Some places could make it work IF there are part time kids who weren’t in on whatever day the + kid was there AND there is appropriate coverage from staff who weren’t there either.
But that is… lofty. People need to realize that everyone is doing their best. Parents who want to shut the whole building down are more than welcome to keep their kids home?
Post by sporklemotion on Aug 30, 2021 20:42:03 GMT -5
At that age, I would expect the whole class to quarantine since I would imagine it’s impossible to figure out close contacts since kids of that age are sort of all over the place. I would not expect the whole school to shut down unless there was a staffing issue created by people covering other rooms and being exposed, etc.
Regardless, if I didn’t trust your judgment and ability to work with the relevant guidance, I shouldn’t be sending my kid to you. So people can fuck right off if they are being rude or disrespectful to you. Everyone is doing the best they can with all of the changing expectations.,
Post by purplepenguin7 on Aug 30, 2021 20:44:59 GMT -5
I don’t know what the “right” thing to do is but when my daughter’s 2 year old class room had a positive case, the entire class was sent home to “quarantine”, which I fully supported. The rest of the school did not shutdown. The entire school closed only once when they were about 4 cases spread across multiple classrooms. This was around dec 2020 so pre vaccine for the general public but it seemed to be widely accepted from every one I spoke to.
Our kid’s 3yo class just quarantined. I would expect the class to quarantine at that age. Our center also sends siblings of kids in the affected class home.
In our case, the positive case was last there on a Tuesday. They called us on a Friday morning to pickup. Then Friday afternoon my kid spiked a fever and we tested and he was positive. I told the daycare and they extended the quarantine a few more days.
Our daycare is also notifying the health dept too and their update emails say things like, “in consultation with the health dept…” so maybe share some blame with your local health dept to get the grumpy parents off your case?
Our kid’s 3yo class just quarantined. I would expect the class to quarantine at that age. Our center also sends siblings of kids in the affected class home.
In our case, the positive case was last there on a Tuesday. They called us on a Friday morning to pickup. Then Friday afternoon my kid spiked a fever and we tested and he was positive. I told the daycare and they extended the quarantine a few more days.
Our daycare is also notifying the health dept too and their update emails say things like, “in consultation with the health dept…” so maybe share some blame with your local health dept to get the grumpy parents off your case?
That’s part of the issue…the health department in our red state has very suggestive language, yet it’s not binding. Plus, we’re requiring masks (their suggestion) and finding that the health dept isn’t taking that in to account and decreasing the length of the quarantine. Basically everyone’s mad and it’s only the third week of school.
Post by UMaineTeach on Aug 30, 2021 21:27:12 GMT -5
If you kept them in cohorts by class, then I would expect just that class to quarantine. Social distancing is not a thing with that age. If all the kids were mixed, I’d expect all kids who were around the case to for whatever number of days before to stay home.
We are using this to decide at our schools. ME politicians have done well handling it so far, with the common exception of tense long school board meetings arguing about masks.
I am in a red state and my daughter's Pre-K class at a private school (large national chain) last year never quarantined for confirmed positives. We had a student and a teacher positive at different points in the year and absolutely nothing was done. Kids did not wear masks, teachers did.
Both times we pulled our daughter for a week and had her tested 5 days after exposure, but we were the only family to do that.
No other cases in the class either time. They got very lucky.
The protocol in our county is only confirmed close contacts. Which ... if everybody's wearing masks would be anybody closer than 6 feet for more than 15 minutes in a 24 hour period, or 6 feet without masks (so lunch/snack). But in a daycare setting that probably means sending home the whole class until they test negative. I don't see any reason to close the whole school.
If (big if!) parents and staff are vaccinated, it's not a _huge_ risk to children. But if basically anybody in regular contact with the classroom is unvaccinated I think closing it is the right choice.
I do not envy you and this decision making. It's a big question I, as a parent, have. I just got this from our superintendent and it helped clarify and I don't hate the guidance. I know if my kid were in the same class I would probably let her stay if she wasn't deemed a close contact, but would have her tested a few times over the week just to be sure.
"One of those questions is about the criteria for who is considered a “close contact.” In indoor K-12 classroom settings, a student who is 3 or more feet from an infected student is not considered a close contact as long as both students wore well-fitting masks and were wearing masks for the entire interaction. This means we will not have to automatically move an entire class or school to virtual learning should a case in a classroom be identified.
If a student is deemed a close contact, the school nurse or principal (or designee) will notify their family and the student who is deemed a close contact must quarantine for 14 days. However, students who are not sick will continue to access their school work online via Schoology. If an entire class is quarantined, the class will participate in the school day synchronously using Google Meet. "
The state of Massachusetts is using test and stay. Unvaccinated close contacts will be tested daily at the start of school. A negative test meams they stay in thr bldg.
Post by Velar Fricative on Aug 31, 2021 6:56:26 GMT -5
My kid was in Pre-K3 last year and they are not the best at masking and especially at social distancing. I’d expect classroom quarantine but not a school shutdown.
Our kid’s 3yo class just quarantined. I would expect the class to quarantine at that age. Our center also sends siblings of kids in the affected class home.
In our case, the positive case was last there on a Tuesday. They called us on a Friday morning to pickup. Then Friday afternoon my kid spiked a fever and we tested and he was positive. I told the daycare and they extended the quarantine a few more days.
Our daycare is also notifying the health dept too and their update emails say things like, “in consultation with the health dept…” so maybe share some blame with your local health dept to get the grumpy parents off your case?
That’s part of the issue…the health department in our red state has very suggestive language, yet it’s not binding. Plus, we’re requiring masks (their suggestion) and finding that the health dept isn’t taking that in to account and decreasing the length of the quarantine. Basically everyone’s mad and it’s only the third week of school.
I’m sorry. What a giant PITA. Red state here too but our county HD seems to be giving guidance aligned with CDC recs.
Post by steamboat185 on Aug 31, 2021 7:10:56 GMT -5
Last year they closed the classroom for a positive test. This year the health department does not require the classrooms to close and only requires the kids to be monitored for symptoms. Not sure why they changed the rules, but they did. All kids are masked.
In my experience it is going to be nearly impossible to determine close contacts between 3 and 4 year olds so I would expect the entire class to quarantine.
Both our elementary school and daycare would quarantine the classroom under these circumstances. The schools would not close unless there was a staffing issue related to the quarantines.
The state of Massachusetts is using test and stay. Unvaccinated close contacts will be tested daily at the start of school. A negative test meams they stay in thr bldg.
I work in a small private preschool (fully licensed) in MA. We are not doing test and stay. In our case the class would be quarantined.
I expect the local public preschool is doing test and stay since they have access to the high school nurse and testing equipment etc.
Our K-12 is doing test and stay because kids are masked except for outdoors when far apart. At our preschool, the kids are not masked while napping and they mix a lot more than K-12 kids. We haven't had a case in preschool yet this year, but I expect they will shut down the classroom if there's a positive case. Personally, I'd love a test to stay option like the elementary schools, but I understand why they would want to be more cautious. Shutting down the whole school every time there's a positive case seems very disruptive.
I would expect the room to close. I'd tell parents that's your guidance from the health department.
You're in an impossible position. My mom runs a preschool and keeps telling me how people are way less understand this year then they were last year of quarantines. I think everyone is burnt out and over it at this point.
Socially distancing 3 and 4 year olds within the same class is not realistic.
I would expect the room to close. At that age, you cannot have the kids in the room together and not expect all of them to be close contacts (for k-12 schools, this means within 3 feet masked or 6 feet unmasked for 15 minutes of more in a 24/hour period). My daycare would have closed the room in this situation. In my elementary school, we follow the 3 feet rule for close contacts and keep the students in the same seating charts/line order at all times except recess. If someone tests positive, the kids around them in their seating charts get quarantined.
The state of Massachusetts is using test and stay. Unvaccinated close contacts will be tested daily at the start of school. A negative test meams they stay in thr bldg.
I work in a small private preschool (fully licensed) in MA. We are not doing test and stay. In our case the class would be quarantined.
I expect the local public preschool is doing test and stay since they have access to the high school nurse and testing equipment etc.
For kids that age, they close the whole center here. The kids all interact so much at our center that when there is an outbreak with even one kid, they close the whole school for 10 days to make sure that everyone quarantines.
Post by keweenawlove on Sept 1, 2021 13:42:39 GMT -5
I'm sorry you're dealing with this. Our center would has the class quarantine for a positive case in the class. Sucks but I've just accepted that's how life is going to be, at least until they can get vaccinated. They used to close the whole center for 72 hours for a deep clean after a positive case and I do appreciate they're not doing that anymore.