CDC Study Finds Teachers ‘Central’ To COVID Transmission When Distancing, Masks Not Enforced

When schools don’t consistently enforce precautions such as social distancing and mask wearing, teachers can play a “central” role in COVID-19 transmission, according to a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention study released this week.

Over an eight-week period that included 24 in-person school days, educator-to-educator and educator-to-student transmission in one district contributed to half of the 31 cases of the virus linked to schools, researchers found. Of 69 additional family members of the teachers and students, 18 tested positive. The study was conducted in six elementary sites in the Marietta City Schools, outside of Atlanta, Georgia.

While schools employed plastic dividers between desks, students were less than 3 feet apart in the classroom. And even though the district mandated mask use, students ate lunch in their classrooms, which might have contributed to the spread, according to the study. CDC Director Rochelle Walensky said earlier this month that “breaches in mask wearing” can increase spread...

https://www.the74million.org/cdc-study-finds-teachers-central-to-covid-transmission-when-distancing-masks-not-enforced/

SHADY GROVE MS STAFFER SUSPENDED OVER ‘INAPPROPRIATE BEHAVIOR’ DURING VIRTUAL CLASS

A Shady Grove Middle School staff member has been placed on administrative leave while the school district investigates his involvement in an incident during a virtual class session on Monday that was “sexual in nature,” according to a Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) spokeswoman.

Principal Alana Murray wrote in a letter sent to parents on Tuesday that the “staff member was seen on screen in a breakout room engaged in inappropriate behavior” during an eighth grade class. 

The incident was reported to law enforcement and the MCPS central office, Murray told parents — and recorded by students and posted on social media...

https://www.mymcmedia.org/shady-grove-ms-staffer-suspended-over-inappropriate-behavior-during-virtual-class/?fbclid=IwAR2EvnlHV94A5Y1jz7VPd2C2mq5544ThibuddqgRocAe1WQYNVoXBzwswKw

@Theresa_Chapple @Epi_D_Nique and I collaborated to provide a user-friendly review of the CDC’s study on #Covid_19 spread in elementary #schools in one Georgia district. This study is important because of its focus on young children and community spread. HappyThreadreading!

 https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1365121563733942274.html

Police say no charges against school employee caught in inappropriate sexual behavior during video link with students

A paraeducator at Shady Grove Middle School who was seen masturbating on camera during a virtual link with students won’t be charged criminally, a police spokesman said on Thursday. Marc Schack, a paraeducator who works with special education students, told Bethesda Beat on Wednesday that he didn’t realize his behavior had been captured on video until a reporter asked him about it. Schack said he thought the Zoom video connection had been disabled... 

 https://bethesdamagazine.com/bethesda-beat/schools/police-say-no-charges-against-school-employee-caught-in-inappropriate-sexual-behavior-during-video-link-with-students/

Hogan announced a new executive order that will require masks to be worn in all Maryland classrooms, cafeterias, hallways, auditoriums and gyms.

ANNAPOLIS, Md. — Everyone over the age of five will be required to wear masks in classrooms and any other “school setting where interaction with others is likely,” according to Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan.

During a news conference Tuesday afternoon, Hogan announced a new executive order that will require masks to be worn in all Maryland classrooms, cafeterias, hallways, auditoriums and gyms...

https://www.wusa9.com/article/news/education/masks-required-in-schools-including-classrooms-governor-hogan/65-5a1931d3-8730-49c0-8490-3fb10b9ab486

55 cases out of 81 people attending exercise classes at a gym, despite 6-ft distancing and some mask use. Ventilation was not assessed.

 <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">55 cases out of 81 people attending exercise classes at a gym, despite 6-ft distancing and some mask use. Ventilation was not assessed. <a href="https://t.co/cc3QrlFeCb">https://t.co/cc3QrlFeCb</a></p>&mdash; Linsey Marr (@linseymarr) <a href="https://twitter.com/linseymarr/status/1364661446995542016?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 24, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

COVID-19 Outbreak Among Attendees of an Exercise Facility — Chicago, Illinois, August–September 2020

Summary

What is already known about this topic?

Increased respiratory exertion facilitates SARS-CoV-2 transmission; outbreaks linked to indoor activities have been reported.

What is added by this report?

In August 2020, 55 COVID-19 cases were identified among 81 attendees of indoor high-intensity classes at a Chicago exercise facility. Twenty-two (40%) persons with COVID-19 attended on or after the day symptoms began. Most attendees (76%) wore masks infrequently, including persons with (84%) and without COVID-19 (60%).

What are the implications for public health practice?

To reduce SARS-CoV-2 transmission in fitness facilities, attendees should wear a mask, including during high-intensity activities when ≥6 ft apart. In addition, facilities should enforce physical distancing, improve ventilation, and encourage attendees to isolate after symptom onset or receiving a positive SARS-CoV-2 test result and to quarantine after a potential exposure to SARS-CoV-2 and while awaiting test results. Exercising outdoors or virtually could further reduce SARS-CoV-2 transmission risk.

https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/70/wr/mm7009e2.htm?s_cid=mm7009e2_e

Child protection nonprofit alleges 'manipulative' upselling with math game Prodigy

NBC NEWS:  “Schools are signing up for this and not understanding that the commercial pressure is going to happen when kids are at home,” said one expert.

The Campaign for a Commercial Free Childhood, a nonprofit advocacy group, on Friday accused a popular math game used in thousands of elementary schools of using “deceptive marketing and manipulative tactics” in a letter of complaint to the Federal Trade Commission.

Prodigy is a role-playing game aimed at first through eighth graders where players create customized wizard characters that enter “battles” to earn stars and prizes for solving curriculum-aligned math problems. The game has been downloaded more than 7.3 million times in North America since the start of 2019, according to the app researcher App Annie. Prodigy said that more than 90,000 schools globally — two thirds of them in the United States and the rest mostly in Canada, Australia and India — have used it to assign math homework...

https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/tech-news/child-protection-nonprofit-alleges-manipulative-upselling-math-game-prodigy-n1258294

MCPS employee under investigation for inappropriate sexual behavior during video link with students, said he thought camera was off

...He said he has worked for MCPS for 21 years.

Schack said the school system called him on Monday to say he was being placed on administrative leave, telling him they had “misplaced his background check file.” 

“Maybe they were looking to see if I had any criminal misbehavior or anything like that,” he said.

But the district didn’t mention the video to him and he was not aware of it until Wednesday...

 https://bethesdamagazine.com/bethesda-beat/schools/mcps-investigating-middle-school-employees-inappropriate-sexual-behavior-seen-during-virtual-class/

Biggest Electric Bus Deal in U.S. Approved in [Montgomery County] Maryland - $169 MILLION @MCPS

A school system outside Washington is poised to become the nation’s biggest operator of electric school buses.


The Board of Education in Maryland’s Montgomery County voted unanimously on Tuesday evening to approve a 16-year, $169 million contract to lease 326 buses, part of a plan that could result in the county replacing its entire 1,422-bus fleet over the next two decades.

The deal represents the largest municipal government order of any kind for buses, according to Monique Hanis, a spokeswoman for Advanced Energy Economy, a business association that promotes clean energy use...

...The vehicles will be built by Thomas Built Buses Inc., a division of Daimler AG with electric battery technology provided by Proterra Inc. in a deal coordinated by Highland Electric Transportation Inc. Todd Watkins, the transportation director of Montgomery County Public Schools, said the contract would be the first electric school bus contract in the nation that is not dependent on federal grants...

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-02-24/biggest-electric-school-bus-deal-in-u-s-approved-in-maryland

MCPS Cafeterias will Put 55+ Students Together without Masks while Eating Lunch, a Known High Risk Interaction. #COVID-19 #Ventilation #HighRisk

The Board of Education has revealed what schools will look like when they open for more public school students.  (Note, MCPS schools are already open and in use by students paying to attend various programs.)  

In the MCPS video posted to Twitter, the Board of Education shows that they will not be following the concept of creating pods of students.  Instead, they will allow 55+ students to all eat in one room.  Obviously, as the students will be eating their lunch they will not be wearing masks.

The NFL already determined that this type of environment was high risk and eliminated lunch rooms in order to keep COVID-19 from spreading during their season.  

But why learn from others?  The Board of Education prefers to experiment with students and staff to see how this arrangement of 55+ students and staff in one room without masks on will work out.

  

As U-Va. and U-Md. try to curb surge in coronavirus cases, neighboring communities brace themselves

One campus, in Maryland, temporarily canceled in-person classes after coronavirus infections surged past 60 cases two days in a row. The other, in Virginia, kept classrooms open even after it logged 229 cases in a single day.

The region’s flagship universities — the University of Maryland at College Park and the University of Virginia — have tracked an alarming uptick in the number of viral cases on campus. And each school has taken a different approach to curbing the spread, illustrating the tensions and uncertainty of trying to operate major research universities in the pandemic and preserve public health...

https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/uva-umd-covid-cases-colleges/2021/02/22/7890b542-754c-11eb-8115-9ad5e9c02117_story.html?utm_campaign=wp_main&utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social

Classes at UMD, College Park to go online for a week as coronavirus spreads on campus; ‘sequester-in-place’ ordered

 

BALTIMORE SUN |

FEB 20, 2021 AT 5:31 PM

The University of Maryland, College Park on Saturday suspended in-person classes for a week and instituted a “sequester-in-place” order as the coronavirus spreads on campus.

Classes at the state’s flagship university will be conducted online Monday through Feb. 27, according to an “urgent” announcement from Dr. Darryll J. Pines Jr., president of the university, and Dr. Spyridon S. Marinopoulos, director of the University Health Center.

The new mandate also requires students who live in campus residence halls or off-campus fraternity or sorority houses to isolate in place. It urges other off-campus students “stay at home as much as possible and limit your activities.”

It’s the second time this week the university has taken steps to curb the spread of COVID-19 following the detection on and off campus of coronavirus clusters, which they define as three or more cases in a certain area, and outbreaks, five or more cases in a defined space...

Positive results for COVID on rapid tests at State House complex; multiple Maryland senators miss floor session

Positive results from “several” rapid coronavirus tests at the State House complex kept a number of senators off the chamber floor Tuesday and in a precautionary quarantine as lawmakers awaited the results of more accurate tests. Senate President Bill Ferguson announced the positive results to the Senate chamber and said public health officials have begun extensive contact tracing of anyone potentially exposed to the virus.

Six of the Senate’s 47 members missed the chamber’s 11 a.m. floor session, although it wasn’t clear how many of those received positive results, how many were quarantining as a precaution because they were a close contact of a potential case or whether any missed the session for other reasons.

However, Sen. Shelly Hettleman and Sen. Susan Lee both told The Baltimore Sun that they were asked to quarantine as a precaution because they’d potentially been in contact with someone who tested positive Tuesday on a rapid test...

https://www.baltimoresun.com/politics/bs-md-pol-ga-senate-covid-tests-20210223-x3nnrnmzczak3pisadykd5eiky-story.html?_lrsc=6ac162aa-3720-44ce-a227-decbdfcbac8c

Working for change after video showed girl with autism being dragged off Va. school bus

7 On Your Side has obtained more video of what happened before and after a bus driver and aide dragged a 9-year old girl who has autism off a Prince Williams County Public Schools bus in Manassas, Virginia. We first reported on this story in September, after obtaining a portion of the same video... https://wjla.com/features/7-on-your-side/watch-bus-driver-allows-9-year-old-with-autism-to-ride-on-the-floor-of-bus

Dining in restaurants associated with more than double the risk of #COVID19, presumably due to inability to #WearAMask while eating.

Dining in restaurants associated with more than double the risk of #COVID19, presumably due to inability to #WearAMask while eating. Get takeout or delivery. Tip as generously as you can. https://t.co/wsxiQco7hr

— Tatiana Prowell, MD (@tmprowell) February 23, 2021

 

https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/2776937?guestAccessKey=3cf6c97b-61fd-4eb4-b39f-83b067e60688&utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social_jama&utm_term=4511908332&utm_campaign=article_alert&linkId=111889263

Fairfax parent says it took 4 days to learn of son’s potential COVID-19 exposure

...The school employee — who had been within 6 feet of her son for a time longer than 15 minutes — tested positive on Wednesday, Kennedy said, but she wasn’t notified until Sunday. And she wants to know why it took so long — because of potential exposures in her own home...

https://wtop.com/coronavirus/2021/02/fairfax-parent-says-it-took-4-days-to-learn-of-sons-potential-covid-19-exposure/?fbclid=IwAR3xllbhNtwMEZ7xQuCkEy9A-C0irlknMil6twtSKMyGU--msPlkUe7yLxE

Clusters of SARS-CoV-2 Infection Among Elementary School Educators and Students in One School District — Georgia, December 2020–January 2021

 

Summary

What is already known about this topic?

In-person learning provides important benefits to children and communities. Understanding SARS-CoV-2 transmission in schools is critical to improving the safety of in-person learning.

What is added by this report?

An investigation of SARS-CoV-2 transmission in a Georgia school district during December 1, 2020–January 22, 2021, identified nine clusters of COVID-19 cases involving 13 educators and 32 students at six elementary schools. Two clusters involved probable educator-to-educator transmission that was followed by educator-to-student transmission in classrooms and resulted in approximately one half (15 of 31) of school-associated cases.

What are the implications for public health practice?

Educators might play a central role in in-school transmission networks. Preventing SARS-CoV-2 infections through multifaceted school mitigation measures and COVID-19 vaccination of educators is a critical component of preventing in-school transmission...

https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/70/wr/mm7008e4.htm?s_cid=mm7008e4_w

#ConcertsforKids at Lincoln Center Celebrates the Lunar New Year/Tet

 

Lincoln Center is streaming Hao Bang-ah Ox! Available here: Chinese Theatre Works · Lincoln Center at Home

For more on Chinese Theatre Works, go here: Chinese Theatre Works

The Chinese Theatre Works production, Hao Bang-ah Ox!, features live music and traditional Chinese hand puppet performances in celebration of the Lunar New Year. Dedicated to the mission of preserving and promoting traditional Chinese performing arts, the ensemble presents a wide range of cultural programming that crosses ethnic and cultural boundaries, including opera, puppetry, music, and dance. Enjoy this special edition of #ConcertsForKids, melding ornate craftmanship, moving performance, and joyful exploration. 

About #ConcertsForKids
For family audiences, Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts is teaming up with a remarkable group of artists who will bring world-class performances and diverse musical perspectives straight from their homes to yours. We’re excited to share these short performances recorded by the artists themselves with your family at home.

Montgomery County Government spent more than $643K on 643 laptops for telework

Montgomery County needs to improve accountability with computer purchases after purchasing 643 laptops for $643,711, the county’s Office of the Inspector General concluded. The laptops and other equipment were purchased for county employees who could work from home during the pandemic, starting on March 20 last year. Before the county bought laptops, the Office of Device Client Management (DCM) loaned laptops to employees through an existing program. The program loans equipment for business travel, presentations, special events, work assignments, and work at remote locations...

https://bethesdamagazine.com/bethesda-beat/government/county-told-to-improve-accountability-with-computer-purchases/

Jordan McNair Death: How His Parents Are Turning Their Grief Into Hope After Losing Son To Heatstroke In 2018 #artificialturf

MD Grade Changing Investigation: Balt. City Schools Alerts 90,000 Students That Records Subpoenaed

BALTIMORE (WBFF) - Baltimore City Public Schools is in the process of alerting thousands of parents that their children’s grades have become part of a state grade changing investigation.

On January 25th, North Avenue sent a letter to thousands of Baltimore families. More letters are scheduled to go out in the coming days. The letters explain how City Schools was served a subpoena in a grade changing investigation, and their children's records are now involved. The subpoena was issued by Maryland’s Inspector General of Education, Rick Henry...

https://foxbaltimore.com/news/project-baltimore/grade-changing-investigation-city-schools-alerts-90000-students-that-records-subpoenaed?fbclid=IwAR3Grp9vyF4JuYJx24hDUTFWPiRxrzLQWm2jEkU43sTlTLlsMNA3upaTFSg

MARYLAND OFFICE OF THE INSPECTOR GENERAL FOR EDUCATION

Richard P. Henry, Inspector General (appointed by Governor, Attorney General & State Treasurer to 5-year term with Senate advice & consent), 2025

100 Community Place, 4th floor, Crownsville, MD 21032
(410) 697-9692
e-mail: richard.henry@maryland.gov

To report educational fraud, waste, & abuse: 1-844-OIGETIP
e-mail: oige.tips@maryland.gov

https://msa.maryland.gov/msa/mdmanual/25ind/html/47inspect.html

What Contact Tracing Looks Like In Auckland - See the List of Where Positive Cases were in recent days (shops/food/services)

 Coronavirus live updates: Latest on Auckland lockdown, community cases - Wednesday, February 17

• Three community cases of COVID-19 were detected in south Auckland over the weekend, leading the Government to impose an alert level 3 lockdown on Auckland and put the rest of the country under alert level 2
• The infected family - a mother, father and daughter - have the UK variant of the illness. The cases do not link directly to any other positive cases found in New Zealand to date
• Two new community cases were announced at about midday on Wednesday. One is a Papatoetoe High School classmate of an original case and the second is that classmate's sibling
• A decision on alert levels will be announced at 4:30pm on Wednesday
• An updated list of locations visited by the three cases can be viewed here. There are instructions for individuals who were also at the same locations as the cases at the same time 

COVID-19: Contact tracing locations of interest

Maryland mom fighting to create tougher laws against child sex predators

 

A Maryland mom is back at it in Annapolis at the State House next week working to create tougher penalties for child sex abusers.

Annie Kenny is fighting to pass the Sex Offender - Lifetime Supervision bill.

The bill would mandate that anyone convicted of sexually abusing a minor in the State of Maryland, which makes them a Tier III Registered Sex Offender for life, would also place them on probation for life, instead of just the current 5-year probationary period.

Two years ago Kenny began her crusade with a change.org petition that people can still sign to support her efforts at #Savethechildren Better Sex Offender Laws to Protect our Children

https://wjla.com/features/7-on-your-side/maryland-mom-fighting-to-save-children-from-sex-offenders

PETITION:  https://www.change.org/p/governor-hogan-better-sex-offender-laws-to-protect-our-children-32540612-ac2b-4c2a-9771-2c0287b39ebf

PGCPS board chair wants to stop board meetings while board is investigated

https://www.fox5dc.com/news/pgcps-board-chair-wants-to-stop-board-meetings-while-board-is-investigated

‘This inconsistency is not good for anyone’: Frequent school closures take steep toll on NYC families, teachers

...Adrian’s school, Samara Community School, has shut down twice for extended stretches in the past two months because of multiple COVID-19 cases, and when it’s open, he can attend only part-time under the hybrid model that switches between remote and in-person classes.

“It’s just crazy,” his mother, Maria Paulino, said. School has “been more closed than open.”..

https://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/education/ny-school-closures-covid-19-cases-20210211-rgj7n2agwzbyvghdl2k7acb2za-story.html

New trial dates set for former [MCPS] bus driver who sexually assaulted students

A criminal responsibility trial has been scheduled for a former Montgomery County Public Schools bus driver accused of sexually assaulting students with special needs while driving his routes.

Etienne Kabongo, 65, was arrested in August 2018 and charged with molesting a 12-year-old girl a month earlier, an act that police said was caught on the bus’s surveillance camera...

https://bethesdamagazine.com/bethesda-beat/schools/new-trial-dates-set-for-former-bus-driver-who-sexually-assaulted-students/

MCPS teacher John Vigna - Convicted Md. child molester appeals to Supreme Court

A former Silver Spring elementary school teacher convicted of having sexually abused students has urged the U.S. Supreme Court to review and overturn his conviction, saying testimony regarding his appropriate behavior toward pupils should have been permitted at trial...

...The intermediate Court of Special Appeals upheld the conviction, as did the Maryland Court of Appeals last August.

“For many years, John Vigna was a popular elementary school teacher in Silver Spring, Maryland,” Judge Jonathan Biran wrote for the state’s high court.

“But, as our nation has learned all too well, it is possible for a person to be a popular teacher (or coach or trainer or member of the clergy, etc.) and, at the same time, to sexually abuse children entrusted to his care,” Biran added. “According to the evidence the jury heard in this case, Vigna sexually abused several female students while he was their teacher.”..

https://thedailyrecord.com/2021/02/12/convicted-md-child-molester-appeals-to-supreme-court/

September 2020: This Overlooked Variable Is the Key to the Pandemic

 

There’s something strange about this coronavirus pandemic. Even after months of extensive research by the global scientific community, many questions remain open.

Why, for instance, was there such an enormous death toll in northern Italy, but not the rest of the country? Just three contiguous regions in northern Italy have 25,000 of the country’s nearly 36,000 total deaths; just one region, Lombardy, has about 17,000 deaths. Almost all of these were concentrated in the first few months of the outbreak. What happened in Guayaquil, Ecuador, in April, when so many died so quickly that bodies were abandoned in the sidewalks and streets?* Why, in the spring of 2020, did so few cities account for a substantial portion of global deaths, while many others with similar density, weather, age distribution, and travel patterns were spared? What can we really learn from Sweden, hailed as a great success by some because of its low case counts and deaths as the rest of Europe experiences a second wave, and as a big failure by others because it did not lock down and suffered excessive death rates earlier in the pandemic? Why did widespread predictions of catastrophe in Japan not bear out? The baffling examples go on...

https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2020/09/k-overlooked-variable-driving-pandemic/616548/

Opinion: The CDC’s plan to reopen schools seems to prioritize expediency over teachers’ health

After much anticipation, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Friday released a 35-page road map for returning to in-person schooling. While there are some admirable parts of the new operational guidance, I worry that it could result in more confusion and increased distrust.

Here’s what the guidance does well. Unlike the Trump administration’s watered-down recommendations that were couched in language such as wearing masks “if possible,” these new guidelines are clear on many points. They lay out five mitigation measures that every school should implement: masking, distancing, hand-washing, cleaning and contact tracing. The part I like the most is how the CDC has divided schools into four categories based on degree of covid-19 transmission in their surrounding communities. At low and moderate levels, full in-person learning can occur; at higher levels, hybrid or reduced attendance is recommended.

But look a little deeper and the problems begin. I was shocked that six-feet of physical distancing is not required across the board. While it is mandated at the two highest levels of transmission, at low and moderate levels, the guidance says only that physical distancing of six feet or more should be done “to the greatest extent possible.”..

...Another important omission is ventilation. It is widely accepted that ventilation is key to reducing covid-19 spread. Yet the roadmap contains scant information about ventilation, saying only that ventilation should be improved “to the extent possible . . . by opening windows and doors.”..

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/02/13/expediency-not-science-seems-drive-cdcs-plan-reopen-schools/

@DrLeanaWen Red = @CDCgov ’s category for highest level of community #covid19 transmission. That’s most of the country. And CDC is still saying that teachers don’t need vaccinations in these situations? Mind-blowing.

Red = @CDCgov’s category for highest level of community #covid19 transmission. That’s most of the country. And CDC is still saying that teachers don’t need vaccinations in these situations? Mind-blowing. pic.twitter.com/oeeezYSSfa

— Leana Wen, M.D. (@DrLeanaWen) February 13, 2021

@DrEricDing What is missing from this CDC school reopening priority list? Airborne virus guidance! Like almost nothing in 33 page document on ventilation except 1 paragraph on open the windows, but only if feasible. Ventilation should be #2 behind masks! #COVID19

What is missing from this CDC school reopening priority list? Airborne virus guidance! Like almost nothing in 33 page document on ventilation except 1 paragraph on open the windows, but only if feasible. Ventilation should be #2 behind masks! #COVID19 https://t.co/WrHVbv1ftr pic.twitter.com/WA2T2yDkVN

— Eric Feigl-Ding (@DrEricDing) February 12, 2021

2) Notably absent from new CDC guidance was ventilation. In one short paragraph, CDC suggested schools open windows & doors to increase circulation, but said they should not be “if doing so poses a safety risk or a health risk.” #COVID19 https://t.co/Nvu4MolvIl

— Eric Feigl-Ding (@DrEricDing) February 12, 2021

3) “C.D.C. gives lip service to ventilation in its report, and you have to search to find it,” said @j_g_allen, an expert on building safety at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health in Boston. “It’s not as prominent as it should be.”

— Eric Feigl-Ding (@DrEricDing) February 12, 2021

4) The section on ventilation does link to more information online. But all of that is buried, relative to a misguided emphasis on cleaning surfaces like outdoor playground equipment, said Linsey Marr, an expert in airborne transmission of viruses at Virginia Tech...

— Eric Feigl-Ding (@DrEricDing) February 12, 2021

5) “I think the balance is incorrect in putting so much emphasis on cleaning surfaces and almost no emphasis on cleaning the air, given what we know about how the virus spreads,” Marr said.

— Eric Feigl-Ding (@DrEricDing) February 12, 2021

@DrLeanaWen BREAKING: @CDCgov releases school reopening guidelines

BREAKING: @CDCgov releases school reopening guidelines

Great to have national strategy, but problems:
-Improved ventilation missing as key mitigation measure
-Teacher vaccination not required
-In areas of low transmission, 6-foot distancing not requiredhttps://t.co/4LzuXOal3L

— Leana Wen, M.D. (@DrLeanaWen) February 12, 2021

Some struggle with new bill testimony system in Maryland

 

ANNAPOLIS, Md. — Signing up to speak at a bill hearing or file written testimony got harder — and for some, maybe impossible — after the coronavirus pandemic shifted how the Maryland General Assembly accepts witness testimonies.

In previous years, interested parties would trek to Annapolis the morning of a bill hearing and sign up to testify. If they needed assistance in the process, lobbyists could do it for them...

https://wtop.com/maryland/2021/02/some-struggle-with-new-bill-testimony-system-in-maryland/

Maryland’s largest school system [MCPS] decides to reopen classrooms in March

Pressured by parents with opposing views on when Maryland’s largest school system should reopen classrooms amid the pandemic, Montgomery County officials stayed the course with a plan to return starting next month.

The plan, unanimously approved by the school board Tuesday, takes effect in March as the suburban school system of more than 160,000 students marks a full year of virtual learning.

When buildings open again, some students will be back four days a week, and others will be back four days every other week. Younger students and children from schools hit harder by poverty generally will get more time in person...

https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/montgomery-county-maryland-schools-reopen/2021/02/09/b837b692-6b00-11eb-ba56-d7e2c8defa31_story.html?utm_source=feedly&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=wp_local&fbclid=IwAR2hwgw0coJujLcwBjbsQ8sgJUehDjMu7lm5gK_73qaca_4RA5AMy58gPSE

@DrLeanaWen Should President Biden revise his goal of getting most kids back to in-person school within 100 days? I think so. And please stop arguing about whether teacher vaccinations are crucial. Of course they are.

Should President Biden revise his goal of getting most kids back to in-person school within 100 days? I think so. And please stop arguing about whether teacher vaccinations are crucial. Of course they are. pic.twitter.com/EnVmJdA8NZ

— Leana Wen, M.D. (@DrLeanaWen) February 11, 2021

2018: Revisions to the Board of Education Operations Handbook [Approved Revisions have never been posted to the Montgomery County Board of Education website.]

Montgomery County Board of Education November 13, 2018: 

An ad hoc committee was formed and appointed by the Board of Education President Michael A. Durso to review and propose revisions to the Board of Education Operations Handbook (Handbook) to bring the Handbook up-to-date and in compliance with Maryland law, make changes given the full voting rights of the Student Member of the Board, and other necessary editorial changes.  The ad hoc committee, comprising Mr. Durso and Board members Jeanette E. Dixon and Patricia O’Neill, submitted the proposed revisions to the Policy Management Committee, which reviewed the revisions and asked staff to make some additional changes. 

At the November 13 meeting, the Board discussed the changes and voted to approve the revised Handbook.

Read the memorandum and recommended draft of the Board of Education Operations Handbook.

VIDEO:  November 13, 2019 Board of Education Meeting Discussion of Operations Handbook.

Approved Montgomery County Board of Education Operations Handbook, but never posted to the Montgomery County Board of Education website.  

Montgomery County Board of ... by Parents' Coalition of Montg...

NOW: COVID-19 Outbreaks in 3 Montgomery County Private Schools: Charles E. Smith Jewish Day School (3), St. Raphael School (9), The Primary Day School (6).

Previous weekly reports at this link.

Cheder Chabad School Baltimore City 2 02/10/21

Bais Yaakov Eva Winer High School Baltimore County 49 02/10/21

Calvert Hall College High School Baltimore County 7 02/10/21

McDonogh School Baltimore County 4 02/10/21

Talmudical Academy of Baltimore Baltimore County 72 02/10/21

Carroll Springs Elementary Carroll County 2 02/10/21

Runnymede Elementary Carroll County 5 02/10/21

Bethel Christian Academy Howard County 2 02/10/21

Resurrection St. Paul School Howard County 15 02/10/21

St. Louis School Howard County 3 02/10/21

Charles E Smith Jewish Day School - Upper School Montgomery County 3 02/10/21

St. Raphael School Montgomery County 9 02/10/21

The Primary Day School Montgomery County 6 02/10/21

DeMatha Catholic High School Prince George's County 5 02/10/21

Kings Christian Academy St. Mary's County 7 02/10/21

The Country School Talbot County 7 02/10/21

As a reminder, the Maryland Dashboard uses the following criteria for reporting COVID-19 cases.  Not all cases are reported, only those that satisfy the following criteria.

  Note: This dataset reflects public and non-public K-12 schools in Maryland that have COVID-19 outbreaks. Data are based on local health department reports to MDH, which may be revised if additional information becomes available. This list does not include child care facilities or institutes of higher education.

Schools listed meet 1 or more of the following criteria:

    1) At least two confirmed COVID-19 cases among students/teachers/staff within a 14-day period and who are epidemiologically linked, but not household contacts; or

    2) Three or more classrooms or cohorts with cases from separate households that meet the classroom/cohort outbreak definition that occurs within 14 days; or

    3) Five percent or more unrelated students/teachers/staff have confirmed COVID-19 within a 14 day period (minimum of 10 unrelated students/teachers/staff).

Cases reported reflect the current total number of cases. Schools are removed from the list when health officials determine 14 days have passed with no new cases and no tests pending. Archival data is available through the COVID-19 open data catalogue.

These data are updated weekly on Wednesdays during the 10 a.m. hour. MDH is continuously evaluating its data and reporting systems and will make updates as more data becomes available.

 https://coronavirus.maryland.gov/pages/school-resources