Masking policy Arlington Diocesan Schools

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Teacher here…. Well, looks like my lessons will have to be pretty silent from now on: no fun singing, games, just a bunch of online quiet activities for my students. Thanks Youngkin! Yep, elections do have consequences.

If you pull that “online” crap in class you’ll hear from parents like me and the principal pretty quickly. You aren’t being paid to sit them in front of a computer all day.

But of course, you aren’t a Catholic school teacher anyway.

Oh lord. Sure, Karen.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Disgusted. Truly. And this is the Catholic way huh… think of others, sacrifice. Wow. Great Christian spirit. Hypocrites when it comes to their snowflake kids. Truly disgusted.

Bahahaahahahaa!

You do realize that you are free to keep putting a little cloth mask over your kid’s face all day; you can even make him wear a tinfoil hat and a garlic necklace if you want.

You just can’t force my kid to go along with this medieval nonsense anymore. And it galls you.

Eww. Your insults and immaturity are such a bad look for Catholic Schools. So glad that we are paying the extra money for a private that isn’t full of people like you. Truly low class.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Teacher here…. Well, looks like my lessons will have to be pretty silent from now on: no fun singing, games, just a bunch of online quiet activities for my students. Thanks Youngkin! Yep, elections do have consequences.

If you pull that “online” crap in class you’ll hear from parents like me and the principal pretty quickly. You aren’t being paid to sit them in front of a computer all day.

But of course, you aren’t a Catholic school teacher anyway.

Oh lord. Sure, Karen.

Something tells me principals will have bigger fish to fry these next weeks. They will just be happy teachers show up!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Our school just put out their response to this and they are not starting for a few weeks so they can restructure how school runs. They also are keeping a list of who will be wearing a mask and who will not because quarantining will be different as will social distancing. I could see lunches going to back to being in the classroom as opposed to the lunch room, recesses being more segregated again, parents being 100% kept out of schools and mass being 100% virtual instead of one grade at a time getting to go. So sad that politics has gotten in the way of science. Masks are so not a big deal. Kids don't have an issue with them, just adults.

Smart. The tricky issue is going to be unmasked, unvaxxed kids who then test positive because quarantine rules are different for them. Also vaxxed kids who test positive will still need to mask upon returning to school. This is much more logistically complicated for schools to manage. The best solution would have been to require proof of vaccination to go maskless. Crazy that the church is allowing the state to tell it what to do (outside it’s permissible expanded powers during an emergency).

Or to just encourage vaccinations and keep masks especially while numbers and are so high

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It all sucks and is shameful. Yet many are at the March for Life today in DC. I see the irony in this... yes save the babies. But unmask and don't worry about the ill and elderly. Once again the Catholic Church is hypocritical.

No one is killing the elderly by not wearing a mask.

If that is your analogy, you need to go back to school.

Well, I guess we know who isn't a doctor on this thread.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Us DCUMers know the truth. We cannot be sheeple and we will not let mask mandates control us.

Great point since nobody on DCUM focuses on keeping up with the Joneses.

[Anonymous]

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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?

Put all the political issues aside.

Do you truly believe that masks make a difference? I mean honestly?

Read any book on past pandemics and they all say the same thing---masks did not make a difference in transmission of a virus. Lots of books on the 1928 flu if you are interested.

How many friends/family do you personally know that were infected while wearing a mask?

If you would like an anecdote we just moved to a mask-optional school in a different state. Most kids don't wear a mask. Our numbers are not any different than VA.

1. Science shows us that quality masks work appropriately are effective.

2. Did not know they had KN95 masks in 1928. Impressive!

3. I know zero people who wore masks and still got COVID but can show you several anti mask, anti vax cases.

4. Your anecdote means nothing in terms of what has or will happen in VA.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Masks are a virtue-signaling fad. Nothing more. Like the pet rock and hula hoop. How do I know this? Because the term “mask” was never mentioned once in this site prior to March 2020, despite the FLU, which is considerably more dangerous to children. What a crock.

If my virtue signaling shows that I value public health, I think I am ok with that.

We weren't in a pandemic prior to this one. Not sure you are proving any point at all.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My kids haven’t work their masks above their nose for more than 10 seconds since June 2020 and have rarely been corrected (likely bc everyone knows masks are just for show anyway). So I don’t care — they’ll continue to “wear” their masks just to avoid all this BS and controversy and maintain eligibility for laxer quarantine rules, but it won’t matter.

You sound like a winning mom.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Masks are a virtue-signaling fad. Nothing more. Like the pet rock and hula hoop. How do I know this? Because the term “mask” was never mentioned once in this site prior to March 2020, despite the FLU, which is considerably more dangerous to children. What a crock.

.

Flu is endemic. We are still in the middle of the COVID pandemic.

Also, we probably could do a better job taking more cars of each other to minimize flu hospitalizations and deaths, like making while sick.

First it was “flatten the curve.” Then it was “wait for the vaccine.” Then it was “wait for Delta to die down.” Now it’s “wait for it to be endemic rather than pandemic (whatever that means).” It’ll never end with the mask nuts. But fortunately, the rest of us are moving on. We’re done.

THIS. Yes, to all you COVID-cult mask nuts out there: You do you, but we are sick of your petty tyranny and hypochondria. Our kids are going to breathe free again.

YEAH! Mask nuts like the Pope! What does that guy know about Catholic values amiright?!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am thoroughly disgusted with the Diocese. No consideration for public health, especially those of teachers or children with underlying conditions. They bent to their conservative members.

My kid’s NoVa Catholic has a 25% vaccination rate, and come Mon kids are free to withhold from masking. During a surge. Outrageous.

What happened to Christian values of thinking of others, being part of a community that supports all of its members? The second my child graduates I am not giving one more penny to the Catholic Church.

Just curious how you know your school’s vaccination rate? I didn’t think those could legally be put out there by the diocese?

They are just blowing smoke — schools in the Arlington Diocese have not asked parents to submit vaccine status information for their children.

Hmm. Before you share a fact as definitive, you'd better make sure you are right. Our Arlington Diocese school requested them (and they have my own kids' cards)

[Anonymous]

I haven't read this entire thread, but all I know is that I'm surprised after reading through my moms group and facebook how many families we know that are secret anti-maskers! I guess there are a lot more of you out there than anyone realized. I am wondering if this is a catholic school thing or Arlington thing or rich, entitled people thing?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I haven't read this entire thread, but all I know is that I'm surprised after reading through my moms group and facebook how many families we know that are secret anti-maskers! I guess there are a lot more of you out there than anyone realized. I am wondering if this is a catholic school thing or Arlington thing or rich, entitled people thing?

Republican thing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I haven't read this entire thread, but all I know is that I'm surprised after reading through my moms group and facebook how many families we know that are secret anti-maskers! I guess there are a lot more of you out there than anyone realized. I am wondering if this is a catholic school thing or Arlington thing or rich, entitled people thing?

Republican thing.

Common sense thing.

[Anonymous]

People are not anti-mask for not wanting young children in masks 7 hours a day. They have done it for 2 years now. While public schools kids were at home and unmasked on a computer, these kids were all in masks all day. They feel after 2 years and vaccinations available to all, there needs to be an end, as there are other consequences.