Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Sorry, typo. Together again people want opt-IN because they think no one will opt in.

Not a TogetherAgain person, but performing medical tests on a minor without the consent of the guardian is pretty sketchy.

I would hope people would opt-in. But we can't lose sight of our ethics and morality.

You definitely need consent.

Silence is not consent

They’ve done it in DC

That doesn't make it ethical or right.

It's wrong to conduct a test on a minor without the parent's consent.

These things matter, even in a pandemic

No, it’s actually the right thing to do in a pandemic where others are placed into contact with you via something other than their own free choice (which is the nature of public education generally, more so with no virtual option available).

No one is forcing you to send your kid in-person, you could have applied to the VA but most likely were one of the posters wringing their hands in July about how robust it was going to be and missed the extended deadline. Or you could choose to homeschool.

VA is going well and different from last year. We have full classes/live teaching daily. They should have made testing mandatory if you want to be in person.

Woot!

Rapid testing in the schools: https://bethesdamagazine.com/bethesda-beat/schools/mcps-will-use-rapid-covid-19-tests-when-students-have-possible-symptoms/

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Sorry, typo. Together again people want opt-IN because they think no one will opt in.

Not a TogetherAgain person, but performing medical tests on a minor without the consent of the guardian is pretty sketchy.

I would hope people would opt-in. But we can't lose sight of our ethics and morality.

You definitely need consent.

Silence is not consent

They’ve done it in DC

That doesn't make it ethical or right.

It's wrong to conduct a test on a minor without the parent's consent.

These things matter, even in a pandemic

No, it’s actually the right thing to do in a pandemic where others are placed into contact with you via something other than their own free choice (which is the nature of public education generally, more so with no virtual option available).

No. It's never right to perform any type of medical test on a minor without the consent of the guardian. Never.

Even if it saves lives. Parental control of the minor’s body is more important than anything else.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

I think MCPS is being over cautious, but in the name of trying to avoid a systemwide shutdown.

Why would there be a systemwide shutdown?

It’s spreading at a lively clip.

Is it?

Montgomery County covid dashboard says:

92.51 new cases per 100,000 residents (seven-day average), declining
2.7% test positivity (seven-day average), declining
-7.6% change in cases compared to previous seven-day period (i.e., declining)
71.7% of hospital in patient beds occupied
74.0% of hospital ICU beds in use
8.8% of hospital beds occupied by patients with covid

https://www.montgomerycountymd.gov/covid19/data/#dashboard

Shhh....don't let facts get in the way of the narrative.

THE SKY IS FALLING!!

I was reading that some school districts in Texas are closing down if the test positivity rate goes above 5%. Obviously Texas is a different situation than us regarding mask use and vaccination, but I wonder how far away we might be from going to hybrid or virtual. The state has not released any metrics for this.

Being vaccinated is not stopping COVID from spreading. The vaccination helps you fight covid when you get it.

Right.

Which is why the best thing we could do is stop tying policy/responses to cases or case count. Hell, we should stop reporting on it.

Anonymous wrote:Oh my. So now I’m hearing the outdoor lunch people are advocating for opt-out surveillance testing to nip a symptomatic spread in the bud, the togetheragain people want to keep surveillance testing opt out (so they can opt out: don’t ask don’t tell), and everyone wants rapid testing for kids with a “symptom” so we can all avoid the whole class quarantine. And MCPS just wants to send everyone home to fend for themselves. Is that where we are, friends?

People behaving responsibly will be ok with testing as they know its the right thing to do. But those who want to live life as normal will refuse testing as they just don't care and if they kids get sick they will send them to school anyway as they don't want to parent their kids. Those are the kids we need targeted for testing.

The fend for yourself is one reason we choose VA. But, there is no other good way to do it as parents don't want hybrid/concurrent and wanted back to normal. Back to normal never gave any instructions or for us, even make up assignments.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Sorry, typo. Together again people want opt-IN because they think no one will opt in.

Not a TogetherAgain person, but performing medical tests on a minor without the consent of the guardian is pretty sketchy.

I would hope people would opt-in. But we can't lose sight of our ethics and morality.

You definitely need consent.

Silence is not consent

They’ve done it in DC

That doesn't make it ethical or right.

It's wrong to conduct a test on a minor without the parent's consent.

These things matter, even in a pandemic

No, it’s actually the right thing to do in a pandemic where others are placed into contact with you via something other than their own free choice (which is the nature of public education generally, more so with no virtual option available).

No. It's never right to perform any type of medical test on a minor without the consent of the guardian. Never.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

I think MCPS is being over cautious, but in the name of trying to avoid a systemwide shutdown.

Why would there be a systemwide shutdown?

It’s spreading at a lively clip.

Is it?

Montgomery County covid dashboard says:

92.51 new cases per 100,000 residents (seven-day average), declining
2.7% test positivity (seven-day average), declining
-7.6% change in cases compared to previous seven-day period (i.e., declining)
71.7% of hospital in patient beds occupied
74.0% of hospital ICU beds in use
8.8% of hospital beds occupied by patients with covid

https://www.montgomerycountymd.gov/covid19/data/#dashboard

Shhh....don't let facts get in the way of the narrative.

THE SKY IS FALLING!!

I was reading that some school districts in Texas are closing down if the test positivity rate goes above 5%. Obviously Texas is a different situation than us regarding mask use and vaccination, but I wonder how far away we might be from going to hybrid or virtual. The state has not released any metrics for this.

Being vaccinated is not stopping COVID from spreading. The vaccination helps you fight covid when you get it.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Sorry, typo. Together again people want opt-IN because they think no one will opt in.

Not a TogetherAgain person, but performing medical tests on a minor without the consent of the guardian is pretty sketchy.

I would hope people would opt-in. But we can't lose sight of our ethics and morality.

You definitely need consent.

Silence is not consent

They’ve done it in DC

That doesn't make it ethical or right.

It's wrong to conduct a test on a minor without the parent's consent.

These things matter, even in a pandemic

No, it’s actually the right thing to do in a pandemic where others are placed into contact with you via something other than their own free choice (which is the nature of public education generally, more so with no virtual option available).

No one is forcing you to send your kid in-person, you could have applied to the VA but most likely were one of the posters wringing their hands in July about how robust it was going to be and missed the extended deadline. Or you could choose to homeschool.

VA is going well and different from last year. We have full classes/live teaching daily. They should have made testing mandatory if you want to be in person.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Text from the letter "I am happy to share that every school will have access to rapid tests that will be administered onsite to students who present with COVID symptoms. These tests will be in place starting next week. In addition MCPS in partnership with DHHS is hiring additional contract tracers in order to accurately determine who must quarantine. In the meantime,I am working with families impacted to be sure there is prompt and accessible testing."

Which school, which letter?

I'm speculating Kensington-Parkwood from earlier comments.

Anonymous wrote:Text from the letter "I am happy to share that every school will have access to rapid tests that will be administered onsite to students who present with COVID symptoms. These tests will be in place starting next week. In addition MCPS in partnership with DHHS is hiring additional contract tracers in order to accurately determine who must quarantine. In the meantime,I am working with families impacted to be sure there is prompt and accessible testing."

Which school, which letter?

Text from the letter "I am happy to share that every school will have access to rapid tests that will be administered onsite to students who present with COVID symptoms. These tests will be in place starting next week. In addition MCPS in partnership with DHHS is hiring additional contract tracers in order to accurately determine who must quarantine. In the meantime,I am working with families impacted to be sure there is prompt and accessible testing."

Anonymous wrote:We just heard from our ES. 4 classes were sent home today. One symptom was a sneeze and another was a headache.

They also mentioned that they will have access to rapid tests next week and will administer them to "symptomatic" students.

Omg a sneeze isn’t even on their list! Now we are quarantining for any ailment?

Anonymous wrote:Just got a notice from my kid's ES. They are going to start having rapid tests in the school starting next week so they can better determine who needs to quarantine. Thank goodness.

Yes!!!! Please can you share the message here?

Just got a notice from my kid's ES. They are going to start having rapid tests in the school starting next week so they can better determine who needs to quarantine. Thank goodness.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Sorry, typo. Together again people want opt-IN because they think no one will opt in.

Not a TogetherAgain person, but performing medical tests on a minor without the consent of the guardian is pretty sketchy.

I would hope people would opt-in. But we can't lose sight of our ethics and morality.

You definitely need consent.

Silence is not consent

They’ve done it in DC

That doesn't make it ethical or right.

It's wrong to conduct a test on a minor without the parent's consent.

These things matter, even in a pandemic

No, it’s actually the right thing to do in a pandemic where others are placed into contact with you via something other than their own free choice (which is the nature of public education generally, more so with no virtual option available).

No one is forcing you to send your kid in-person, you could have applied to the VA but most likely were one of the posters wringing their hands in July about how robust it was going to be and missed the extended deadline. Or you could choose to homeschool.