Anonymous wrote:from talking to a friend who is a preschool administrator- the problem is that the group of parents who want universal masking feel VERY strongly about it. And are saying things like 'if masks are not mandated, they will instruct their child not to play with an unmasked child, to refuse to sit by an unmasked child, etc.' Given that preschool is really all about learning how to get along- to have parents telling their kids to refuse to play with some children is an untenable situation for a preschool.

Anonymous wrote:Can someone point me to a link on revised DC daycare / preschool guidance? Its unclear to me what the OSSE guidance still is. My preschool is still doing ALL the covid theatrics - health checks, temp checks, masks at all times.

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Anonymous wrote:We have a victory - Audubon Nature preschool is allowing no masking outside. This is in line with the Maryland guidance they were given.

A victory for common sense! But also in line with public health guidance- a win win. And great for the kids for with no real increase in their risk profile!

Ummmm… ok? Why the $&@ have they been masking outside?!? When will they follow guidance and get rid of them inside is the question.

I think some of these places have purposefully been going over the top and carefully time concessions on something so that parents see it as a victory and shut up for a while. We aren't at Audobon, but ours also reinstated outdoor masks with Omicron and haven't reversed yet- they say it was recommended to them by licensing (through DHHS). So while we should be encouraging our center to align with the CDC on the new guidance for indoor masking, we are back where we were a year ago trying to get rid of the outside masking.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:from talking to a friend who is a preschool administrator- the problem is that the group of parents who want universal masking feel VERY strongly about it. And are saying things like 'if masks are not mandated, they will instruct their child not to play with an unmasked child, to refuse to sit by an unmasked child, etc.' Given that preschool is really all about learning how to get along- to have parents telling their kids to refuse to play with some children is an untenable situation for a preschool.

So if they're going to make this decision based on feeling of parents rather than public health guidance, the least they could do is put it to a vote, right? It is similar at ours- a group of loud parents feels very strongly about keeping masks. But it's really hard to tell how large of a group this is.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We have a victory - Audubon Nature preschool is allowing no masking outside. This is in line with the Maryland guidance they were given.

A victory for common sense! But also in line with public health guidance- a win win. And great for the kids for with no real increase in their risk profile!

Ummmm… ok? Why the $&@ have they been masking outside?!? When will they follow guidance and get rid of them inside is the question.

Anonymous wrote:We have a victory - Audubon Nature preschool is allowing no masking outside. This is in line with the Maryland guidance they were given.

A victory for common sense! But also in line with public health guidance- a win win. And great for the kids for with no real increase in their risk profile!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:from talking to a friend who is a preschool administrator- the problem is that the group of parents who want universal masking feel VERY strongly about it. And are saying things like 'if masks are not mandated, they will instruct their child not to play with an unmasked child, to refuse to sit by an unmasked child, etc.' Given that preschool is really all about learning how to get along- to have parents telling their kids to refuse to play with some children is an untenable situation for a preschool.

The simple solution would be to ask those parents to take their business elsewhere.

+1. I'm tired of catering to these parents, and I really question why they think masking is effective in a daycare situation anyway, for all the reasons already discussed.

I know school-aged kids can be vaccinated, but there are a fair number of parents like this at our ES too. Yet MCPS is set to remove the mandate anyway. Placating anxious parents who are going to push exclusionary behavior on their kids is still not a good reason to mandate universal masking.

As sad as it is to say, I think that if the masks stay mandatory for more than the next week or two, our beloved little faith-based preschool won't survive to see another school year. A small group of parents have completely hijacked the issue and the director is terrified to anger them (plus I think her own Covid fears add to the issue). Even though the majority of us have made it very clear to her that we are ready for masks to be optional, she keeps saying that by keeping them mandatory everyone is safer and we need to respect the comfort levels of this small group of very vocal families. From conversation at drop-off this morning, it looks like most people who aren't aging out this year are actively looking for new programs for next year, based on how this has all be handled, especially in the last couple of weeks. So unless things change, I think this group of masks-forever parents are going to find themselves winning the battle but losing the war when they don't have a school for their kids in a few months.

Here we go again with the massively inflated sense of importance.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:from talking to a friend who is a preschool administrator- the problem is that the group of parents who want universal masking feel VERY strongly about it. And are saying things like 'if masks are not mandated, they will instruct their child not to play with an unmasked child, to refuse to sit by an unmasked child, etc.' Given that preschool is really all about learning how to get along- to have parents telling their kids to refuse to play with some children is an untenable situation for a preschool.

The simple solution would be to ask those parents to take their business elsewhere.

+1. I'm tired of catering to these parents, and I really question why they think masking is effective in a daycare situation anyway, for all the reasons already discussed.

I know school-aged kids can be vaccinated, but there are a fair number of parents like this at our ES too. Yet MCPS is set to remove the mandate anyway. Placating anxious parents who are going to push exclusionary behavior on their kids is still not a good reason to mandate universal masking.

As sad as it is to say, I think that if the masks stay mandatory for more than the next week or two, our beloved little faith-based preschool won't survive to see another school year. A small group of parents have completely hijacked the issue and the director is terrified to anger them (plus I think her own Covid fears add to the issue). Even though the majority of us have made it very clear to her that we are ready for masks to be optional, she keeps saying that by keeping them mandatory everyone is safer and we need to respect the comfort levels of this small group of very vocal families. From conversation at drop-off this morning, it looks like most people who aren't aging out this year are actively looking for new programs for next year, based on how this has all be handled, especially in the last couple of weeks. So unless things change, I think this group of masks-forever parents are going to find themselves winning the battle but losing the war when they don't have a school for their kids in a few months.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:from talking to a friend who is a preschool administrator- the problem is that the group of parents who want universal masking feel VERY strongly about it. And are saying things like 'if masks are not mandated, they will instruct their child not to play with an unmasked child, to refuse to sit by an unmasked child, etc.' Given that preschool is really all about learning how to get along- to have parents telling their kids to refuse to play with some children is an untenable situation for a preschool.

The simple solution would be to ask those parents to take their business elsewhere.

+1. I'm tired of catering to these parents, and I really question why they think masking is effective in a daycare situation anyway, for all the reasons already discussed.

I know school-aged kids can be vaccinated, but there are a fair number of parents like this at our ES too. Yet MCPS is set to remove the mandate anyway. Placating anxious parents who are going to push exclusionary behavior on their kids is still not a good reason to mandate universal masking.

Anonymous wrote:from talking to a friend who is a preschool administrator- the problem is that the group of parents who want universal masking feel VERY strongly about it. And are saying things like 'if masks are not mandated, they will instruct their child not to play with an unmasked child, to refuse to sit by an unmasked child, etc.' Given that preschool is really all about learning how to get along- to have parents telling their kids to refuse to play with some children is an untenable situation for a preschool.

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I call BS as well. I work all day every day with children with a wide range of special needs (including those with trauma issues)and for the past 2 years (minus the 2 months during which we were closed and I did not see the children), I have not seen a single child traumatized or developing a disorder due to wearing masks. Come on now. That is just beyond ridiculous. Stop projecting your psychosis onto your children.

And there are plenty of professionals who will disagree with you. Some are quoted here, since you certainly won't believe me: https://www.npr.org/2022/01/28/1075842341/growing-calls-to-take-masks-off-children-in-school

Our child's therapist told us at the start our child's condition is easier to treat if she does not wear a mask. There is no way to know the impact of masking on young children and I think the WHO and the EU did the right thing in recommending against it, no question.

And other experts are quoted here:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2022/03/05/baby-masks-slow-to-speak/

I mean, really, blind kids learn how to speak. And if the problem is kids not seeing faces, then really it’s not about whether the parents have the choice to mask their kids, but whether the teachers should be forced to take off theirs.

The rate of developmental disabilities is higher in blind children than in others. I'm really shocked that the AAP or any expert uses that as proof that masks can't harm children's development.

Your cause effect here is spectacularly bad. The most common cause of vision impairment in kids in the US is brain damage. Yes, many of those kids have other disabilities.