Anonymous wrote:Our daycare is not applying the third provision as they say children under 5 cannot wear a well-fitting mask consistently. So if you are under 5 and exposed you still have to quarantine for 10 days. I wonder how other daycares are interpreting this.

OSSE hasn’t allowed daycares to use the 3rd provision. If they do, they will be shutdown if OSSE finds out

Anonymous wrote:Our daycare is not applying the third provision as they say children under 5 cannot wear a well-fitting mask consistently. So if you are under 5 and exposed you still have to quarantine for 10 days. I wonder how other daycares are interpreting this.

Other MoCo daycares are applying the 3rd provision. It is written to apply to children under 5 and acknowledges that they remove their masks for lunch and nap. You should let your provider know that others are following it!

Our daycare is not applying the third provision as they say children under 5 cannot wear a well-fitting mask consistently. So if you are under 5 and exposed you still have to quarantine for 10 days. I wonder how other daycares are interpreting this.

All,

Maryland and Montgomery County recently adopted the CDC's revised isolation and quarantine guidance and are allowing shortened isolation and quarantine periods in daycares. https://health.maryland.gov/phpa/Documents/01.06.2022%20Memo%20School%20Childcare%20Guidance.pdf and https://www.montgomerycountymd.gov/covid19/Resources/Files/quarantine/I-Q-guidance-schools-childcare.pdf

D.C. needs to follow suit. As many of you know, childcare as an essential service is collapsing for many parents because of successive 10 or 14-day close contact quarantines of healthy children.

Sample messages below. Please email, call, and tweet at all the officials far below to demand action. DC Health and OSSE apparently have concerns about child masking following quarantine or isolation; these are addressed below.

Advocates in Montgomery County found it particularly effective to tweet and then amplify each other's tweets; feel free to follow me or email me if you would like to be connected with others who are active on Twitter to do so.

Please spread this around if you support as well.

Thanks,
Melanie Harris

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SAMPLE MESSAGES/TWEETS:

"MD and MoCo followed the CDC's new guidance by shortening isolation and quarantine periods in daycares. DC must do the same. These policies are causing the collapse of childcare as an essential service, costing parents their jobs, and driving flight from DC daycares."

"If you're concerned that kids under 5 don’t mask all day, note that the CDC, MD, and MoCo guidance accounts for this fact and permits return from quarantine so long as children maintain distance while eating and napping."

"If you refuse to implement this guidance in daycares because of mask compliance, you must reckon with the hypocrisy and cruelty of forcibly masking toddlers and preschoolers while simultaneously imposing policies that imply their masking is pointless and treat them as if they’re fully unmasked."

"Will you commit to shortening isolation and quarantines for this extremely low-risk group and to providing approval for all childcare providers in DC to implement test-to-stay? TTS is CDC-approved for unvaccinated kids and is the best way to keep children in care and protect parents' livelihoods. Providers wouldn't need to procure and administer tests; parents could do that."

"DC parents are at a breaking point. They are burning paid time off, leaving their jobs, and self-medicating with drugs and alcohol. Teachers and health care workers with young children are forced to stay home, further exacerbating staffing shortages in hospitals and schools. Children are being placed into suboptimal care with older siblings and vulnerable grandparents. End these damaging policies now."

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KEY OFFICIALS:

D.C. OFFICE OF THE STATE SUPERINTENDENT FOR EDUCATION (OSSE)
- Dr. Christina Grant (Acting State Superintendent of Education) / (202) 727-6436 / Christina.Grant@dc.gov
- David Esquith (Director of Policy and Planning, Health and Wellness Division) / David.Esquith@dc.gov
- Tia Bromsted (Deputy Assistant Superintendent, Health and Wellness) / Tia.Brumsted@dc.gov

DC HEALTH
- Director LaQuandra Nesbitt / (202) 442-5955 / doh@dc.gov
- Jacqueline Watson (Chief of Staff to the Director) / (202) 442-5955 / jacqueline.watson@dc.gov
- Matteo Lieb (Legislative Affairs Director) / (202)-442-5955 / matteo.lieb@dc.gov
- Patrick Ashley (Health and Medical Branch Director, COVID Operations Section and Senior Deputy Director, Health Emergency Preparedness and Response Administration) / (202) 671-4222 / Patrick.Ashley@dc.gov

MAYOR's OFFICE
- Mayor Bowser / (202) 727-2643 / eom@dc.gov
- John Falcicchio (Chief of Staff) / john.falcicchio@dc.gov
- Paul Kihn (DC Deputy Mayor for Education) / (202) 727-3636 / Paul.Kihn@dc.gov

-DC Council Members: Phil Mendelson, Kenyan McDuffie, Anita Bonds, Elissa Silverman, Robert White, Christina Henderson, Brianne Nadeau, Brooke Pinto, Mary Cheh, Janeese Lewis George, Charles Allen, Vincent Gray, Trayon White