Masking policy Arlington Diocesan Schools

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Does anyone know who to reach out to in the diocese to express concern about this decision? I am reconsidering my enrollment in our parish school if I cannot trust the diocese to make common sense decisions during a massive surge.


Even Stafford county is continuing with a mask mandate

Do you attend church? Masks optional for awhile now without issue.

Have you expressed your concern to the diocese over that?

Church without masks is very much an issue. We don’t go anymore and would like to. When we try, we leave feeling like it was the riskiest thing we’d done all week and way out of our comfort zone. And based on the small attendance, I think many feel the same way.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We have been patient, but our patience is wearing thin. Our kids have spent a year and a half of their childhoods wearing useless cloth masks over their faces.

Vaccines are available for anyone who wants one.

COVID is here to stay; it’s already mutated into a highly-transmissible (hello, silly cloth masks!) but far less serious virus on par with the flu. It is far less of a threat to children than countless other risks and diseases which we have learned to live.

Anyone who is still concerned now has access to PPE (n95 masks, face shields, latex gloves) and can make use of that. The era of dictating to other people’s children about this stuff is over.

I think what’s really irking people is that compliance with mask and vaccine mandates has become a political thing. Thank God that the Arlington Diocese has done the right thing and trusted parents to make the choice that’s right for their family.

WELL SAID. The mask nuts need to move on. It’s over. Get a life.

The fact that so many of you have so little regard for the lives of people with disabilities and underlying health issues is awful.

Unfortunately, many of us at risk have not been able to return to Mass since masking became optional.

Why? God was going to strike you down for going to Church with healthy people who aren’t wearing pieces of cloth over their faces?

You seem very broken. I will pray for your heart to find care and compassion for others.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The Gov’s exec order is unenforceable and will almost certainly be overturned.

As for the Archdiocese, my read of its letter is cowardice, or perhaps equally crummy legal work.

Would someone post the text of the letter? We are considering a Catholic school for next year but this could be a deal breaker for our family with vulnerable immunocompromised individuals.

You’ll face the same issue at any school, public or private in VA.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don’t see why we would get rid of masks during a huge surge and increase the chance of children being quarantined? Nobody wants to wear masks— get through the next 6 weeks or so and then make it mask optional.

There is zero scientific consensus that masks do anything to stop or slow the spread of COVID; there’s just some cherry-picked politically-motivated garbage that even The Atlantic had debunked:

https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2021/12/mask-guidelines-cdc-walensky/621035/

Our children have been masked long enough. This is stupid. And I am concerned about the mental health and long-term socialization effects of this nearly two years of hiding our faces behind pointless cloth rags. Enough already. Let these kids live life normally; they are not at risk.

Why are you making your kid wear a cloth rag? Buy a decent mask.

Who is the hillbilly “cloth rag” poster who pops up on every thread?

Look for the kids breathing fresh air unobstructed, with smiles on their unmasked faces that you’ll see beaming from across the room. I’m the parent of those kids.

Now put in your mask and your tinfoil hat and grumble about it.

I hope you will as supportive of your school and teachers if your school has to go remote because of staffing issues.

This will happen.

In our K-8, almost every class has a staff member's kid in it, and due to the lack of subs, many staff members are being asked to cover an hour here or there, or spend the afternoon with two classes in a common area (indoors).

As their kids get sick from the child next to them, more adults have to stay home either to quarantine or take care of them. Usually the teacher is the one making the lower salary and while parents have volunteered to come in, few are compliant with the child safety policies (and the school does not ask if parents are vaccinated, which is fine, but makes the solution of parents stepping in a non-starter.)

Many families hate remote so much that they'd rather have 40 kids in the gym, playing kickball all afternoon, and pay tuition to do it, than put safety first.

The teachers are not just being asked to make a big sacrifice here, they are being asked to put their loved ones in a more vulnerable position, so when people say, "No online school or else" or "I have the freedom to make this choice for my child," they are subtly chanting that their wishes are much more important than the members of the community that have already given up so much.

The secret anchor that keeps teachers in Catholic school is that they love their own families enough to make this work. Now they are not allowed to have a safe workplace and they have to break their contract if they want to transfer out or protect their own families.

Be prepared for less and less qualified staff members to be backfilling those spots. This EO just devalued what we invested in.

But, freedom?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Like it or not, the Catholic schools have made sometimes unpopular, but ultimately the correct, choices during the pandemic. Remember when others were screeching that we would spread disease all over the community at large last year by opening the schools? Didn’t happen. I see this as the next step. The masking has to end at some point. We keep moving the goal posts.

Catholic schools are not leading here. They are literally doing what every other school in VA is doing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The Catholic schools in Arlington are on the side of parents: allowing each family to make the choice that is best for them.

This was always the plan for the Arlington Diocese—they only mandated masks in response to an executive order from Northam.

Now they are simply returning to their original plan. I don’t get the faux-outrage and surprise. We knew all along that this was the preferred path for the Arlington Diocese.

It is refreshing to see the church gone around to a pro-choice mindset!

-fellow Catholic

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don’t see why we would get rid of masks during a huge surge and increase the chance of children being quarantined? Nobody wants to wear masks— get through the next 6 weeks or so and then make it mask optional.

There is zero scientific consensus that masks do anything to stop or slow the spread of COVID; there’s just some cherry-picked politically-motivated garbage that even The Atlantic had debunked:

https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2021/12/mask-guidelines-cdc-walensky/621035/

Our children have been masked long enough. This is stupid. And I am concerned about the mental health and long-term socialization effects of this nearly two years of hiding our faces behind pointless cloth rags. Enough already. Let these kids live life normally; they are not at risk.

Why are you making your kid wear a cloth rag? Buy a decent mask.

Who is the hillbilly “cloth rag” poster who pops up on every thread?

Look for the kids breathing fresh air unobstructed, with smiles on their unmasked faces that you’ll see beaming from across the room. I’m the parent of those kids.

Now put in your mask and your tinfoil hat and grumble about it.

I hope you will as supportive of your school and teachers if your school has to go remote because of staffing issues.

This will happen.

In our K-8, almost every class has a staff member's kid in it, and due to the lack of subs, many staff members are being asked to cover an hour here or there, or spend the afternoon with two classes in a common area (indoors).

As their kids get sick from the child next to them, more adults have to stay home either to quarantine or take care of them. Usually the teacher is the one making the lower salary and while parents have volunteered to come in, few are compliant with the child safety policies (and the school does not ask if parents are vaccinated, which is fine, but makes the solution of parents stepping in a non-starter.)

Many families hate remote so much that they'd rather have 40 kids in the gym, playing kickball all afternoon, and pay tuition to do it, than put safety first.

The teachers are not just being asked to make a big sacrifice here, they are being asked to put their loved ones in a more vulnerable position, so when people say, "No online school or else" or "I have the freedom to make this choice for my child," they are subtly chanting that their wishes are much more important than the members of the community that have already given up so much.

The secret anchor that keeps teachers in Catholic school is that they love their own families enough to make this work. Now they are not allowed to have a safe workplace and they have to break their contract if they want to transfer out or protect their own families.

Be prepared for less and less qualified staff members to be backfilling those spots. This EO just devalued what we invested in.

But, freedom?

This 100%. I have taught at a Catholic school for almost ten years. My yougest is about to graduate. It was nice while it lasted. I will look for a safer-less stressful job next year where adults hopefully are more considerate and concerned about the well-being of all, and not just of their own!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The Gov’s exec order is unenforceable and will almost certainly be overturned.

As for the Archdiocese, my read of its letter is cowardice, or perhaps equally crummy legal work.

Would someone post the text of the letter? We are considering a Catholic school for next year but this could be a deal breaker for our family with vulnerable immunocompromised individuals.

You’ll face the same issue at any school, public or private in VA.

Our local public schools are still masking, as is our current k-8 private.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If it’s so hard to retain teachers, why do they keep increasing class size so much? 20 to 23 to 27 in last three years.

Umm. Because they cannot find enough qualified teachers.

Umm. Because families were fleeing public schools that were stuck in remote-learning mode, so enrollments went up.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If it’s so hard to retain teachers, why do they keep increasing class size so much? 20 to 23 to 27 in last three years.

Umm. Because they cannot find enough qualified teachers.

Umm. Because families were fleeing public schools that were stuck in remote-learning mode, so enrollments went up.

They still couldn’t find qualified teachers. It is a huge issue. And good luck finding subs!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If it’s so hard to retain teachers, why do they keep increasing class size so much? 20 to 23 to 27 in last three years.

Umm. Because they cannot find enough qualified teachers.

Umm. Because families were fleeing public schools that were stuck in remote-learning mode, so enrollments went up.

They still couldn’t find qualified teachers. It is a huge issue. And good luck finding subs!

Untrue. Same number of teachers/classes. They just let in too many applicants. Why?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Like it or not, the Catholic schools have made sometimes unpopular, but ultimately the correct, choices during the pandemic. Remember when others were screeching that we would spread disease all over the community at large last year by opening the schools? Didn’t happen. I see this as the next step. The masking has to end at some point. We keep moving the goal posts.

Catholic schools are not leading here. They are literally doing what every other school in VA is doing.

Not where I live in Fairfax County. FCPS has a mask mandate. Our Fairfax County Catholic school doesn’t.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Does anyone know who to reach out to in the diocese to express concern about this decision? I am reconsidering my enrollment in our parish school if I cannot trust the diocese to make common sense decisions during a massive surge.


Even Stafford county is continuing with a mask mandate

Oh, sweetie, need to drop your anonymous empty threats here. Simply let your Catholic school know that you are disenrolling your student and the contact your public school to enroll there. Should be a quick process for you. There are long waiting lists for Catholic schools in the dioces as many parents in the area try to get their kids out of the awful public school mess. The waitlist child that replaces yours will have their prayers answered and not be subject to the abuse of a pointless mask on their face all day, 5 days a week.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If it’s so hard to retain teachers, why do they keep increasing class size so much? 20 to 23 to 27 in last three years.

Umm. Because they cannot find enough qualified teachers.

Umm. Because families were fleeing public schools that were stuck in remote-learning mode, so enrollments went up.

They still couldn’t find qualified teachers. It is a huge issue. And good luck finding subs!

Untrue. Same number of teachers/classes. They just let in too many applicants. Why?

Maybe because all the covid mitigations cost a lot more money. Our school hired many more aids to monitor the extra room created for social distancing last year. The school also had to invest in more technology tools. Remember hybrid teaching?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We have been patient, but our patience is wearing thin. Our kids have spent a year and a half of their childhoods wearing useless cloth masks over their faces.

Vaccines are available for anyone who wants one.

COVID is here to stay; it’s already mutated into a highly-transmissible (hello, silly cloth masks!) but far less serious virus on par with the flu. It is far less of a threat to children than countless other risks and diseases which we have learned to live.

Anyone who is still concerned now has access to PPE (n95 masks, face shields, latex gloves) and can make use of that. The era of dictating to other people’s children about this stuff is over.

I think what’s really irking people is that compliance with mask and vaccine mandates has become a political thing. Thank God that the Arlington Diocese has done the right thing and trusted parents to make the choice that’s right for their family.

WELL SAID. The mask nuts need to move on. It’s over. Get a life.

Don’t complain when your kid has to stay home for five days when a classmate tests positive. Also, do not make extra work for teachers.

It’s funny you say that, because this already happened to us while the mask requirement was in place. These masks do not stop people from getting COVID; they just don’t.

No peer-reviewed scientific studies—the kinds with control groups etc.—have shown any appreciable benefit to wearing the cloth masks that our kids have been wearing for a year and a half. And any parent knows how unrealistic it is to even expect young kids to even properly wear these masks for a full school day; and then consider all the exceptions (no masks for lunchtime, no masks while enabled in physical exercise, no masks while drinking) which would have to be factored into the analysis as well.

And even if there were some marginal benefit of masking, it must be weighed against the obvious negatives and potential harm that years of masking might inflict on the mental, social, and psychological health of children. Where are the scientific studies to show that masking is safe, or quantifying these other emotional/mental health risks?

“The preponderance of evidence indicates that mask wearing reduces transmissibility per contact by reducing transmission of infected respiratory particles in both laboratory and clinical contexts. Public mask wearing is most effective at reducing spread of the virus when compliance is high.”

https://www.pnas.org/content/118/4/e2014564118

“A large, randomized trial led by researchers at Stanford Medicine and Yale University has found that wearing a surgical face mask over the mouth and nose is an effective way to reduce the occurrence of COVID-19 in community settings.”

https://med.stanford.edu/news/all-news/2021/09/surgical-masks-covid-19.html

“Optimum use of face masks with additional precautions has been found to be useful controlling the spread of the respiratory viruses such as SARS-CoV-2 in most of the studies and metaanalyses.“

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34284538/

Where are the studies showing masks cause social and emotional damage to children?

Those of you using the “cloth mask is useless” as justification for unmasking simply need to use surgical masks as the acceptable standard.

Those studies pre-date Omicron, which is highly adapted for aerosol transmission. Surgical masks aren't going to help with that.

Furthermore, the benefit of surgical masks disappeared in villagers under the age of 50 in that study, and many of the findings in that study failed to meet the usual threshold of statistical significance. The intervention also only lasted 8 weeks. That's a narrow window, especially given the seasonality of the virus and its tendency to come in waves. And those 8 weeks weren't a "surge" for COVID. The resulting difference in seroprevalance between the surgical mask community and the control community was very small. .76% vs. .68%.

It's not an impressive result, and I don't see anything in there that would suggest that cloth or surgical masks are going to make a real difference among children in a classroom environment.

And even if we were to assume (totally without support) that the study's results in people ages 60 and older were perfectly replicated in a classroom full of children, an 11% reduction in cases is good, but it's only making a difference at a population-level. If I were immunocompromised I would not want to hang my hat on an 11% reduction in that risk. Even if it makes sense at a policy level, for individual decisionmaking I don't think that's an adequate basis to take or not take a risk.