CDC guidelines for a start!

The symptoms listed don’t include sniffle or runny nose.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Pretty easy to get the negative test and get everyone back within a day. Seems like NBD.

how "easy" do you think it is for low income families?

[Anonymous]

They need to offer rapid tests at school if this is the policy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Pretty easy to get the negative test and get everyone back within a day. Seems like NBD.

how "easy" do you think it is for low income families?

Stop making this about income. Many of them are more careful as it impacts them more than you and county has free testing. This is why MCPS should have 1-2 time a week mandatory testing for anyone in person.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

The single symptoms that the health room staff screen for and will result in quarantine are cough, difficulty breathing, new loss of taste or smell, fever ≥100.4°, sore throat, severe Headache, diarrhea or vomiting. Please do not send your children to school with any of these symptoms. This is essential for us to continue to remain in school without quarantine.

I didn't have the time to read the whole thread, so hopefully someone already said this. No one has any business sending to school a kid with one of these symptoms, even in normal times. These are symptoms of an actually sick kid. Everyone here is complaining about the quarantine and testing, but in reality, you should be complaining about people sending their sick kids to school, who will get other kids sick. Keep them home! Then there isn't a need for quarantine.

100%!!!

This is idiocy if you don't qualify it for common conditions, chronic conditions or severity. If you really think we should keep a kid home for any cough, headache, etc., please go live in a bubble. If you don't send a kid to school with "one" or "any" of those symptoms, a significant % of school is absent each day and lacks any continuity with extremely harmful learning consequences.

It is qualified by saying “or alternative diagnosis.” My kid gets an asthma cough that lingers. I think I can get a letter from the pedi explaining the alternative
diagnosis after a negative test.