When should DC drop its school mask mandate?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I know some parents are advocating for school walkouts on another thread, but parents (particularly of middle school and high school students) should just email their school principals to inform them that going forward, their children will not be masking in school, in compliance with CDC recommendations and the mayor's own directive for much higher-risk adults. Then tell your kids to take off their masks. I actually have consulted a lawyer and parents would have a decent case against a school system for arbitrary and capricious behavior here, given that higher risk populations are now allowed indoors without masks, that transmission rates are low and vaccination rates high, and that this is a medical intervention with documented ill side-effects for children's education.

Don't send them with a mask. If the school insists, and gives them one, have your kid (if he or she is comfortable engaging in legit and necessary civil disobedience) to put the mask on but pull it below their face. We need resistance, otherwise the minority of scaredy-cat forever COVID people in DC will keep our kids masked in perpetuity.

All this does is put teachers, who have no say over the policies, in a position where they will either have to damage a relationship with an adolescent, potentially face pushback from other students who still want masks, or face discipline from their superiors for not enforcing DC policies. Not a very kind or respectful plan

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I know some parents are advocating for school walkouts on another thread, but parents (particularly of middle school and high school students) should just email their school principals to inform them that going forward, their children will not be masking in school, in compliance with CDC recommendations and the mayor's own directive for much higher-risk adults. Then tell your kids to take off their masks. I actually have consulted a lawyer and parents would have a decent case against a school system for arbitrary and capricious behavior here, given that higher risk populations are now allowed indoors without masks, that transmission rates are low and vaccination rates high, and that this is a medical intervention with documented ill side-effects for children's education.

Don't send them with a mask. If the school insists, and gives them one, have your kid (if he or she is comfortable engaging in legit and necessary civil disobedience) to put the mask on but pull it below their face. We need resistance, otherwise the minority of scaredy-cat forever COVID people in DC will keep our kids masked in perpetuity.

All this does is put teachers, who have no say over the policies, in a position where they will either have to damage a relationship with an adolescent, potentially face pushback from other students who still want masks, or face discipline from their superiors for not enforcing DC policies. Not a very kind or respectful plan

Yes, I agree, this puts teachers in a difficult position, and risks the kid's relationship with the teacher. I wouldn't do it to my kids or our teachers, as strongly as I feel that the mandate needs to go now.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Ugh; while I recognize that twitter pole responses are by no means a representative sample, this is frustrating. https://twitter.com/betsyjwolf/status/1498335733538562059

Considering - I used to love following her and all her info about DC schools and I actually stopped following her because she got to be too much - that is a high percentage for no masks when taking her followers into account.

Are you me? +1

At this point Wolf and some of these other accounts that are very active on DCPS Twitter are obsessive about Covid precautions, virtual school, "protecting" vaccinated and boosted teacher, etc. I had to mute all of it because it makes my blood boil how much of it is just virtue signaling and not based in any concern for actual children, ignoring the science, and remaining entrenched in an April 2020 mentality.

So yeah, the fact that more than a third of her active followers said they are ready for no masks in schools means that the true number is probably closer to 60-70% among DCPS families and teachers.

WaPo needs to poll this with a real poll. Twitter polls are dumb and mostly just make people feel good about what they already think.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I know some parents are advocating for school walkouts on another thread, but parents (particularly of middle school and high school students) should just email their school principals to inform them that going forward, their children will not be masking in school, in compliance with CDC recommendations and the mayor's own directive for much higher-risk adults. Then tell your kids to take off their masks. I actually have consulted a lawyer and parents would have a decent case against a school system for arbitrary and capricious behavior here, given that higher risk populations are now allowed indoors without masks, that transmission rates are low and vaccination rates high, and that this is a medical intervention with documented ill side-effects for children's education.

Don't send them with a mask. If the school insists, and gives them one, have your kid (if he or she is comfortable engaging in legit and necessary civil disobedience) to put the mask on but pull it below their face. We need resistance, otherwise the minority of scaredy-cat forever COVID people in DC will keep our kids masked in perpetuity.

Agree what a horrible approach this is. And I have had my child told me since a student could not mask they were isolated from other, except for outside. Don’t make teachers makes these decisions when they have to enforce masking. Your child is a child, please act like an adult and explain you don’t agree with masking but it’s a policy officials have put in place.

All this does is put teachers, who have no say over the policies, in a position where they will either have to damage a relationship with an adolescent, potentially face pushback from other students who still want masks, or face discipline from their superiors for not enforcing DC policies. Not a very kind or respectful plan

[Anonymous]

Well, apparently we can at least drop masks outdoors now.

[Anonymous]

They are dropping outdoor masking but keeping indoor masks.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:They are dropping outdoor masking but keeping indoor masks.

Link?

[Anonymous]

Yes! Just read the email. at least outdoors

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yes! Just read the email. at least outdoors

Ok for those of us at charters, can someone post the DCPS email?

[Anonymous]

https://dcpsreopenstrong.com/chancellor/safe-return-and-updates-to-our-health-and-safety-policies/

[Anonymous]

Keep going. Indoors for rest of year is an absolute joke.

[Anonymous]

Given how few positive cases came out of the testing after the break they should feel emboldened to take the next step, like the rest of the country.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Given how few positive cases came out of the testing after the break they should feel emboldened to take the next step, like the rest of the country.

+1. this is absurd

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:https://dcpsreopenstrong.com/chancellor/safe-return-and-updates-to-our-health-and-safety-policies/

So test positivity rate for DCPS was 174/46000 = 0.4%. Yeah, we need to drop indoor masking at schools. This is beyond stupid.

[Anonymous]

We’re really going to be the last school district in the entire country to require masks.

Bowser is a mole inserted by the GOP to make sure DC never achieved statehood.