Anonymous wrote:I am a private preschool teacher. I have been wearing KN95 masks every day since September, one mask each day.
I purchased them out of my pocket from Amazon. Very easy to find, cost around $1 per mask.

And my wage is maybe half of what an FCPS teacher's, without any benefits. NO MORE EXCUSES for FCPS school teachers. Go do your job!

Your school doesn't give you PPE?

For FCPS: Megan McLaughlin said at her town hall that she is asking about better masks for teachers.

I am a private preschool teacher. I have been wearing KN95 masks every day since September, one mask each day.
I purchased them out of my pocket from Amazon. Very easy to find, cost around $1 per mask.

And my wage is maybe half of what an FCPS teacher's, without any benefits. NO MORE EXCUSES for FCPS school teachers. Go do your job!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How much did school districts spend on medical gowns and gloves for teachers when there is ZERO scientific data or evidence that it’s necessary or appropriate outside a medical setting? Even at the pediatrician’s office they are just wearing masks.

Those supplies should be getting donated to local hospitals. Unbelievable waste of taxpayer dollars. Providing that equipment probably just scared teachers even more, making them less willing to return to classrooms.

This is clearly different. N95 masks are now the recommended PPE in many countries. This is where many in the Biden administration are heading. The only holdback is concerns about the supply chain. The cloth masks don’t do a whole lot it turns out.

I fully support KN95 or KF94 masks for teachers but medical gowns, gloves and shoe covers is completely overboard. Someone said it’s for teachers that have to clean poop but I know a speech therapist (no poop cleaning involved) who was given all those supplies by one of our local districts. Totally unnecessary and wasteful.

Teachers demanded, FCPS complied. They demanded vaccines. FCPS complied. I’m sure when they demand magic moo rocks, FCPS will comply. Still won’t get kids in classrooms.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How much did school districts spend on medical gowns and gloves for teachers when there is ZERO scientific data or evidence that it’s necessary or appropriate outside a medical setting? Even at the pediatrician’s office they are just wearing masks.

Those supplies should be getting donated to local hospitals. Unbelievable waste of taxpayer dollars. Providing that equipment probably just scared teachers even more, making them less willing to return to classrooms.

This is clearly different. N95 masks are now the recommended PPE in many countries. This is where many in the Biden administration are heading. The only holdback is concerns about the supply chain. The cloth masks don’t do a whole lot it turns out.

I fully support KN95 or KF94 masks for teachers but medical gowns, gloves and shoe covers is completely overboard. Someone said it’s for teachers that have to clean poop but I know a speech therapist (no poop cleaning involved) who was given all those supplies by one of our local districts. Totally unnecessary and wasteful.

Wasteful. For the teachers (or IAs, or worse, PHTAs, barely making a living wage) working in-person with students with severe disabilities. I’m sure you would be super thrilled to work hand-over-hand for 8 hours with a kid who cannot wear a mask with no PPE for yourself. And when outbreaks hit the program (as they did with many CAT B programs), I’m sure it’s a-ok for ALL of the kids in the program to lose out on in-person instruction for two weeks because of the wastefulness that PPE would be. Really???

Are teachers trained in how to properly wear and dispose of all this medical equipment? Point me to one reliable source that indicates teachers and school staff need medical supplies like gowns, gloves, and shoe covers. They are working with students, not hospital patients in a COVID wing!

Yes, we are trained in proper PPE wear and disposal. This is how we know reusing these items is not best practice and that FCPS is actually not prepared.

+1. Yes, we got trained before we went in person in October. PP is exactly right: we all figured out quickly that the county was not at all prepared when they started telling us to reuse the plastic gowns and gave us a hard time when we asked for more gloves. For anyone questioning the use of these items, I'd like to know whether you'd be willing to assist someone else's teenager with a diaper change or deal with reflex vomiting during a pandemic without a gown and gloves? If the answer is yes, the county has a job for you!

Anonymous wrote:There area still not even enough N95 masks for health care works.

There are not enough vaccines to even vaccinate the very elderly.

I know professors who are already teaching college in person and unable to get vaccines. The virus response was a complete disgrace last year, and it's going to take a log time to fix.

That is awful, especially since college kids who don't take precautions tend to be the worse drivers of spread.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How much did school districts spend on medical gowns and gloves for teachers when there is ZERO scientific data or evidence that it’s necessary or appropriate outside a medical setting? Even at the pediatrician’s office they are just wearing masks.

Those supplies should be getting donated to local hospitals. Unbelievable waste of taxpayer dollars. Providing that equipment probably just scared teachers even more, making them less willing to return to classrooms.

This is clearly different. N95 masks are now the recommended PPE in many countries. This is where many in the Biden administration are heading. The only holdback is concerns about the supply chain. The cloth masks don’t do a whole lot it turns out.

I fully support KN95 or KF94 masks for teachers but medical gowns, gloves and shoe covers is completely overboard. Someone said it’s for teachers that have to clean poop but I know a speech therapist (no poop cleaning involved) who was given all those supplies by one of our local districts. Totally unnecessary and wasteful.

Wasteful. For the teachers (or IAs, or worse, PHTAs, barely making a living wage) working in-person with students with severe disabilities. I’m sure you would be super thrilled to work hand-over-hand for 8 hours with a kid who cannot wear a mask with no PPE for yourself. And when outbreaks hit the program (as they did with many CAT B programs), I’m sure it’s a-ok for ALL of the kids in the program to lose out on in-person instruction for two weeks because of the wastefulness that PPE would be. Really???

Are teachers trained in how to properly wear and dispose of all this medical equipment? Point me to one reliable source that indicates teachers and school staff need medical supplies like gowns, gloves, and shoe covers. They are working with students, not hospital patients in a COVID wing!

Again, we are working with medically vulnerable students. Down Syndrome is a covid preexisting condition. Students may be in wheelchairs, be medically fragile, be on ventilators, have seizures! It’s really the minimum to protect these students during a pandemic. Protect the students, protect the staff, for everyone’s sake.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How much did school districts spend on medical gowns and gloves for teachers when there is ZERO scientific data or evidence that it’s necessary or appropriate outside a medical setting? Even at the pediatrician’s office they are just wearing masks.

Those supplies should be getting donated to local hospitals. Unbelievable waste of taxpayer dollars. Providing that equipment probably just scared teachers even more, making them less willing to return to classrooms.

This is clearly different. N95 masks are now the recommended PPE in many countries. This is where many in the Biden administration are heading. The only holdback is concerns about the supply chain. The cloth masks don’t do a whole lot it turns out.

I fully support KN95 or KF94 masks for teachers but medical gowns, gloves and shoe covers is completely overboard. Someone said it’s for teachers that have to clean poop but I know a speech therapist (no poop cleaning involved) who was given all those supplies by one of our local districts. Totally unnecessary and wasteful.

Wasteful. For the teachers (or IAs, or worse, PHTAs, barely making a living wage) working in-person with students with severe disabilities. I’m sure you would be super thrilled to work hand-over-hand for 8 hours with a kid who cannot wear a mask with no PPE for yourself. And when outbreaks hit the program (as they did with many CAT B programs), I’m sure it’s a-ok for ALL of the kids in the program to lose out on in-person instruction for two weeks because of the wastefulness that PPE would be. Really???

Are teachers trained in how to properly wear and dispose of all this medical equipment? Point me to one reliable source that indicates teachers and school staff need medical supplies like gowns, gloves, and shoe covers. They are working with students, not hospital patients in a COVID wing!

Yes, we are trained in proper PPE wear and disposal. This is how we know reusing these items is not best practice and that FCPS is actually not prepared.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How much did school districts spend on medical gowns and gloves for teachers when there is ZERO scientific data or evidence that it’s necessary or appropriate outside a medical setting? Even at the pediatrician’s office they are just wearing masks.

Those supplies should be getting donated to local hospitals. Unbelievable waste of taxpayer dollars. Providing that equipment probably just scared teachers even more, making them less willing to return to classrooms.

This is clearly different. N95 masks are now the recommended PPE in many countries. This is where many in the Biden administration are heading. The only holdback is concerns about the supply chain. The cloth masks don’t do a whole lot it turns out.

I fully support KN95 or KF94 masks for teachers but medical gowns, gloves and shoe covers is completely overboard. Someone said it’s for teachers that have to clean poop but I know a speech therapist (no poop cleaning involved) who was given all those supplies by one of our local districts. Totally unnecessary and wasteful.

Wasteful. For the teachers (or IAs, or worse, PHTAs, barely making a living wage) working in-person with students with severe disabilities. I’m sure you would be super thrilled to work hand-over-hand for 8 hours with a kid who cannot wear a mask with no PPE for yourself. And when outbreaks hit the program (as they did with many CAT B programs), I’m sure it’s a-ok for ALL of the kids in the program to lose out on in-person instruction for two weeks because of the wastefulness that PPE would be. Really???

Are teachers trained in how to properly wear and dispose of all this medical equipment? Point me to one reliable source that indicates teachers and school staff need medical supplies like gowns, gloves, and shoe covers. They are working with students, not hospital patients in a COVID wing!

They should get covid training. There will be no testing so teachers have to treat each child as if they have been exposed for their and others safety. Are you willing to take care of 20 kids all at once during covid?

Everyone in the school building should be required to wear either a KN95, N95 or double surgical masks.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How much did school districts spend on medical gowns and gloves for teachers when there is ZERO scientific data or evidence that it’s necessary or appropriate outside a medical setting? Even at the pediatrician’s office they are just wearing masks.

Those supplies should be getting donated to local hospitals. Unbelievable waste of taxpayer dollars. Providing that equipment probably just scared teachers even more, making them less willing to return to classrooms.

This is clearly different. N95 masks are now the recommended PPE in many countries. This is where many in the Biden administration are heading. The only holdback is concerns about the supply chain. The cloth masks don’t do a whole lot it turns out.

I fully support KN95 or KF94 masks for teachers but medical gowns, gloves and shoe covers is completely overboard. Someone said it’s for teachers that have to clean poop but I know a speech therapist (no poop cleaning involved) who was given all those supplies by one of our local districts. Totally unnecessary and wasteful.

Wasteful. For the teachers (or IAs, or worse, PHTAs, barely making a living wage) working in-person with students with severe disabilities. I’m sure you would be super thrilled to work hand-over-hand for 8 hours with a kid who cannot wear a mask with no PPE for yourself. And when outbreaks hit the program (as they did with many CAT B programs), I’m sure it’s a-ok for ALL of the kids in the program to lose out on in-person instruction for two weeks because of the wastefulness that PPE would be. Really???

Are teachers trained in how to properly wear and dispose of all this medical equipment? Point me to one reliable source that indicates teachers and school staff need medical supplies like gowns, gloves, and shoe covers. They are working with students, not hospital patients in a COVID wing!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How much did school districts spend on medical gowns and gloves for teachers when there is ZERO scientific data or evidence that it’s necessary or appropriate outside a medical setting? Even at the pediatrician’s office they are just wearing masks.

Those supplies should be getting donated to local hospitals. Unbelievable waste of taxpayer dollars. Providing that equipment probably just scared teachers even more, making them less willing to return to classrooms.

This is clearly different. N95 masks are now the recommended PPE in many countries. This is where many in the Biden administration are heading. The only holdback is concerns about the supply chain. The cloth masks don’t do a whole lot it turns out.

I fully support KN95 or KF94 masks for teachers but medical gowns, gloves and shoe covers is completely overboard. Someone said it’s for teachers that have to clean poop but I know a speech therapist (no poop cleaning involved) who was given all those supplies by one of our local districts. Totally unnecessary and wasteful.

Wasteful. For the teachers (or IAs, or worse, PHTAs, barely making a living wage) working in-person with students with severe disabilities. I’m sure you would be super thrilled to work hand-over-hand for 8 hours with a kid who cannot wear a mask with no PPE for yourself. And when outbreaks hit the program (as they did with many CAT B programs), I’m sure it’s a-ok for ALL of the kids in the program to lose out on in-person instruction for two weeks because of the wastefulness that PPE would be. Really???

Anonymous wrote:The new recommendation is that cloth masks are useless. Have the school systems planned to issue a new N-95 to each teacher each school day? Will students be mandated to wear N-95 masks?

The teachers demanding this need a reality check. I'm an RN and don't even get them. I got ONE (upon request because I was a nervous wreck after just having a baby) and used the same one for weeks. It was so moist and disgusting it made me feel sick/short of breath. Asked for another one and they were out. I am around patients who are "negative" within the past 2 weeks but family members who are not tested. I'm inches away from their face, unlike a teacher.

I think KN95's are much more reasonable for teachers and actually a lot more comfortable. It is VERY hard to breathe in an N95, not to mention it's extremely hard to hear the speaker. How the heck are 25 students supposed to hear their teacher with a muffled voice?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How much did school districts spend on medical gowns and gloves for teachers when there is ZERO scientific data or evidence that it’s necessary or appropriate outside a medical setting? Even at the pediatrician’s office they are just wearing masks.

Those supplies should be getting donated to local hospitals. Unbelievable waste of taxpayer dollars. Providing that equipment probably just scared teachers even more, making them less willing to return to classrooms.

This is clearly different. N95 masks are now the recommended PPE in many countries. This is where many in the Biden administration are heading. The only holdback is concerns about the supply chain. The cloth masks don’t do a whole lot it turns out.

I fully support KN95 or KF94 masks for teachers but medical gowns, gloves and shoe covers is completely overboard. Someone said it’s for teachers that have to clean poop but I know a speech therapist (no poop cleaning involved) who was given all those supplies by one of our local districts. Totally unnecessary and wasteful.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Teachers are being given vaccines.

I have a family at home who has not been vaccinated. Even my mother in her 70s can't get an appointment.

So your mother should wear the N95 when she visits your classroom. Once you have been vaccinated, you don’t need to hoard the heavy duty medical supplies. Just a regular mask will suffice.

Hoarding? I bought my KN95 masks from Amazon. Anyone can buy them. I can still pass this to my mother even after I am vaccinated. I don't have a choice about returning to school.

That is definitely not proven or even likely. It’s just not been definitively disproven.