Masks optional by spring break

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think this is a reasonable goal given our vaccination rates, decline of omicron, success of mask optional schools in neighboring Virginia, announcement from the archdiocese of Arlington… there is so much data to support this too.

What do you think?

You're on every thread for every school district. Wacko.

I don’t care about other school districts. I live in MoCo. But seeing what’s happening in VA makes me excited. Let’s goooooo, MCPS! Normalcy for kids is long overdue!!

It's so funny that its only the PARENTS who cant handle masks. The kids are just fine. It's the adults who long for "normalcy" (whatever that even means), because they are the ones who cant adapt to change. Ridiculous.

+1000. I'm a high school student. My friends and I prefer masks. My little brothers (kindergarten and 3rd grade) don't mind masks at all. Neither do their friends. However, my own mom wrote to the school board saying my brothers come home crying each day about their masks. Not even sort of true. Watching adults fumble this pandemic so bad (and watching my own mother lie) has been eye opening for all of us.

[Anonymous]

Why do people assume that "masks optional" means "no masks?"

Don't you think there's some value in letting the people who are really uncomfortable make their own choices?

My kids will wear masks either way so long as community transmission rates are high.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think you only care about yourself and even that is questionable.

I care deeply about my kids who’ve suffered enough. Kindergartners shouldn’t have been masked in the first place in my (unpopular) opinion. But now that we have vaccines! Hospitalizations are low. Cases numbers are declining. Let’s do this! Other children can still mask if they want to.

1800 Americans died yesterday.

About 8000 Americans die every day. What’s your point?

That covid is very deadly. It’s been one of the leading causes of death from 2020 to the present. If the numbers you and pp are citing are correct, more than 20% of those deaths were attributable to Covid-19, which didn’t even exist 3 years ago. Wearing masks reduces transmission (especially of all the variants before omicron, and there will be more variants), and even though children are at low risk for serious covid complications, plenty of adults work in schools and need covid mitigation measures in place to stay safe. We’re already dealing with staffing shortages; we need to do what we can to retain staff.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why do people assume that "masks optional" means "no masks?"

Don't you think there's some value in letting the people who are really uncomfortable make their own choices?

My kids will wear masks either way so long as community transmission rates are high.

No, because their mask wearing protects me.

[Anonymous]

I think you’ve got the wrong goal.

The goal shouldn’t be reducing COVID mitigation measures as much as possible, the goal should be reducing COVID as much as possible.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:As a medical worker who has had two fully vaxed and boosted coworkers catch Omicron - please keep masks on. I would rather see kids in schools with masks then a rise of Covid cases and schools closed. Immunity from Covid is a very fleeting thing.

So vaxxed, boosted, and presumably mask wearing people caught it and the conclusion is that everyone else should continue to do those things because clearly they work to stop covid? Why is no one thinking, hmm none of these measures seem to stop spread so let’s give them up?

[Anonymous]

Unless we are going to shut down as totally as the Chinese, which we are clearly not going to do, all these measures are about flattening the curve. We are not going to zero covid.

So when this wave is over and case rates are low but not zero, and people are going to restaurants and clubs and bars maskless, what will the justification be for keeping little children in masks?

At a certain point we will just be doing it because we can, not because we should.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think this is a reasonable goal given our vaccination rates, decline of omicron, success of mask optional schools in neighboring Virginia, announcement from the archdiocese of Arlington… there is so much data to support this too.

What do you think?

How are you judging "success" in Virginia. The districts closest to DC have all chosen to keep the mask mandates, and even the mask-optional schools don't start until next week. So, what success are you looking at?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why do people assume that "masks optional" means "no masks?"

Don't you think there's some value in letting the people who are really uncomfortable make their own choices?

My kids will wear masks either way so long as community transmission rates are high.

No, because their mask wearing protects me.

Everyone wearing masks means vulnerable populations can continue to attend school without being singled out. Immunocompromised kids deserve to go to school. Masks are such a small thing. It’s silly to get so worked up about it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think you only care about yourself and even that is questionable.

I care deeply about my kids who’ve suffered enough. Kindergartners shouldn’t have been masked in the first place in my (unpopular) opinion. But now that we have vaccines! Hospitalizations are low. Cases numbers are declining. Let’s do this! Other children can still mask if they want to.

1800 Americans died yesterday.

About 8000 Americans die every day. What’s your point?

The point is now it adds up to 9800.

[Anonymous]

I mean that would be awesome. I think despite responses there are more teamnormal people than you think. Let’s see how Va shakes out. It’s possible. Honestly I’m convinced we drop masks or we mask harder for years in which case my husband has ok’d us moving.

[Anonymous]

People who act like masks 40 hours a week on little kids for YEARS during their prime learning, socialization, and development years have zero credibility. We should be balancing harms. How well do they work? What is the harm they really reduce? What harm do they cause? It’s time they came off. It really is. The kids have been really great but they’ve paid a high price. Not worth it anymore. Experts slowly coming around.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think this is a reasonable goal given our vaccination rates, decline of omicron, success of mask optional schools in neighboring Virginia, announcement from the archdiocese of Arlington… there is so much data to support this too.

What do you think?

You're on every thread for every school district. Wacko.

I don’t care about other school districts. I live in MoCo. But seeing what’s happening in VA makes me excited. Let’s goooooo, MCPS! Normalcy for kids is long overdue!!

Parents threatening gun violence if the school board doesn't vote down a mask mandate makes you excited?

[Anonymous]

You can’t make an April public health policy based on January data.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:People who act like masks 40 hours a week on little kids for YEARS during their prime learning, socialization, and development years have zero credibility. We should be balancing harms. How well do they work? What is the harm they really reduce? What harm do they cause? It’s time they came off. It really is. The kids have been really great but they’ve paid a high price. Not worth it anymore. Experts slowly coming around.

The good news is that we can answer those questions. Multiple studies have shown that masking in schools reduces transmission of covid-19. The harm they cause is that some kids have a harder time hearing the teacher, and kids with specific special needs may be more impacted.

Given that widespread covid outbreaks lead to school closures, which ALSO disproportionately impact kids with special needs, I'd argue that the risk/benefit analysis is still weighted toward masking in schools.