Anonymous wrote:Here's my prediction (watching from over the border in maryland). It will be messy and ugly for 3-5 weeks. Protests, parents keeping kids home, misc. messiness and I feel deeply for school admin who is going to be in deep water. But then it will subside. People will realize that the mask mandate wasn't actually doing much (you all realize that everyday from 9-9:15 my kid sits crammed in his hallway outside his classroom waiting for them to open everyone eating breakfast like both sides of the hall are shoulder to shoulder kids eating). Anywho, the sky won't fall and you all will be free. With any luck the fresh air will drift over the potomac to MD. Good luck and god speed.

I hope this is it. People, EVERYONE in NoVa wears masks everywhere and EVERYONE AND THEN SOME has freaking Covid. And it has very little to do with schools either. People are catching it masked and unmasked alike. At some point, we have to realize that the masks - apart from N95’s and the like, which certainly not everyone wears, especially not kids - just aren’t the end-all, be-all. If they help a little “around the edges” with the infection rate, then we also have to consider the trade offs of people - again, especially little kids - not being able to see facial expressions. People who are hard of hearing can’t see your mouth for lip-reading. Kids who are in speech therapy need to see mouths/lips and their speech therapists need to see their mouths. I could go on and on. Maybe the trade offs of masks just aren’t worth it anymore. Maybe this isn’t going to be the OMG DISASTER that everyone is breathlessly predicting. Honestly not too many people will probably opt out at the beginning anyway, so there’s that, too.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:hs teacher here... i can't wait to assign new seating charts & put the anti-maskers together in the back. effing say something to me parents!

There is no chance that will fly. A teacher or two may try, but the administration will not allow for separate areas for masked vs. unmasked students, just as they would not for vaxx'd v. unvaxx'd students. There are so many reasons why (no I am not going down the separate but equal rabbit hole), but one of the easiest to note is student's who have preferential seating as part of an IEP/504. There are way more, but that is the beginning of why that will be a non-starter. It won't have to be parents clamoring one way or the other.

My kid has a 504 that includes preferential seating. She can sit in a non-preferential location with her masked classmates until the maskless ones catch Covid and get quarantined. Then she can move back to her regular seat.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:hs teacher here... i can't wait to assign new seating charts & put the anti-maskers together in the back. effing say something to me parents!

I'm a mask optional parent. That's fine with me.

I’ll send my teen with a mask since it’s the school rule but when he hears that they can opt out he will hide it and say he’s mask optional. I’m okay with him sitting in the back with the other unmasked kids.

Anonymous wrote:hs teacher here... i can't wait to assign new seating charts & put the anti-maskers together in the back. effing say something to me parents!

You're an idiot and make me doubly doubt the education our kids are getting. Aerosol traveling viruses don't stop half way up the room. You're the kind of idiot who thinks it makes sense to wear a mask into a restaurant only to take it off when you sit next to another table. That probably makes you feel safe too.

And you're not just an idiot. You're an asshole. Putting kids in the back as some kind of punishment?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:hs teacher here... i can't wait to assign new seating charts & put the anti-maskers together in the back. effing say something to me parents!

There is no chance that will fly. A teacher or two may try, but the administration will not allow for separate areas for masked vs. unmasked students, just as they would not for vaxx'd v. unvaxx'd students. There are so many reasons why (no I am not going down the separate but equal rabbit hole), but one of the easiest to note is student's who have preferential seating as part of an IEP/504. There are way more, but that is the beginning of why that will be a non-starter. It won't have to be parents clamoring one way or the other.

Unfortunately, as a teacher, we might not have a choice. If we are getting pushback from parents on both sides, what are we to do? I think it is absolutely fair to put unmasked kids separate from masked kids. If the whole argument is that parents have a choice about their child’s health, then so do the parents of the masked kids. They have the right to be separated to protect them. I feel fortunate that I feel 99 percent of my class will continue wearing masks, but there might be one or two and they will feel ostracized.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:hs teacher here... i can't wait to assign new seating charts & put the anti-maskers together in the back. effing say something to me parents!

There is no chance that will fly. A teacher or two may try, but the administration will not allow for separate areas for masked vs. unmasked students, just as they would not for vaxx'd v. unvaxx'd students. There are so many reasons why (no I am not going down the separate but equal rabbit hole), but one of the easiest to note is student's who have preferential seating as part of an IEP/504. There are way more, but that is the beginning of why that will be a non-starter. It won't have to be parents clamoring one way or the other.

Preferential seating doesn’t mean the front, it means where they will learn the best. Could be away from the door, noisy areas, etc.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They should fight this bullshit in court. But in the meantime if they have to follow it, parents should be required to submit a form indicating if they are or aren't opting out (not the EO merely requires they don't have to provide a reason or make any statements about their child's health or education. Then seating charts should be moved so all the opt outs are together. And the masked kids are seated separately. Then any case of covid in the classroom results in all the unmasked being put on quarantine because over the course of a school day they very likely were within 6 ft of the covid positive student for a cumulative 15 min. Want to opt out of masking? Enjoy your back to back quarantines until the surge is over.

Changing the quarantine rules for unmasked is a good idea, if they need to go there, actually.

Yep. Also 10 day quarantine for students who are opted out of masking because the current 5 day one relies on masking for the next 5 days. Also the quarantine guidelines from CDC that indicate fully vaccinated don't need to quarantine also indicate they should mask for the 10 days, so mask opt outs should be subject to 10 day quarantine regardless of vaccination status.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They should fight this bullshit in court. But in the meantime if they have to follow it, parents should be required to submit a form indicating if they are or aren't opting out (not the EO merely requires they don't have to provide a reason or make any statements about their child's health or education. Then seating charts should be moved so all the opt outs are together. And the masked kids are seated separately. Then any case of covid in the classroom results in all the unmasked being put on quarantine because over the course of a school day they very likely were within 6 ft of the covid positive student for a cumulative 15 min. Want to opt out of masking? Enjoy your back to back quarantines until the surge is over.

The seating chart is fine with me.

But vaccinated children don't have to quarantine regardless of masking or distance,

Agree, CDC clearly states vaccinated don't have to quarantine
Unvaccinated over 6 feet don't have to quarantine

The CDC made up the whole thing about masks and no quarantining between 3-6 feet just so schools could open. There is no science behind it.

Anonymous wrote:They should fight this bullshit in court. But in the meantime if they have to follow it, parents should be required to submit a form indicating if they are or aren't opting out (not the EO merely requires they don't have to provide a reason or make any statements about their child's health or education. Then seating charts should be moved so all the opt outs are together. And the masked kids are seated separately. Then any case of covid in the classroom results in all the unmasked being put on quarantine because over the course of a school day they very likely were within 6 ft of the covid positive student for a cumulative 15 min. Want to opt out of masking? Enjoy your back to back quarantines until the surge is over.

The seating chart is fine with me.

But vaccinated children don't have to quarantine regardless of masking or distance,

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They should fight this bullshit in court. But in the meantime if they have to follow it, parents should be required to submit a form indicating if they are or aren't opting out (not the EO merely requires they don't have to provide a reason or make any statements about their child's health or education. Then seating charts should be moved so all the opt outs are together. And the masked kids are seated separately. Then any case of covid in the classroom results in all the unmasked being put on quarantine because over the course of a school day they very likely were within 6 ft of the covid positive student for a cumulative 15 min. Want to opt out of masking? Enjoy your back to back quarantines until the surge is over.

I like this.

We still have an unvaccinated 4yo at home, so while I suspect the number of anti-maskers in his class of 1st graders will be very low—would prefer they be seated away/together.

Why not put your child in a bubble?

Anonymous wrote:hs teacher here... i can't wait to assign new seating charts & put the anti-maskers together in the back. effing say something to me parents!

There is no chance that will fly. A teacher or two may try, but the administration will not allow for separate areas for masked vs. unmasked students, just as they would not for vaxx'd v. unvaxx'd students. There are so many reasons why (no I am not going down the separate but equal rabbit hole), but one of the easiest to note is student's who have preferential seating as part of an IEP/504. There are way more, but that is the beginning of why that will be a non-starter. It won't have to be parents clamoring one way or the other.

Anonymous wrote:hs teacher here... i can't wait to assign new seating charts & put the anti-maskers together in the back. effing say something to me parents!

I'm a mask optional parent. That's fine with me.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I just look at the whole situation and wonder why do this? The governor isn't in a hurry to bring back smoking in restaurants or bare feet and no shirt in stores. Why not apply "choice" across the board (not that I think we should, but how are those examples any different)?

I guess more people liked no smoking and no bare feet and shirts than like masks.

So? Isn't the premise individual choice?

Only when it's popular. He's not getting rid of seatbelt laws, either.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They should fight this bullshit in court. But in the meantime if they have to follow it, parents should be required to submit a form indicating if they are or aren't opting out (not the EO merely requires they don't have to provide a reason or make any statements about their child's health or education. Then seating charts should be moved so all the opt outs are together. And the masked kids are seated separately. Then any case of covid in the classroom results in all the unmasked being put on quarantine because over the course of a school day they very likely were within 6 ft of the covid positive student for a cumulative 15 min. Want to opt out of masking? Enjoy your back to back quarantines until the surge is over.

I like this.

We still have an unvaccinated 4yo at home, so while I suspect the number of anti-maskers in his class of 1st graders will be very low—would prefer they be seated away/together.

It's not a bad idea.

ES Teacher