I'm pretty sure that DD's new daycare isn't following our health department guidelines about covid testing. I kept her home for a couple of days because she had a low fever and very stuffy nose, and they didn't require a negative test before she came back. We're new to the center, and it's very highly rated in our area.
I'm not sure I feel comfortable keeping her there if they aren't requiring testing, but we don't have any other current options. Do I report them? WWYD?
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If you do not know the rules, then I'm not sure what you would be reporting about. So no, I wouldn't report a school that I don't know is doing anything wrong. Speculation isn't solid grounds for causing a ton of problems to a school that is likely trying very hard to do its best during a really unprecedented time. Schools every where really are having a hard time. Can you consider homeschooling your child if you aren't comfortable, or sending her to school with a mask and a face shield? How about scoping out other preschools that you think may be handling things to your liking. There are likely a ton of options! And good for you for keeping your sick child home. Common sense for most. Maybe you can keep her home a few more days.
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Did they ask for a doctor's note? That's been my experience - unless there's a possible covid exposure, a note confirming it's something else is enough. It's pretty much unavoidable when you start day care that kids will come down with cold-type symptoms. My youngest started in August, and she's already given us two really bad colds (she had fever for one, we took her to get tested just in case, and of course it was just a cold). But of course it's extra scary these days.
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@Mama Bird: They didn't ask for a doctor's note. When your youngest was sick, was she able to go back to school before her test came back negative for the time she had a fever?
@agold: I certainly wouldn't report them until I was sure that there was strict rules in place, not just guidelines. I'm just very uncomfortable with the fact that every other daycare and school in our area requires either testing or quarantine when a kiddo is sick. Especially because my daughter isn't 2 yet, so she's in a toddler room with all unmasked kids. But it's not like the infants where you can physically keep them separated. And I'm a teacher, so I very much understand the stress that schools and childcare providers have been under and how guidelines change frequently, but, like I said, this seems to be the policy just about everywhere else. And it also seems like a pretty straightforward thing that wouldn't take much time or resources from the school. -
@Chuckles: Can you switch your child to one of the other preschools you mentioned? That seems probably the best thing to do if you like how they are handling the pandemic better than the school you are at.
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Unless there is a known covid exposure, our school is following their normal sick rules: 24 hours fever free before returning, no covid test required. If there's known covid exposure, then 10 days of quarantining is mandatory before returning, even with a negative test.
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@foodiebee: interesting. Do you know if there are other public health guidelines that school districts are following?
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At our daycare we only test if there is a known exposure or they have multiple symptoms (fever, cough and runny nose). I kept my 4.5 year old home when he had a cough and runny nose, daycare did not require a COVID test. If they have a fever, they have to be fever free for 72 hours before returning. Pretty much every time my 4.5 year old would get sick we would just run through the drive through testing and get him a test just to be sure.
At our elementary school, there was an exposure in my 4th graders class and everyone had to get tested. Since they all wear masks they can follow a modified quarantine where no one had to stay home unless they were experiencing symptoms. Our school is actually going to start on site rapid testing next week and I'm pretty excited about that.
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@KT326: thanks! I asked again at pick up and the interim director mentioned multiple symptoms as a reason why kids would get tested, but it was unclear if it was definitely required or had been communicated to parents. And DD did have both a fever and cough (which we told the school), and they didn't make us get her tested. The person I talked to seemed to have no idea that there was even guidance from our public health department or that their policy didn't match, not that they actively decided not to follow it. Which is kind of what had assumed since we really like the place.
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@Chuckles: we did a rapid test in the doctor's office. And of course she had no fever by the time she went back.
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@Chuckles: I’m sure it differs a lot regionally, but FWIW, our preschool requires a doctor’s note for return if a kid is out sick (whether they have one or multiple symptoms doesn’t matter). And then our doctor requires a Covid test to write a note, so essentially the school requires a test lol. But they don’t explicitly say that.
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Update: I looked into it more and the criteria from our public health department is mandated and, as far as i heard, followed by every other childcare center in our area. I was pretty concerned that our director didn't even seem to know that they weren't in compliance, especially because she seemed unconcerned and said, well it must be fine because we haven't had any covid cases recently. And I was like, well yeah, no one is getting tested! So I emailed her links to the information.
I didn't hear back from her, so I called our town's department of public health. I was very clear that we like the center and don't want anyone to be in trouble, I just want to make sure they are following the mandatory guidelines and proactively communicating the information to parents. She said she would absolutely contact them to figure out what's going on. We'll see... -
@Chuckles: Just saw your question. Our school is being more strict compared to the state's public health guidelines, which would allow any student exposed to covid to return to school if they are fever-free and have a negative test. I live close to our public elementary school (my DS is too young to attend) and drove by this morning during a fire drill. The kids were in their class lines, zero social distancing, zero masks. No one I saw was following the public health guidelines (not judging the teachers for prioritizing getting the students out the door during a potential fire! Just explaining how it is here).
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You were "very clear that [you] like the center and don't want anyone to be in trouble" and yet you went ahead and tattle taled on the school anyhow? Yikes. I hope the school doesn't get shut down since you really like it so much. Have you gone ahead and had your daughter tested since you are concerned about her being exposed to covid at the school? I'm so curious if she caught it from her classmates. I am just guessing that some private schools will have lots of different thoughts on how to handle things within the legal parameters of what they have to work with. Not all schools may be the same. I, personally, don't want to have to shove a test stick up my 3yo's nose every time I keep her home from school with a runny nose. If my kid's preschool started doing stuff like that, I would find another school even though I really like the current one. My kid's school currently has about 20% of people who feel differently than the rest of the 80%. Lots of parents talking in the parking lot at drop off about all of this. I can tell you, there is probably a lot of mask/covid/etc drama going on at many schools across america. Hooray for the freedom to (a) have our kids (and girls!) in school; and (b) switch about schools as you feel you need.
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@agold: actually this is a public daycare center so they have to follow our state's mandated guidelines. Besides the fact that every private daycare and school in our area do. I'd feel the same if I found out that my son's school was not following mandated vaccines for students which they need to legally be at school without very specific exemptions. Give them a chance to fix things on their own and then let someone know. I just want my daughter to have the safest school experience possible, especially because she's in the age group that doesn't yet wear masks.
I might argue that if someone didn't want to test their kid because it is a state mandated rule, they should be the ones to homeschool or find a center that actively disregards public health information.
ETA: Because the actual director is on leave and the interim director didn't even seem to know what I was talking about, I felt less like I was "tattling" and more that they need some support following the guidelines. The person at the public health department who I spoke with is a nurse whose job it is to connect with businesses and schools. And I'm not saying that to excuse what I did because it's possible that someone might get in trouble. Just that it wasn't the intention because they aren't actively disregarding the information (that I know of). -
@foodiebee: Honestly, I would say yikes to that, but it must depend on where you are in terms of public opinion. I wonder if students are not required to wear masks outside and so they had taken them off? Or if some kids had come from lunch where they might not have had them on? The not social distancing during a fire drill wouldn't bother me at all - that's like herding cats. And the ability to keep larger groups of kids physically separated has seemed so difficult to monitor; that's why wearing masks is important. But if kids are supposed to be wearing them in school and they had come directly from classrooms, I would be concerned. It's not like everyone ripped theirs off just because there was a drill (again, unless they are allowed to take them off outside).
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@Chuckles: the kids are free to do whatever they want here (not my pref). Literally our school superintendent said the school year will be exactly like precovid life. No social distancing. No masks. My DS is too young for elementary school, but he goes to Montessori right now and so we have different rules for our school vs public school.
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@foodiebee: well I hope there aren't a ton of outbreaks for the kids' and teachers' sakes! It's so crazy. I live in a town with fairly high vaccination rates and a statewide mask mandate - there were 6 active cases back in June and even with vaccines and masks there are currently 117 active cases.
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@Chuckles: No, we sadly are averaging 4k new cases a day here.
It's heartbreaking. Our caseload is the highest it has ever been since covid began. I was raised in public schools but where we are, I'm grateful right now that DS is in a private school making different choices for his safety.
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@foodiebee: eek, yeah, no masks in schools is definitely not ideal. I was going to say that for an outdoor fire drill, I could see kids at our elementary taking them off — they don’t wear them outdoors. But they are required inside! My son just started kindergarten, and I honestly wish he was a year younger so we could have stayed at our much smaller preschool. But alas...he’s enjoying kindergarten at least, and I’m thankful for the measures our district has in place to protect the kids as much as possible. I’ve always felt strongly about public school, but if we didn’t have these safety measures in place, that would have made me consider private for the first time ever. Just saying I hear you!
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@MrsSCB: Thank you for the solidarity!
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@agold: I know that you and I are both teachers, and I have to say I find your comment pretty triggering and upsetting. My husband's school went through three large outbreaks because parents sent their kids that had "minor" symptoms [started as a runny nose, for one, and of course they didn't think that merited testing.....], and my husband was directly exposed in these outbreaks twice, putting our family of 6 at risk (2 seniors, 2 adults, 2 kids.). Hundreds of kids were quarantined because of the irresponsibility of these parents. Every day I had to wonder if my husband was bringing home covid due to the callous, anti-mitigation attitudes of local parents.
Does everyone here realize that the CDC recommends WEEKLY surveillance testing for unvaxxed students and staff? Asymptomatic infections account for 25%ish of all infections so that's why testing is a must.
I ABSOLUTELY get my kids tested any time "they have a runny nose" etc. It's my social responsibility. It's a simple swab, it's not scrap your brain style. My husband tested weekly last year, and now my son gets tested weekly since he is in school, and my vaxxed husband too since he's in unmasked high school with 20+ cases weekly. I test if I have symptoms (I'm vaxxed and teach in a masked school).
Testing is free and easily accessible through the drive-through at most major pharmacy chains, as well as other options.
FWIW, @Chuckles: , I think you did the absolutely right thing. Schools have an obligation to protect our community and testing is a critical component.
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@DesertDreams88: it is absolutely appalling that the US does not have better testing protocol! Not just for schools but for everyone. Sending free rapid tests to all households would do so much to stem the spread of Covid. I’m glad that our school district is requiring all teachers who aren’t vaxxed to test at least weekly, possibly more often. And my work also requires anyone working in person to test weekly at work, regardless of vax status. But I think it’s just unconscionable that our government hasn’t invested more in making sure at-home tests are easily accessible and affordable. I think that would actually provide a lot more value than many of the Covid relief measures we have spent money on. If they didn’t cost more than $10 per test, I’d love to have a stock on hand at home.
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@DesertDreams88: I am not a teacher. Sorry you were triggered.
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Honestly I can understand why people are frustrated/confused coming from both sides of this. Our daycare director couldn't understand the guidelines coming from the early childhood regulator, the wording was so complex and convoluted, and parents she showed it to also struggled to understand.
They settled on saying a PCR test was necessary for any symptom. However, according to the pediatrician network that many families here use, a runny nose alone is not sufficient indication for a pcr test, in the absence of other symptoms. Many parents have reported difficulties getting in - for me it took three calls to their virus hotline - which you must speak with to book an appointment - to finally get in. I was told if daycare wanted a test not medically indicated, it would be $475.
PCR tests are not readily available for free for young children without seeing a pediatrician where I live. Much of the testing has been decentralized to municipalities - a few have free PCR testing (and require residence), most provide nothing. A number of sites don't test children under 2. State run sites are limited, appointments often fully booked, and may cancel at the last minute due to staffing difficulties, etc.
For our centers, they at first said they would accept at home tests and then changed positions on that after some complained. I've heard the at home tests are mostly sold out anyways, so who knows how helpful this is.
And there's also a lot of disagreement how much of a concern covid in kids is. The UK is considering not approving the vaccine for 12-15 year olds at all, saying the benefits may be too small to outweigh the very, very low risks of side effects. This is the position of the WHO. I don't really buy it (there's also a public health risk from infection in kids, etc) but anyways, it's a mess... I have no objections to testing my kids, it's just a swab, but wish there would be some agreement between the regulations, the pediatricians, etc on when this is necessary, and of course better access more generally.
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@periwinklebee: This reminds me of our experience. Our 2yo DS had a known exposure from school, a runny nose, and a cough, and the staff at our pediatrician balked at testing him. It wasn't until he spiked a 102.5 fever that we forced the decision ourselves and just brought him in directly and told them to test him. But that's what it took for us to get him tested. I didn't even know home tests existed!
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@foodiebee: It's truly ridiculous and must have been super stressful, so sorry you went through this. I feel like sometimes I get someone super helpful on the phone, and other times it boggles my mind that it is so difficult and people still can't seem to remotely agree on a protocol this far into the pandemic (when in all honesty our understanding of things hasn't shifted a ton in recent months - people who aren't vaxed - by choice or b/c of approval - are vulnerable)...
It's heartbreaking. Our caseload is the highest it has ever been since covid began. I was raised in public schools but where we are, I'm grateful right now that DS is in a private school making different choices for his safety.
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