When should DC drop its school mask mandate?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No more masks in schools beginning, Tuesday, March 1st!
🎉🥳👏🎊🙌😄

Link??

I’m a DCPS teacher and they sent us all an email today, shortly after 3pm. Ask your student’s principal for further info.

Masks are optional for everyone including students regardless of vaccination status.

Since everyone is on Winter Break, there haven’t been any opportunities to discuss whether individual schools will mandate masks and whether or not they can force an entire staff or student population to do so.

I would imagine that you’d have a difficult time forcing everyone to participate in a voluntary law, but if if people are civil, personal requests might go over well on a case-by-case basis.

Hi teacher! I really wish you would gain some reading comprehension. It concerns me that you are a teacher and yet can’t read the email.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Are charters required to follow DCPS or could they start rolling back masking guidance to be in line with CDC?

Lol I wish our charter would lead the charge and drop it. Lee will be one of the last to drop… ugh

Not just Lee .. many of them will be right there with you having their 10 day quarantines, full school PCRs, cohorting, and masks until at least next fall.

To answer the question .. they CAN but they will not.

Charters are really going out of their way to prove that they cater almost entirely to wealthy people who want to perform an interest in both public education and social justice. We were offered a lottery spot in two different HRCS this year for PK4 and decided to stick with DCPS because we were worried about Covid protocols and based on what we know about both those schools now, I'm SO GLAD we did. Those schools do not care about middle class families -- they want people who can contribute money while also never actually expecting the school to be open, have aftercare, or technically educate their child. Also you aren't allowed to ask questions or be involved (except to give money, obviously). What a joke. DCPS is a mess sometimes but it's so much more transparent and they have no choice but to serve middle and working class families since we constitute the vast majority of their families.

This is a very stupid take.

It’s not. Charters can do what they want with very little oversight. That is the whole point of a charter.

How many charter parents have even read the charter. Vs the marketing.

DCUM and most parents think because they chose a charter it’s better. There is little to prove that it is other than a parents feeling. That is confirmation bias.

Just like w private schools parents who donate get the ear of the school and can drive an agenda. I don’t donate to the PTA but I’m heard by the school. The poor family gets the same amount of communication, 1:1 emails etc as I do.

We get it you hate charter schools. Let’s see where will you send your kids for middle school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No more masks in schools beginning, Tuesday, March 1st!
🎉🥳👏🎊🙌😄

Link??

I’m a DCPS teacher and they sent us all an email today, shortly after 3pm. Ask your student’s principal for further info.

Masks are optional for everyone including students regardless of vaccination status.

Since everyone is on Winter Break, there haven’t been any opportunities to discuss whether individual schools will mandate masks and whether or not they can force an entire staff or student population to do so.

I would imagine that you’d have a difficult time forcing everyone to participate in a voluntary law, but if if people are civil, personal requests might go over well on a case-by-case basis.

Hi teacher! I really wish you would gain some reading comprehension. It concerns me that you are a teacher and yet can’t read the email.

+1 - I checked my email in the hopes that this was true. Not even close.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Are charters required to follow DCPS or could they start rolling back masking guidance to be in line with CDC?

Lol I wish our charter would lead the charge and drop it. Lee will be one of the last to drop… ugh

Not just Lee .. many of them will be right there with you having their 10 day quarantines, full school PCRs, cohorting, and masks until at least next fall.

To answer the question .. they CAN but they will not.

Charters are really going out of their way to prove that they cater almost entirely to wealthy people who want to perform an interest in both public education and social justice. We were offered a lottery spot in two different HRCS this year for PK4 and decided to stick with DCPS because we were worried about Covid protocols and based on what we know about both those schools now, I'm SO GLAD we did. Those schools do not care about middle class families -- they want people who can contribute money while also never actually expecting the school to be open, have aftercare, or technically educate their child. Also you aren't allowed to ask questions or be involved (except to give money, obviously). What a joke. DCPS is a mess sometimes but it's so much more transparent and they have no choice but to serve middle and working class families since we constitute the vast majority of their families.

This is a very stupid take.

It’s not. Charters can do what they want with very little oversight. That is the whole point of a charter.

How many charter parents have even read the charter. Vs the marketing.

DCUM and most parents think because they chose a charter it’s better. There is little to prove that it is other than a parents feeling. That is confirmation bias.

Just like w private schools parents who donate get the ear of the school and can drive an agenda. I don’t donate to the PTA but I’m heard by the school. The poor family gets the same amount of communication, 1:1 emails etc as I do.

We get it. You don't like charters. That doesn't mean that you can just spout lies. Charters cannot unmask kids just because they want to do so. The rules from the DC Department of Health are clear and they apply to both charters and DCPS and other schools operating in DC. I have read the charter agreement. Every charter agreement contains a lengthy section on compliance with local and federal laws and regulations. Failure to comply with laws and regulations can result in warning and ultimately revocation and closure of the charter.

[Anonymous]

This is what the email said:
"Effective March 1, 2022, District government employees, regardless of vaccination status, are not required to wear a mask covering while in a District government building. Some exceptions, however, include:

when interacting with a member of the public,
in a space in a District government building where members of the public are routinely present,
in a location where masks are required by federal or District law, regulation or guidance, or
if required by a specific entity or establishment."

Teachers are always interacting with the pubic and members of the public are routinely present in school.

So, still masking.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is what the email said:
"Effective March 1, 2022, District government employees, regardless of vaccination status, are not required to wear a mask covering while in a District government building. Some exceptions, however, include:

when interacting with a member of the public,
in a space in a District government building where members of the public are routinely present,
in a location where masks are required by federal or District law, regulation or guidance, or
if required by a specific entity or establishment."

Teachers are always interacting with the pubic and members of the public are routinely present in school.

So, still masking.

Oh well, it was a glorious moment of hope last night...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Are charters required to follow DCPS or could they start rolling back masking guidance to be in line with CDC?

Lol I wish our charter would lead the charge and drop it. Lee will be one of the last to drop… ugh

Not just Lee .. many of them will be right there with you having their 10 day quarantines, full school PCRs, cohorting, and masks until at least next fall.

To answer the question .. they CAN but they will not.

This is not true. The rules on masking in schools in DC are from the DC Department of Health. They aren't from the DC PCSB nor are they from individual charter school boards. Charters have to follow the DC Department of Health. Same for DCPS, privates, parochials, etc within DC.

DC Health Guidance for Schools updated January 31, 2022 - https://coronavirus.dc.gov/sites/default/files/dc/sites/coronavirus/page_content/attachments/COVID-19_DC_Health_Guidance_For_Schools_01-31-22.pdf
. "Schools must implement these elements in their COVID-19 prevention strategy:
. o Universal indoor masking regardless of vaccination status"

Yes. I didn't mean that charters were free from public health regulations. I meant that charters were not bound to follow DCPS. Right now our charter has quarantine regulations, cohorting, and testing that is not in sync with DC Dept of Health. So, the idea that our school (the only one I know much about) would lead in relaxing guidelines is hard to imagine. Just like last year when DCPS opened months before our school attempted to serve any students, including high risk ones.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is what the email said:
"Effective March 1, 2022, District government employees, regardless of vaccination status, are not required to wear a mask covering while in a District government building. Some exceptions, however, include:

when interacting with a member of the public,
in a space in a District government building where members of the public are routinely present,
in a location where masks are required by federal or District law, regulation or guidance, or
if required by a specific entity or establishment."

Teachers are always interacting with the pubic and members of the public are routinely present in school.

So, still masking.

Oh well, it was a glorious moment of hope last night...

Carefully crafted email to say masks are not required except "almost every possible scenario". On the surface it sounds promising until you realize most places/situations are carved out to continue to require masking.

[Anonymous]

I mean, it's good news for the government employees that were masking in their cubes (if not teleworking anyway) but for everyone else ... nothing changed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is what the email said:
"Effective March 1, 2022, District government employees, regardless of vaccination status, are not required to wear a mask covering while in a District government building. Some exceptions, however, include:

when interacting with a member of the public,
in a space in a District government building where members of the public are routinely present,
in a location where masks are required by federal or District law, regulation or guidance, or
if required by a specific entity or establishment."

Teachers are always interacting with the pubic and members of the public are routinely present in school.

So, still masking.

Oh well, it was a glorious moment of hope last night...

Carefully crafted email to say masks are not required except "almost every possible scenario". On the surface it sounds promising until you realize most places/situations are carved out to continue to require masking.

Yes, I really don't understand how the teacher last night could have misread it so badly. I did think it was too good to be true, but it was a nice moment hoping it might be...

[Anonymous]

This is nuts. Our kids are pretty much the last kids in the country to have to wear masks OUTSIDE!

[Anonymous]

Well, respectfully, as a teacher, a loyal Democrat, and a Biden supporter, I will not be wearing a mask and will offer the same choice to my students.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Well, respectfully, as a teacher, a loyal Democrat, and a Biden supporter, I will not be wearing a mask and will offer the same choice to my students.

Preach!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Well, respectfully, as a teacher, a loyal Democrat, and a Biden supporter, I will not be wearing a mask and will offer the same choice to my students.

Clap Emoji! Same here!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Well, respectfully, as a teacher, a loyal Democrat, and a Biden supporter, I will not be wearing a mask and will offer the same choice to my students.

Clap Emoji! Same here!

Maybe that is the only way we are going to see progress.

And it would be good for the mayor and union hearing from teachers who want to unmask.