Holiday travel and quarantine rules

[Anonymous]

My kids are in preK and 2nd at two different schools. The schools just sent out their quarantine rules and anyone unvaccinated (including all kids under 12) must quarantine for 5 days after returning from air or train travel and then can take a Covid test and return to school if it’s negative. So that likely means 6+ days of missed school with no remote learning option for my older one this year if he is quarantining.

I assume this will be the same for most/all schools since it’s based on the CDC recommendation, but I find it extremely frustrating that the schools aren’t planning better for holiday breaks. Why can’t they just do a week of remote learning for all after holiday breaks since we know it can be just as dangerous getting together locally with a large group of family indoors and unmasked?

My guess is that many people will travel and just lie about when they returned so their kids can return to school on time. Or people will “quarantine” where they are traveling and fly back later on if their kids can’t go to school anyway.

We have not seen any family since Christmas 2019 and this was the year we were planning to do it.

Curious what your school is requiring and how it will impact your plans this year.

[Anonymous]

*Laughs in New Yorker at needing to quarantine after travel by train*

[Anonymous]

Curious what your school is requiring and how it will impact your plans this year.

I don’t know and I don’t care. We are fully vaccinated and not sheep. It’s none of the schools damn business what my kid or I do outside of the classroom.

[Anonymous]

Did they require this before the school year started? Almost everyone we knew were away the week or 2 before school started.

[Anonymous]

My kids’ school is requiring 8 days’ quarantine after air travel if unvaccinated with testing on day 3 or 5 or something. The school isn’t offering remote options or makeup work this year. We live in a state where most trips are too far to drive so I expect that the week after Thanksgiving and Christmas will be very lightly attended for the lower, unvaccinated grades. They can’t really leave half the class in 1st/2nd grade without instruction and just hope that they’ll catch up on their own, so I assume those post-holiday weeks will be light on learning and a wash for the kids like mine who will show up. Oh well.

[Anonymous]

I don't share information with the school as its none of their business what we do outside of school hours.

[Anonymous]

How would your school know what your travel was?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Curious what your school is requiring and how it will impact your plans this year.

I don’t know and I don’t care. We are fully vaccinated and not sheep. It’s none of the schools damn business what my kid or I do outside of the classroom.

If your kid is fully vaccinated then this doesn’t apply to you.

[Anonymous]

well, I am not judging, but my family has not gone anywhere since the start of pandemic, no travel (cross county/state/country) at all. And, we just do it.

[Anonymous]

What's the penalty for noncompliance? Are these private schools that can kick you out?

[Anonymous]

Travel is a choice. I know it’s a difficult choice, but it’s not mandatory. Some families are also structuring travel differently by going for part of break, not all of it or waiting until the long summer break to see family. For people who choose to stay local at holidays, there’s no reason for them to have to deal with lower-quality distance learning and attendant childcare issues once break is over. Because of dissatisfaction from both in-school and at-home families as well as teacher burnout, we’re not doing hybrid again: It’s the worst of all learning choices. If having in-person school is a priority, it means community sacrifice during a pandemic. You can’t have everything you want right now.

[Anonymous]

Your kids are in pre-K and second grade. Go see family. It's important. Missing one week of second grade is not a big deal.

[Anonymous]

On one hand I understand these rules, on the other hand it bothers me that everyone else can just go to indoor trampoline park or an indoor gathering with extended family and not have any repercussions. IMO the week after Thanksgiving needs to be online.

[Anonymous]

Our school is doing this too. It was part of our enrollment contract that you had to sign and agree. Small private school. I’m ok with it and I think families will be honest- since it is in our contract and kids talk.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:On one hand I understand these rules, on the other hand it bothers me that everyone else can just go to indoor trampoline park or an indoor gathering with extended family and not have any repercussions. IMO the week after Thanksgiving needs to be online.

Totally agree. You can't travel safely with masks but Larla can go to the mall, trampoline park and a zillion restaurants with no mask. Not to mention all of the local inside family gatherings that will happen. The travel restriction is all theatre.