Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don’t know if schools are superspreaders or not, but I know for sure my kid got it school right before the break.

Well sure, that’s going to happen. The question for me is, is Covid spread at schools at a statistically higher rate than other settings like workplaces and all the other things that are open and will continue to stay open while schools are closed? If not, than why are we targeting schools based on a community transmission percentage alone. I would understand if a school or classroom needed to close due to a specific staff shortage.

I would however, be in favor of expanding a virtual option if that’s what it took to calm the pro-closers down. I thought some parents would relax a bit when their kid got vaccinated but that doesnt seem to have happened.

How many vaccinated kids' parents are *really* worried about their kids getting very sick? I know very very few. The few who are super worried have a person at home who is not vaccinated (under 5), or immunocompromised (grandparent, parent on chemo, etc.). And yes, VA needs to be expanded to include those with lower risk tolerance.

I'd be more worried that only 55% of the kids in this county 5-11 are actually vaccinated. They are the ones who, when exposed to the virus, may come down with symptoms, and therefore test, and therefore shut down the school. I have the same concern for the staff who haven't received their boosters.

Wait, what?

Vaccinated kids are also coming down with symptoms.

Vaccinations helps keep you out of the hospital and helps prevent death. It does not mean that you won’t get sick or that you won’t have to quarantine.

What I said is you are *less* likely to have symptoms if you are vaccinated, and moreover, if you are *newly* vaccinated/boostered. Some people will have symptoms despite all that. Right now, the system works by self report. Why would you self-report? Because you have a positive test. Why would you have a positive test? Because you (a) have symptoms or (b) were exposed to someone who tested positive.
You are less likely to have symptoms the closer you are to your last shot. Most kids in the 5-11 age group who are vaccinated, are newly vaccinated (maybe a month out), but their rates of vaccination are not high enough. Unlike the teens (age 12-16) who couldn't get their booster until this week. Many of them had shot #2 6-8 months ago. Its efficacy is waning, and when exposed to Omicron, they are likely to feel it.

We aren't doing whole-school mandatory surveillance like the privates or test-to-enter like DCPS, so vaccinating and boosting at higher rates might help. That doesn't help people with family members who cannot vaccinate or are frail/sick.

Anonymous wrote:I completely disagree and think it's a great idea. I work FT as do most of the families in my neighborhood and most people I have spoken to support this idea. Last year when there was A week and B week and school started and ended at different times we carpooled and took turns watching kids. It was so much better than all virtual for everyone.

I agree it wouldn't work for all. But it would work for people who have flexible schedules - I work full time, and I can manage this. That's an extreme luxury I realize, but there are a lot of teleworkers in my neighborhood. And maybe there would be enough of us to just thin out the in-school-lunch numbers.

Anonymous wrote:I completely disagree and think it's a great idea. I work FT as do most of the families in my neighborhood and most people I have spoken to support this idea. Last year when there was A week and B week and school started and ended at different times we carpooled and took turns watching kids. It was so much better than all virtual for everyone.

Were your kids masked when hanging out together? I don't understand this type of arrangement when it means the kids will just be hanging out in different groups the rest of the time they're not in school.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don’t know if schools are superspreaders or not, but I know for sure my kid got it school right before the break.

Well sure, that’s going to happen. The question for me is, is Covid spread at schools at a statistically higher rate than other settings like workplaces and all the other things that are open and will continue to stay open while schools are closed? If not, than why are we targeting schools based on a community transmission percentage alone. I would understand if a school or classroom needed to close due to a specific staff shortage.

I would however, be in favor of expanding a virtual option if that’s what it took to calm the pro-closers down. I thought some parents would relax a bit when their kid got vaccinated but that doesnt seem to have happened.

How many vaccinated kids' parents are *really* worried about their kids getting very sick? I know very very few. The few who are super worried have a person at home who is not vaccinated (under 5), or immunocompromised (grandparent, parent on chemo, etc.). And yes, VA needs to be expanded to include those with lower risk tolerance.

I'd be more worried that only 55% of the kids in this county 5-11 are actually vaccinated. They are the ones who, when exposed to the virus, may come down with symptoms, and therefore test, and therefore shut down the school. I have the same concern for the staff who haven't received their boosters.

Right but there are many many students in the position of having a sibling under 5 or a close relative who is immunocompromised.

You can keep them home then. If someone is living with an immunocompromised family member, they probably should have applied to the VA to begin with. Tons of under 5s have been back in daycare and preschool for a while now.

Unempathetic mean VA mom continued her streak!!

Latest hot take: have an immunocompromised family member? Then it's all your fault you didn't consider that last July! Of course, all immunocompromised people now have been that way since before July, and in July, we all had crystal balls that allowed us to predict the future.

Those of us who didn't? Well, our families deserve what we get because we mocked mean VA mom.

Yeah that is not so empathetic. There should be some sort of on-ramp for people who want do virtual now (I'm not one of them, but I get it). From a practical standpoint, can't VA have more kids per class?

(waiting for VA people to yell at me now, lol)

I completely disagree and think it's a great idea. I work FT as do most of the families in my neighborhood and most people I have spoken to support this idea. Last year when there was A week and B week and school started and ended at different times we carpooled and took turns watching kids. It was so much better than all virtual for everyone.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:None of those positive cases are at school they’re all at home. I’m sending my kid to school. He’s vaxxed and we are boostered.

Sorry, but you're really dumb. I don't know if you're the one parroting this on every MCPS thread, or if there are a small number of really stupid dummies.

Schools are accelerators of Omicron spread, especially during lunch. The kids are sitting close together, hundreds in one crowded cafeteria, without masks, opening their mouths to eat and yell. Every day. What do you think's going to happen? It's way, way worse than any mass super-spreader event you could participate in outside of school, unless you took your household to an indoor concert venue and you all took off your masks. So people with Omicron are going to school, and spreading it rapidly to others students and staff.

And don't say it didn't happen before. It happened with Delta in September, but to a lesser extent because OMICRON IS 10 TIMES MORE TRANSMISSIBLE THAN DELTA.

Not the PP, but there is not a single scientific shred of evidence that schools are super spreaders. Lunch time is not a super spreader event. The reason why cases have skyrocketed recently is because people were NOT in school, socializing, attending parties, going to the mall, going to restaurants, etc. and THAT'S how the virus is spread around. Not by attending school.

This is just completely and utterly untrue. There is evidence that schools serve as locations of Covid transmission, especially during unmasked lunch time. Here is one study in Chicago which shows 40% of cases originating at schools.
https://dph.illinois.gov/covid19/data/contact-tracing/potential-exposure-location.html?regionID=0

Maybe they could just go to half days with no eating?

That's not a bad idea actually. Didn't some schools in DC do this in the spring ? There was a morning cohort and an afternoon cohort. The rest of the day was virtual.
of course, the buses need to run for this to work.

It is, in fact, a terrible idea. Portland pulled this sh!t with their schools last year. It is even harder for working parents to function if they have to find a way to move their kid from school to home or vice versa in the middle of the day. All my Portland mom friends had to stop working to deal with it or opt their kids out so they could get a day of work done.

I read elsewhere that there is no timeframe for making a decision about the newly red schools.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don’t know if schools are superspreaders or not, but I know for sure my kid got it school right before the break.

Well sure, that’s going to happen. The question for me is, is Covid spread at schools at a statistically higher rate than other settings like workplaces and all the other things that are open and will continue to stay open while schools are closed? If not, than why are we targeting schools based on a community transmission percentage alone. I would understand if a school or classroom needed to close due to a specific staff shortage.

I would however, be in favor of expanding a virtual option if that’s what it took to calm the pro-closers down. I thought some parents would relax a bit when their kid got vaccinated but that doesnt seem to have happened.

How many vaccinated kids' parents are *really* worried about their kids getting very sick? I know very very few. The few who are super worried have a person at home who is not vaccinated (under 5), or immunocompromised (grandparent, parent on chemo, etc.). And yes, VA needs to be expanded to include those with lower risk tolerance.

I'd be more worried that only 55% of the kids in this county 5-11 are actually vaccinated. They are the ones who, when exposed to the virus, may come down with symptoms, and therefore test, and therefore shut down the school. I have the same concern for the staff who haven't received their boosters.

Right but there are many many students in the position of having a sibling under 5 or a close relative who is immunocompromised.

You can keep them home then. If someone is living with an immunocompromised family member, they probably should have applied to the VA to begin with. Tons of under 5s have been back in daycare and preschool for a while now.

This. If you have unique concerns, it’s reasonable that you would put your kid in Virtual. No need to put all kids in virtual.

+1

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don’t know if schools are superspreaders or not, but I know for sure my kid got it school right before the break.

Well sure, that’s going to happen. The question for me is, is Covid spread at schools at a statistically higher rate than other settings like workplaces and all the other things that are open and will continue to stay open while schools are closed? If not, than why are we targeting schools based on a community transmission percentage alone. I would understand if a school or classroom needed to close due to a specific staff shortage.

I would however, be in favor of expanding a virtual option if that’s what it took to calm the pro-closers down. I thought some parents would relax a bit when their kid got vaccinated but that doesnt seem to have happened.

How many vaccinated kids' parents are *really* worried about their kids getting very sick? I know very very few. The few who are super worried have a person at home who is not vaccinated (under 5), or immunocompromised (grandparent, parent on chemo, etc.). And yes, VA needs to be expanded to include those with lower risk tolerance.

I'd be more worried that only 55% of the kids in this county 5-11 are actually vaccinated. They are the ones who, when exposed to the virus, may come down with symptoms, and therefore test, and therefore shut down the school. I have the same concern for the staff who haven't received their boosters.

Right but there are many many students in the position of having a sibling under 5 or a close relative who is immunocompromised.

You can keep them home then. If someone is living with an immunocompromised family member, they probably should have applied to the VA to begin with. Tons of under 5s have been back in daycare and preschool for a while now.

This. If you have unique concerns, it’s reasonable that you would put your kid in Virtual. No need to put all kids in virtual.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don’t know if schools are superspreaders or not, but I know for sure my kid got it school right before the break.

Well sure, that’s going to happen. The question for me is, is Covid spread at schools at a statistically higher rate than other settings like workplaces and all the other things that are open and will continue to stay open while schools are closed? If not, than why are we targeting schools based on a community transmission percentage alone. I would understand if a school or classroom needed to close due to a specific staff shortage.

I would however, be in favor of expanding a virtual option if that’s what it took to calm the pro-closers down. I thought some parents would relax a bit when their kid got vaccinated but that doesnt seem to have happened.

How many vaccinated kids' parents are *really* worried about their kids getting very sick? I know very very few. The few who are super worried have a person at home who is not vaccinated (under 5), or immunocompromised (grandparent, parent on chemo, etc.). And yes, VA needs to be expanded to include those with lower risk tolerance.

I'd be more worried that only 55% of the kids in this county 5-11 are actually vaccinated. They are the ones who, when exposed to the virus, may come down with symptoms, and therefore test, and therefore shut down the school. I have the same concern for the staff who haven't received their boosters.

Right but there are many many students in the position of having a sibling under 5 or a close relative who is immunocompromised.

You can keep them home then. If someone is living with an immunocompromised family member, they probably should have applied to the VA to begin with. Tons of under 5s have been back in daycare and preschool for a while now.

Unempathetic mean VA mom continued her streak!!

Latest hot take: have an immunocompromised family member? Then it's all your fault you didn't consider that last July! Of course, all immunocompromised people now have been that way since before July, and in July, we all had crystal balls that allowed us to predict the future.

Those of us who didn't? Well, our families deserve what we get because we mocked mean VA mom.

What fraction of families have developed new risk factors in the last few months? That’s certainly worth contacting MCPS about to see if they would let your kids into VA.

Clearly at some schools many families elected to keep their kids home this week, no one will bat an eye if you want to do it too. You can make your own decision to protect your family at home even if your own school does not go virtual.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don’t know if schools are superspreaders or not, but I know for sure my kid got it school right before the break.

Well sure, that’s going to happen. The question for me is, is Covid spread at schools at a statistically higher rate than other settings like workplaces and all the other things that are open and will continue to stay open while schools are closed? If not, than why are we targeting schools based on a community transmission percentage alone. I would understand if a school or classroom needed to close due to a specific staff shortage.

I would however, be in favor of expanding a virtual option if that’s what it took to calm the pro-closers down. I thought some parents would relax a bit when their kid got vaccinated but that doesnt seem to have happened.

How many vaccinated kids' parents are *really* worried about their kids getting very sick? I know very very few. The few who are super worried have a person at home who is not vaccinated (under 5), or immunocompromised (grandparent, parent on chemo, etc.). And yes, VA needs to be expanded to include those with lower risk tolerance.

I'd be more worried that only 55% of the kids in this county 5-11 are actually vaccinated. They are the ones who, when exposed to the virus, may come down with symptoms, and therefore test, and therefore shut down the school. I have the same concern for the staff who haven't received their boosters.

Wait, what?

Vaccinated kids are also coming down with symptoms.

Vaccinations helps keep you out of the hospital and helps prevent death. It does not mean that you won’t get sick or that you won’t have to quarantine.