noneYet

It helps me to hear that. I'll feel free to have high expectations. Thank you.

No, I do not work there, & I do understand your concern about about privacy. (Though I assumed most folks shared with spouses.) If it eases your mind, I have worked with and been privy to confidential & sensitive info for many years, and I would NEVER breach confidentiality, nor would I share or use personal info. In fact I do my best anonymize it in my mind. Which is to say, I make an effort to separate the personal information from the person. I would only ever use info like this for a legitimate purpose, through a proper channel. And even then, I would never share info that could identify anyone. (Re and C are not even their initials.) (I am aware that an internet forum full of strangers kind of stretches the definition of "proper channel," but my gut told me I could treat this one like a professional resource. And again, I'm not going to share anything that could identify anyone involved.) Again, I hope that eases your mind on the matter.

I'd like to fork this topic, if I may. Rather than just "defiance in older kids," I'd appreciate any sagacity regarding, umm... let's call it "anticipating problems and helpful suggestions for masking in a pre-k (or other little ones) classroom." It seems closely related. I don't wish to hijack a thread, and if I am, apologize & welcome the Administrators to deal with me however they must. Following a recent uptick in cases throughout the area / system, the agency which administers my wife's preschool has decided that students (3 to 5 year olds) must begin wearing masks in the classroom. My gut tells me there will be challenges with willingness to comply, ability to wear properly, self-awareness, you name it. I would hate to see days of learning, growth and fun devolve into being just hours of teachers adjusting kids' masks, reminding them about masks, keeping track of masks, picking up orphaned masks... Certainly discipline (meaning punitive measures) will be some factor. But I'm guessing more gain can come through great techniques in demonstrating how to wear and handle them, well tailored explanations of how and why, and clever ways to remind the kiddos and help them be aware of their faces and masks and hands and so forth. So if it's not too much to ask, I'd just like to know the perfect way to handle every situation that might come up. ? Thanks!

THE SUMMARY: Thursday morning a 3 year old (I'll call him C) was brought to preschool by a family member (hereafter Re) who mentioned that she (Re) was supposed to be in quarantine, and was going to get tested for Covid later that day. My wife, caught off guard and uncertain what to do, called her supervisor who told her to admit C until & unless Re's test was positive. I am certain that answer was very wrong, but that's just my lay opinion. I'm pretty sure C should be out until/unless Re's test is negative. By my logic and understanding of the practice of quarantining: •Re broke quarantine and extended her exposure to C. •Since C was admitted to school, that quarantine should now extend to everyone who was there Thursday, and now their households as well. I have checked CDC and our state DPH websites, but couldn't find anything specific and solid enough to arm my wife to second guess her boss. WHAT I NEED: A pro to either explain to me that I'm wrong, or tell me what she should say to her boss. MORE DETAILS: •Re's exposure is not in doubt. She has definitely had considerable contact with someone who has tested positive. (We know someone else who went into quarantine at the beginning of the week due to contact with the same person, so I wonder if Re should actually have been quarantined and tested sooner.) •Since Re broke quarantine to bring C to school, I don't imagine that she's properly distancing while at home. Re is in C's household, and I'm told he is typically "all over her," so I'd guess that C's level of exposure is probably about equal to Re's. •One of the school's requirements is that everyone takes lunch "family style." Although they are seating fewer children per table than they used to, they still have 6 kids and a staffer seated around each small kidney table. •While at school, C does a lot of (uncovered) sneezing and coughing. He spits a bit when he talks, and is grabby with things & people. •Working with C and managing his behavior is very hands-on and demands a lot of close contact. I want to stress that of that I am not criticizing C - he's 3. But the last two points do drastically elevate the level of exposure to other students, and to staff even more so. I have not been able to let this matter go. (Can you blame me?) This weekend one staffer contacted the supe to reconfirm the earlier (bad) decision. She was told that "C can only be kept home if Re was tested, and you can prove that she had contact with C this weekend." Since we already know Re had significant exposure and was supposed to get tested, I fail to understand how it matters whether or not she actually went in and got tested. Furthermore, staff saw Re carrying and kissing C since the the time of her exposure (while she was supposed to be quarantined), so why should they need proof that they had more contact over the weekend? (I understand that the facts in this paragraph don't materially change the scenario. But it all seems so d****d foolish that I needed to vent it to an audience that would understand. This answer seems so illogical that I've lost confidence in the admin's ability to make good decisions.) I am convinced the admin (who work in a building 40 miles away) are making a dire mistake, but I lack the references and credentials to tell them so. I give my dearest gratitude to anyone who can advise me here. Again, if you can tell me I'm worked up over nothing, great! Otherwise, I need to arm my wife with the right jargon to start the conversation, and with a list of best practices, specific guidelines, or whatever, that spell out the correct response so that this bad decision gets overturned without my wife having to argue or appear insubordinate. I look forward to hearing your thoughts. Thanks again.

I think you've already heard some sage truth from a few folks here. Your remark, as you relayed it to us, seems pretty benign. It would be a real stretch to show that your remark amounts to discrimination, and I expect most school boards would dismiss any such claim as quickly as they could. (Your old friend isn't related to a senator, are they? ?) Even if the claim were assiduously pursued, I think it would be hard to prove. My only additional advice was going to be that, especially since this is a former friend, good communication is usually..., well, good. But you say you've tried that, too. I still might say that, if your xfriend's messages continue, and if their tone becomes less combative, reopening that channel might not hurt. As for ditching social media, I think more folks should try it. Or at least dial it WAAAY back. Otherwise, I think I'm just chiming in to be one more voice in the chorus saying, "don't sweat it."

First, my admission that I am not a nurse or healthcare professional. I am merely a school bus driver and adjunct to an educator (my wife runs a Head Start). I'm also an avid learner and fancy myself to be a halfway decent researcher. (Aren't we just the worst!? ? I'm still chuckling about the parent from the "my first c'mon of the day" thread who'd researched and found that "female head lice fly.") I found allnurses while looking for answers on a different subject. But I signed up because on this thread I may actually have 2¢ I can offer, for whatever that's worth. I recently read, from a credible but forgotten source, that just over six minutes of Summer sun exposure (more like 10 or 15 if it's less direct) renders >90% of sars-cov2 inert on hard surfaces. So at least for recess on a sunny day, it might be that a well managed clothesline, as far as it would be from a perfect solution, could have some merits. There would be problems of maintaing physical distance during hanging, distance and hygeine while donning, keeping masks paired with the correct students, placement of lines, and the time it would all take. On top of that, masks are not hard surfaces, and both inner and outer faces couldn't get maximum UV exposure. (At least not without some really cool mirror setup to concentrate the rays! I'll leave your imaginations to run with that.) Maybe recesses would have to be extended a bit to ensure adequate UV exposure and time for mask retrieval and donning. But the fresh air's good for 'em anyway, right? And it's a foregone conclusion that some instructional time will be sacrificed to pandemic procedures. Anyway, I know my bit is not an whole "actionable plan" or adoptable policy. But ideally it would allow those mask-free minutes to serve to lessen mask contamination rather than spread it to more surfaces. Anyone who wants to educate me on why it's a totally stupid, implausible idea, feel free. I'm not saying mine is the way of the future. But it seems we're dealing with an extraordinarily unique an cumbersome situation with a lot of challenges working at odds with each other, and no great solutions so far. I often find that's a great time to look outside the box. Anyway, thank you for having this forum. (I actually found allnurses while looking for guidance regarding a child who's showed up today with a live flea and some bite marks. If I'm really lucky your forum might also help steer me regarding a child with "chronic ringworm." All I know is what a semi-educated lay person knows, which is bound to include some myth and bias, and searches of our state dph have not yielded much as yet. Best advice I've found so far is "contact local public health nurse." I found that recommendation here, and it is probably good advice and probably what I'll do.) Thanks again.