Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Masks are required per the governor.

Now they are not. What will the Bishop do? Last summer he left it up to schools. Never took a stance. Until he told all schools they had to follow governors orders?

Oh it’s more than that. Masks are not just “no longer required” — per Governor Youngkin’s new executive order, schools (public and private) are FORBIDDEN from excluding students whose parents choose not to mask them.

Finally! Common sense prevails!

Come January 24th every school in this state will be asking for a lawsuit if it dares try to prevent a student from attending because she isn’t wearing a mask. And more than a lawsuit I want to see the Virginia National Guard open the doors at the point of a bayonet to enforce the law.

No more mandates forcing stupid pointless masks on our children.

Anonymous wrote:Masks are required per the governor.

Now they are not. What will the Bishop do? Last summer he left it up to schools. Never took a stance. Until he told all schools they had to follow governors orders?

Anonymous wrote:The point is all the mask arguing is “masking” pun intended - the fact vaccines are the only way out. Sorry - that is the truth. The media is afraid to talk about who exactly is not getting vaccines. Unless of course - they can say Republicans. But the data says otherwise.

While this may very well be the case, the fact is that kids who are too young to be vaccinated need to go to school and we need to do what we can to protect them. Social distancing is crippling to education and the economy, so masks are really all we have right now. Doing nothing is not going to work. One need only look at schools/school systems in relatively populated areas that have been open for a week or two with masks optional/no masks. They have had a bunch of cases and some have already had to temporarily switch to virtual learning. We have to use the tools at our disposal to try and get through these waves when they happen. We can always relax things if/when community spread gets really low again.

But I do agree that more attention needs to be placed on which groups besides MAGAs are not getting the vaccine, and interventions need to be targeted accordingly.

The point is all the mask arguing is “masking” pun intended - the fact vaccines are the only way out. Sorry - that is the truth. The media is afraid to talk about who exactly is not getting vaccines. Unless of course - they can say Republicans. But the data says otherwise.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Masks are required per the governor.

Excellent. Perhaps vaccines should be required to obtain government assistance of any type?

Masks are great but stop pretending they will end Covid. They will not. Take a hard look at DMV stats on who is NOT vaccinated. Hint: they aren’t republicans.

Many of us with kids too young to be vaccinated are relieved. My child’s school was leaning toward making masks optional after a couple weeks which is worrisome. I’d rather it be a mandate so the school community, which is very divided on the issue, doesn’t have to argue among themselves and with the administration. I’m sure some people are mad but they’ll find something to be mad about no matter what.

LOL. There is always CRT, or redshirting, or whether Flint Hill is a safety school or not, or the over-under on how many HOSs BIM will have had by next year, or complaints about TJs new admission process. All this debate about masks has me nostalgic for those days.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Masks are required per the governor.

Excellent. Perhaps vaccines should be required to obtain government assistance of any type?

Masks are great but stop pretending they will end Covid. They will not. Take a hard look at DMV stats on who is NOT vaccinated. Hint: they aren’t republicans.

Many of us with kids too young to be vaccinated are relieved. My child’s school was leaning toward making masks optional after a couple weeks which is worrisome. I’d rather it be a mandate so the school community, which is very divided on the issue, doesn’t have to argue among themselves and with the administration. I’m sure some people are mad but they’ll find something to be mad about no matter what.

Also, I’m pretty sure wearing masks is what kept both my kids at in person school all year. You can argue all you want about their efficacy but if nothing else it reduces the number of times they touch their nose and mouth throughout the day and prevents a kid from literally sneezing in another kid’s face. The first illness since pre Covid times to hit my family was a cold given to us by our friend’s kid who did a big juicy sneeze right in my kid’s face while they were playing outside. I cringed when it happened because it was point blank range. Sure enough it was one of those terrible miserable colds and we all got it (Covid negative). I’d rather prevent that scenario from happening over and over all school year if I can. I don’t have the flexibility of working from home this year.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Masks are required per the governor.

Excellent. Perhaps vaccines should be required to obtain government assistance of any type?

Masks are great but stop pretending they will end Covid. They will not. Take a hard look at DMV stats on who is NOT vaccinated. Hint: they aren’t republicans.

Many of us with kids too young to be vaccinated are relieved. My child’s school was leaning toward making masks optional after a couple weeks which is worrisome. I’d rather it be a mandate so the school community, which is very divided on the issue, doesn’t have to argue among themselves and with the administration. I’m sure some people are mad but they’ll find something to be mad about no matter what.

Anonymous wrote:Masks are required per the governor.

Excellent. Perhaps vaccines should be required to obtain government assistance of any type?

Masks are great but stop pretending they will end Covid. They will not. Take a hard look at DMV stats on who is NOT vaccinated. Hint: they aren’t republicans.

Masks are required per the governor.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am a teacher in the Diocese of Arlington. I hated teaching in masks last year. They are a pain! I am vaccinated, as is my household (including my k-8 DC). Am I pro-mask in school? You betcha! I do not want to deal with kids missing school, having to catch them up, emailing parents over and over again! But most of all, I want my school community to be as healthy as possible. We have the tools! We know what works! Teachers have a lot on our plates in a normal year. Please, let’s do our best to make it as normal as possible. Wearing masks will help all of us. As I tell my own kids and students, “Be part of the solution!”

Thank you.

Well said. This is one of the best posts I have read in a long time.

You are a gem, any kid would be lucky to be in your class. And an amazing parent!

Thanks for your comments. To add to my “teacher point of view” if the teaxher is occupied having to catch up with kids who missed school, guess what? They will be distracted from planning effective lessons, following up with parents, posting grades on power school! There are only so many hours in the day. Something will give. Teachers are humans, with families (many are moms) and are not paid the highest salaries to begin with. Many are leaving the profession. Again, be a part of the solution!

Anonymous wrote:Let’s not drag Jesus into this.

You all realize that masks are just literally masking the problem? So much energy fighting on the virtues of masks and no pressure on FDA for full approval for vaccines. Or vaccination mandates. One of those teacher union reps was on NPR today slipping and sliding in whether vaccines should be mandated. She was all about masks. Guess what? We did masks - they did not stop the spread or prevent illness like vaccines do.

Make vaccines mandatory for teachers. Make the mandatory for 12 and up if you want to go to school in person. And then ASAP - Hope end of month - when Pfizer gets full approval - make them mandatory in every workplace.

Masks work period!

If you can not figure that out you are an idiot.

And clearly, you are not Christian or read the bible or a good human.

A mask is noninvasive even if it isn't as good as a vaccine it sure as H helps.

Leave the US we no longer want the likes of you here. Go spew your crap in Russia you will be much happier there.

Anonymous wrote:I am a teacher in the Diocese of Arlington. I hated teaching in masks last year. They are a pain! I am vaccinated, as is my household (including my k-8 DC). Am I pro-mask in school? You betcha! I do not want to deal with kids missing school, having to catch them up, emailing parents over and over again! But most of all, I want my school community to be as healthy as possible. We have the tools! We know what works! Teachers have a lot on our plates in a normal year. Please, let’s do our best to make it as normal as possible. Wearing masks will help all of us. As I tell my own kids and students, “Be part of the solution!”

Thank you.

Well said. This is one of the best posts I have read in a long time.

You are a gem, any kid would be lucky to be in your class. And an amazing parent!

Anonymous wrote:I am a teacher in the Diocese of Arlington. I hated teaching in masks last year. They are a pain! I am vaccinated, as is my household (including my k-8 DC). Am I pro-mask in school? You betcha! I do not want to deal with kids missing school, having to catch them up, emailing parents over and over again! But most of all, I want my school community to be as healthy as possible. We have the tools! We know what works! Teachers have a lot on our plates in a normal year. Please, let’s do our best to make it as normal as possible. Wearing masks will help all of us. As I tell my own kids and students, “Be part of the solution!”

I love love love this, both as it applies to the ongoing pandemic and beyond.

Thank you for your wisdom, both as a teacher and mom.

Anonymous wrote:I am a teacher in the Diocese of Arlington. I hated teaching in masks last year. They are a pain! I am vaccinated, as is my household (including my k-8 DC). Am I pro-mask in school? You betcha! I do not want to deal with kids missing school, having to catch them up, emailing parents over and over again! But most of all, I want my school community to be as healthy as possible. We have the tools! We know what works! Teachers have a lot on our plates in a normal year. Please, let’s do our best to make it as normal as possible. Wearing masks will help all of us. As I tell my own kids and students, “Be part of the solution!”

Thank you! You all worked so hard & made it work. Constantly cleaning, keeping the kids in their pods, lunch in the classrooms & teaching - you're all amazing! My son had a fabulous 8th grade experience, mask & all. He even had a school dance, though it wasn't school sponsored. He's now onto a DC Catholic High School & because of you all, he is ready to climb mountains!

I am a teacher in the Diocese of Arlington. I hated teaching in masks last year. They are a pain! I am vaccinated, as is my household (including my k-8 DC). Am I pro-mask in school? You betcha! I do not want to deal with kids missing school, having to catch them up, emailing parents over and over again! But most of all, I want my school community to be as healthy as possible. We have the tools! We know what works! Teachers have a lot on our plates in a normal year. Please, let’s do our best to make it as normal as possible. Wearing masks will help all of us. As I tell my own kids and students, “Be part of the solution!”