Reply to Peer Masking as a Reasonable Accommodation

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Peer masking is reasonable because it’s not an undue burden.  That is the analysis.  If the school provides the class well-fitting masks, it’s no cost to the families, minimal costs to the schools, and at most upsets parents who prefer their kids be maskless but really can’t show actual harm or major burden on them (except maybe in limited circumstances where another child has a disability that prevents them from masking).  This is not actually as complicated as people are making it seem.[/quote]

The burden isn’t just to prove there’s no harm in kids wearing masks, there must be a proven benefit to the student requesting an accommodation. The studies are all over the place (even the court cited how infection rates were similar across schools that were masked vs. unmasked). So even accepting your argument that it’s not a burden for kids and schools to mask, it’s also not settled science that mask mandates make that much difference. And the school could offer other accommodations that lead to similar COVID rates (such as ventilation improvement).

Also, plenty of parents will attest that their kids dislike masking and find it uncomfortable while trying to learn. It can be a distraction from educating if teachers are now tasked for enforcing and monitoring kids to properly wear masks. You may disagree there is a burden to masking, but the fact is mandating masks for an entire class requires many people now take actions that otherwise would not exist. This is some degree of burden. Not to mention the financial burden of the school now has to supply a well-fitted mask x 25 kids each week. That isn’t zero burden. And you’ve completely discounted the special needs kids who cannot mask and/or need to see faces as if those kids don’t even exist. But I guess you only care about disabilities that align with your personal view that masking causes no harms.

Btw, based on how fast masks came off even in our very liberal elementary school, I think you’re in the minority in claiming masks are NBD. Most parents I know never want their kids to wear them in school again.[/quote]

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