September 2021 Meeting Minutes
9/21/2021 8:11 pm
o Margaret – has 3 kids, runs a malaria prevention campaign; loves this community and acknowledges the various issues facing our community; PTA sees these challenges and many working tirelessly around the clock and doing so in an equitable way as possible; Many have stepped up to help: Shout out to last year’s PTA – amazing role the PTA played by providing food access; major shout out to Dr. Gadsden for all her hard work; Introduced the Executive Committee
o Jaslynn – has a 3rd grader; excited for the school year – worked as a school teacher and now at the Dept of Ed; excited to give back to the community and encourages people to volunteer and join the PTA; Introduced the Exec Committee
– Quick overview of PTA and how to “Build an Effective Family and School Partnership”- Jaslynn Laurence and Joyce McDonough (10 minutes)
– Purpose of the PTA: Connect students and teachers and advocate on behalf of children and educators
– Why do we need PTA – to engage families in student success and improvement, partner with other orgs and fundraising efforts
– Support PTA – join and volunteer; invest in your child’s education; donations to support the school.
– Contact the school: first line is the teacher when needed
o Reach out to room parent
o Guidance counselor
o Principal
o Can always write your email in your preferred language and it will be translated for you
o In case of absence, email your teacher
o If Covid, then email Principal (If showing any symptoms, please keep your child at home)
– Presentation and Q&A with Dr Kawsar Talaat, a Takoma Park parent, PBES PTA Executive Committee member and Infectious Disease and International Health specialist about the latest science on COVID-19, the delta variant, and the approval process/timeline for vaccine approval for kids under 12 (20-25 minutes)
– Working on Pfizer vaccine at Johns Hopkins
– Covid virus has the spike protein and that’s what attacks our cells
– How the virus is changing – it changes over time due to mutations; antibodies to bind to it and can sometimes more transmissible like Delta but there are other variants
– Viruses constantly mutate and evolve
– Need to vaccinate as many people as possible to slow mutations
– Delta is more transmissible than previous; one person can infect 5-8 others; It’s potential more severe than previous strains
– A lot more hospitalizations
– Pfizer: Full licensure for 16+; under EUA 12-15; Moderna MRNA 18+; applied for 12-17 but not authorized; J&J 18+
– Vaccinating adults protects children; lucky to live in MoCo – high vaccination rate
– Why we don’t have vaccine for kids: the fact that we have vaccines is miraculous!
– Do things differently for kids; first make sure its safe then move down in age;
– Covid didn’t target kids initially;
– Hopefully Pfizer data will go to the FDA soon
– First, it will be an Emergency Use Authorization – it’s not full licensure; FDA has certain criteria – benefits/costs, at least 2 month of follow up data; FDA to authorize and CDC recommend
– Pfizer may submit data 5-11 sometime in September; FDA will put all hands on deck; will review expeditiously as possible;
– Might have vaccine for kindergarteners by Halloween!
– Pfizer will get 1/3 of the dose
– Multilayer swiss cheese strategies work
– Vaccines for under 5 will take a little longer
– Principals Dr Gadsden and Ms Oberdorf to share and answer questions re COVID-19 protocols and otherwise (20 minutes)
– Dr Gadsden – TP has not had a Covid case since opened; Received rapid test
– Eat outside whenever possible; more distance in cafeteria
– Not combining classes; making sure students wear the masks
– Seeing regular childhood illnesses/allergies
– Ms. Oberdorf – PBES has had 1 case so far; ready to administer rapid Covid tests; Eating outside; masks available
