Peer Masking as a Reasonable Accommodation

[Anonymous]

https://www.nbc12.com/2022/12/12/aclu-parents...king-accommodations/

Does this mean what I think it means? That schools can require students to mask as an accommodation for others? What happens when someone filed a counter request for an accommodation that their child has a disability that makes masking difficult (such as social or speech delays)?

Is there a certain illness metric that must be met, or is the school now required to enforce universal masking if one kid makes a claim that they need an accommodation. Why now when COVID numbers are low? Will this apply to fly, RSV, etc.?

This seems like a giant can of worms and I’m sure I’ll get skewered, but I don’t want my young kids back in masks. My almost-5 year old spent nearly half his life in one and hated it. He has delays and it was a nightmare for us to get him to wear it. We are vaxxed and boosted, and masked when mandated, so no, not crazy Trumpers. But I am concerned we are opening the door to this concept of making a whole class of kids be a part of a student’s accommodation.

And FWIW I also don’t think a whole class of kids should be disrupted because one student with an IEP is having a violent meltdown. In general I think accommodations should not extend to altering the behavior of other students in class.

[Anonymous]

So, if a student in your child’s class has cancer, you’re not willing to have your kid mask?

[Anonymous]

A child with such a delicate immune system shouldn't be physically in public school. That's why they have homebound and robot instruction.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So, if a student in your child’s class has cancer, you’re not willing to have your kid mask?

Nope. There are home based teaching options if you are that medically fragile.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So, if a student in your child’s class has cancer, you’re not willing to have your kid mask?

Masks don’t work with young kids. They don’t wear them properly, they are gross at the end of the day, and it’s not hygienic. It’s a gross cloth accessory.

Maybe this could work in a HS where kids only have to wear it in the class(es) with that other student. But at the elementary level you’re talking about all day long, possibly for multiple years of life if in the class with that student more than once. We have zero studies on the long term effects of constant masking beginning in young childhood.

It makes much more since to have the child with cancer wear an N95 that actually provides them with protection.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So, if a student in your child’s class has cancer, you’re not willing to have your kid mask?

So if a student in your child’s class has a behavior disorder, you’re not willing to have your child’s learning interrupted to deal with the other child’s outburst? Sounds like you don’t care about other children’s needs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:A child with such a delicate immune system shouldn't be physically in public school. That's why they have homebound and robot instruction.

No, doctors have parents pull out cf or cancer patients because masking of peers is not sufficient in cases like that. This would more likely be a kid with Asthma whose parents might demand this.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So, if a student in your child’s class has cancer, you’re not willing to have your kid mask?

Masks don’t work with young kids. They don’t wear them properly, they are gross at the end of the day, and it’s not hygienic. It’s a gross cloth accessory.

Maybe this could work in a HS where kids only have to wear it in the class(es) with that other student. But at the elementary level you’re talking about all day long, possibly for multiple years of life if in the class with that student more than once. We have zero studies on the long term effects of constant masking beginning in young childhood.

It makes much more since to have the child with cancer wear an N95 that actually provides them with protection.

Huh? My kindergartener wears a mask just fine. She and her friends wore masks just fine in preschool too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So, if a student in your child’s class has cancer, you’re not willing to have your kid mask?

Nice straw man you've got there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So, if a student in your child’s class has cancer, you’re not willing to have your kid mask?

Nope. There are home based teaching options if you are that medically fragile.

Yikes. The pandemic really has broken some people, hasn't it?

[Anonymous]

Covid numbers are not low right now. Cases are up 60% nationwide over the past two weeks. Several thousand Americans a week are dying of Covid.

[Anonymous]

If you are medically fragile you should not rely on others' mask wearing for your safety. In a class of 25 kids there are inevitably going to be some (many) who won't wear their masks properly.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If you are medically fragile you should not rely on others' mask wearing for your safety. In a class of 25 kids there are inevitably going to be some (many) who won't wear their masks properly.

This is it. It's not that I won't send my kid in a mask in order to protect others (I did it for two full years, actually). It's that I know from experience that this doesn't actually keep kids safe and is not a reasonable solution to the problem of how to handle children who are uniquely vulnerable to Covid/flu/RSV.

Schools need to offer strong remote options for kids in this situation and school districts need to have contingency plans in place. We should also offer family supports since children in this situation will often require a parent home with them. I'm in favor of all these things! I am sorry to say that having a classroom of ECE kids masking to keep a child who could die if they contract Covid/flu/RSV is not a reasonable solution. If it were my child, I would not risk this. The kids will try their best but they are small children, the masks are uncomfortable, and the day is long for them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So, if a student in your child’s class has cancer, you’re not willing to have your kid mask?

Nope. There are home based teaching options if you are that medically fragile.

Yikes. The pandemic really has broken some people, hasn't it?

This was never required before the pandemic. Masking wasn't a thing, even in cases with medically fragile people.

[Anonymous]

I agree with you, OP. Also not a Trumper. But what about the off-setting rights of kids to not mask? There just needs to be one family that countersues and this is a mess.

Constant masking is bad socio-emotionally, and also for speech and learning. Kids with hearing loss struggled to have teachers in masks, and they have rights, too.

Also, most important thing is to get your kid in a really good mask in this situation. Other kids don't (and won't) wear masks well enough to be protective.