Anonymous
03/02/2022 14:29
Subject: When should DC drop its school mask mandate?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:I finally wrote to my councilmember, the at-large councilmembers and the mayor.
I was writing in particular because I swear a Washington Post story said that parents weren't complaining about the mask mandate. I can't find that in the article about lifting the outdoor mandate anymore. I wonder if it was edited out. I will check my print edition.
Correction - it is still in the article - "The city has not received widespread parent complaints about the indoor mandate"
Maybe the activity on this board is not actually representative of the DCPS parent community as a whole. I personally have advocated to the mayor to keep the indoor mask mandate for schools for now.
Then you are part of the problem.
Go to CDC.gov and read the current recommendations. The mask mandate in schools should be lifted immediately -- indoors and out. That is the public health guidance. Follow it or homeschool. I'm so tired of ignorant anxious parents thinking their fears should govern policy making.
NP. Your rhetoric isn’t helping your cause. You and other posters on here who are being so derogatory to everyone who doesn’t 100% agree with you makes you seem unhinged. I know civil discourse is unlikely on DCUM but when has bullying and name-calling ever been a successful way to persuade people to see your side!
bullying lol
Anonymous
03/02/2022 14:20
Subject: When should DC drop its school mask mandate?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:I finally wrote to my councilmember, the at-large councilmembers and the mayor.
I was writing in particular because I swear a Washington Post story said that parents weren't complaining about the mask mandate. I can't find that in the article about lifting the outdoor mandate anymore. I wonder if it was edited out. I will check my print edition.
Correction - it is still in the article - "The city has not received widespread parent complaints about the indoor mandate"
Maybe the activity on this board is not actually representative of the DCPS parent community as a whole. I personally have advocated to the mayor to keep the indoor mask mandate for schools for now.
Then you are part of the problem.
Go to CDC.gov and read the current recommendations. The mask mandate in schools should be lifted immediately -- indoors and out. That is the public health guidance. Follow it or homeschool. I'm so tired of ignorant anxious parents thinking their fears should govern policy making.
NP. Your rhetoric isn’t helping your cause. You and other posters on here who are being so derogatory to everyone who doesn’t 100% agree with you makes you seem unhinged. I know civil discourse is unlikely on DCUM but when has bullying and name-calling ever been a successful way to persuade people to see your side!
Anonymous
03/02/2022 13:10
Subject: Re:When should DC drop its school mask mandate?
Also, just like we are now just beginning to assess the sheer scale of learning loss from school closures (thanks, teachers unions!) people are now finally willing to discuss the harms of masking for many kids:
https://www.theatlantic.com/family/archive/2022/03/how-masks-get-way-speech-therapy-kids/623332/
https://www.theatlantic.com/family/archive/2022/03/how-masks-get-way-speech-therapy-kids/623332/
Anonymous
03/02/2022 13:01
Subject: When should DC drop its school mask mandate?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:I finally wrote to my councilmember, the at-large councilmembers and the mayor.
I was writing in particular because I swear a Washington Post story said that parents weren't complaining about the mask mandate. I can't find that in the article about lifting the outdoor mandate anymore. I wonder if it was edited out. I will check my print edition.
Correction - it is still in the article - "The city has not received widespread parent complaints about the indoor mandate"
Maybe the activity on this board is not actually representative of the DCPS parent community as a whole. I personally have advocated to the mayor to keep the indoor mask mandate for schools for now.
Then you are part of the problem.
Go to CDC.gov and read the current recommendations. The mask mandate in schools should be lifted immediately -- indoors and out. That is the public health guidance. Follow it or homeschool. I'm so tired of ignorant anxious parents thinking their fears should govern policy making.
Anonymous
03/02/2022 13:00
Subject: When should DC drop its school mask mandate?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:What's the best way to share our views on the school mask policy with Mayor Bowser? Does anyone have the best contact information?
From page 18 of this thread:
Chair: Phil Mendelson pmendelson@dccouncil.us
Mendelson's staff: ecash@dccouncil.us, csetlow@dccouncil.us
At-large: Anita Bonds abonds@dccouncil.us
Staff: ikang@dccouncil.us, dmeadows@dccouncil.us
At-large: Elissa Silverman esilverman@dccouncil.us
Staff: srosenamy@dccouncil.us, wsinger@dccouncil.us
At-large: Robert White rwhite@dccouncil.us
Staff: afowlkes@dccouncil.us, kwhitehouse@dccouncil.us
At-large: Christina Henderson chenderson@dccouncil.us
Staff: mshaffer@dccouncil.us, tmaloney@dccouncil.us
Ward 1: Brianne Nadeau bnadeau@dccouncil.us
Staff: tjackson@dccouncil.us, amansoor@dccouncil.us
Ward 2: Brooke Pinto bpinto@dccouncil.us
Staff: ghulick@dccouncil.us, bweise@dccouncil.us
Ward3: Mary Cheh mcheh@dccouncil.us
Staff: jwilingham@dccouncil.us, mporcello@dccouncil.us
Ward 4: Janeese Lewis George jlewisgeorge@dccouncil.us
Staff: ledwards@dccouncil.us, jblotner@dccouncil.us
Ward 5: Kenyan McDuffie kmcduffie@dccouncil.us
Staff: mflowers@dccouncil.us, shgrant@dccouncil.us
Ward 6: Charles Allen callen@dccouncil.us
Staff: lmarks@dccouncil.us, claskowski@dccouncil.us
Ward 7: Vince Gray vgray@dccouncil.us
Staff: sbunn@dccouncil.us, tnorflis@dccouncil.us
Ward 8: Trayon White twhite@dccouncil.us
Staff: wlockridge@dccouncil.us, tgjackson@dccouncil.us
laquandra.nesbitt [AT] dc.gov
Paul.Kihn [AT] dc.gov
carlie.fisherow [AT] dc.gov
lewis.ferebee [AT] k12.dc.gov
eom [AT] dc.gov
Thanks. I just wrote as well. FYI the following emails got bounced back for anyone else writing:
Couldn't deliver to the following recipients:
lmarks@dccouncil.us, mflowers@dccouncil.us, tmaloney@dccouncil.us, jwilingham@dccouncil.us, csetlow@dccouncil.us
Anonymous
03/02/2022 12:03
Subject: When should DC drop its school mask mandate?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:I finally wrote to my councilmember, the at-large councilmembers and the mayor.
I was writing in particular because I swear a Washington Post story said that parents weren't complaining about the mask mandate. I can't find that in the article about lifting the outdoor mandate anymore. I wonder if it was edited out. I will check my print edition.
Correction - it is still in the article - "The city has not received widespread parent complaints about the indoor mandate"
Maybe the activity on this board is not actually representative of the DCPS parent community as a whole. I personally have advocated to the mayor to keep the indoor mask mandate for schools for now.
The percentage of DCPS families who will advocate one way or the other is minuscule. Most people do not have the bandwidth to post here OR write to the mayor. It's silly to look at either population as "representative" of anything except privileged people with the time and energy to do these things. Most people are just trying to get through the day.
The city should make decisions based on what is best for the people in schools (kids, teachers, and other staff). The science indicates that masking is not doing much to keep those people safe, and that it may be impairing certain populations (very young kids, certain kids with learning and social disorders). I'd support a public hearing with experts to weight in on this. I know Elissa Silverman suggested that the Council meets with Osse to discussing masking, but I think any hearings should be public and that families and teachers should get to hear what factors are going into the decision.
Anonymous
03/02/2022 11:56
Subject: When should DC drop its school mask mandate?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:I finally wrote to my councilmember, the at-large councilmembers and the mayor.
I was writing in particular because I swear a Washington Post story said that parents weren't complaining about the mask mandate. I can't find that in the article about lifting the outdoor mandate anymore. I wonder if it was edited out. I will check my print edition.
Correction - it is still in the article - "The city has not received widespread parent complaints about the indoor mandate"
Maybe the activity on this board is not actually representative of the DCPS parent community as a whole. I personally have advocated to the mayor to keep the indoor mask mandate for schools for now.
Anonymous
03/02/2022 10:55
Subject: When should DC drop its school mask mandate?
Anonymous wrote:I finally wrote to my councilmember, the at-large councilmembers and the mayor.
I was writing in particular because I swear a Washington Post story said that parents weren't complaining about the mask mandate. I can't find that in the article about lifting the outdoor mandate anymore. I wonder if it was edited out. I will check my print edition.
Correction - it is still in the article - "The city has not received widespread parent complaints about the indoor mandate"
Anonymous
03/02/2022 10:34
Subject: When should DC drop its school mask mandate?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:
And you were all absolutely terrible to us. I'm not joining any coalition with you, even if I agree
DP, but if if your own personal calculation is that you find masks irritating/not useful to yourself, you should absolutely speak up for yourself. That's not a request to do something for anyone else.
She could also view it as advocacy for the kids, because that's what it's really about. Refusing to advocate for kids because you want to stick it to the parents is pretty petty. Then again, teachers thought that the school closures mainly hurt the parents, so maybe they think the same way about the masks.
Exactly, advocate for the kids! I personally was very supportive and quite sympathetic to the teachers. Science and facts evolved and we need to be able to adapt and use critical thinking to implement new guidelines.
So it's okay for teachers to advocate, when its in alignment with your interests.
Again, teacher here who is indifferent to masking. Just pointing out the absolute hypocrisy of this site.
No, it’s OK for teachers to advocate when it is in alignment with kids’ interests. There is no hypocrisy.
Anonymous
03/02/2022 10:33
Subject: When should DC drop its school mask mandate?
I finally wrote to my councilmember, the at-large councilmembers and the mayor.
I was writing in particular because I swear a Washington Post story said that parents weren't complaining about the mask mandate. I can't find that in the article about lifting the outdoor mandate anymore. I wonder if it was edited out. I will check my print edition.
I was writing in particular because I swear a Washington Post story said that parents weren't complaining about the mask mandate. I can't find that in the article about lifting the outdoor mandate anymore. I wonder if it was edited out. I will check my print edition.
Anonymous
03/02/2022 10:31
Subject: When should DC drop its school mask mandate?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:
And you were all absolutely terrible to us. I'm not joining any coalition with you, even if I agree
DP, but if if your own personal calculation is that you find masks irritating/not useful to yourself, you should absolutely speak up for yourself. That's not a request to do something for anyone else.
She could also view it as advocacy for the kids, because that's what it's really about. Refusing to advocate for kids because you want to stick it to the parents is pretty petty. Then again, teachers thought that the school closures mainly hurt the parents, so maybe they think the same way about the masks.
Exactly, advocate for the kids! I personally was very supportive and quite sympathetic to the teachers. Science and facts evolved and we need to be able to adapt and use critical thinking to implement new guidelines.
So it's okay for teachers to advocate, when its in alignment with your interests.
Again, teacher here who is indifferent to masking. Just pointing out the absolute hypocrisy of this site.
Anonymous
03/02/2022 10:17
Subject: Re:When should DC drop its school mask mandate?
Anonymous wrote:We need leadership on this issue. Punting by saying "parents aren't asking for it" is the cowards way out. Some parents won't advocate for it because they don't have the time. Some won't advocate because they don't know what the safe thing to do is and just want to be told what to do. And some won't advocate for fear of social consequences of being seen as "anti-mask". You can criticize people in all of these categories all you want, but the truth is that they cover probably most DCPS families.
What is the point of having a Department of Health, a Chancellor, and a Mayor making these decisions if they can't look at the science, look at our Covid numbers, and make a decision that makes sense, and then explain it to people so they understand? IT'S THEIR JOB.
This isn't to say I don't think people should advocate by writing to the Mayor and the Council -- we should and are. It's just ridiculous for the Mayor to say she's going to avoid making a public health policy decision because parents aren't complaining about it enough. FFS.
Amen. But given that we have such weak leadership in this, please let's make our voices heard.
Anonymous
03/02/2022 10:09
Subject: Re:When should DC drop its school mask mandate?
We need leadership on this issue. Punting by saying "parents aren't asking for it" is the cowards way out. Some parents won't advocate for it because they don't have the time. Some won't advocate because they don't know what the safe thing to do is and just want to be told what to do. And some won't advocate for fear of social consequences of being seen as "anti-mask". You can criticize people in all of these categories all you want, but the truth is that they cover probably most DCPS families.
What is the point of having a Department of Health, a Chancellor, and a Mayor making these decisions if they can't look at the science, look at our Covid numbers, and make a decision that makes sense, and then explain it to people so they understand? IT'S THEIR JOB.
This isn't to say I don't think people should advocate by writing to the Mayor and the Council -- we should and are. It's just ridiculous for the Mayor to say she's going to avoid making a public health policy decision because parents aren't complaining about it enough. FFS.
What is the point of having a Department of Health, a Chancellor, and a Mayor making these decisions if they can't look at the science, look at our Covid numbers, and make a decision that makes sense, and then explain it to people so they understand? IT'S THEIR JOB.
This isn't to say I don't think people should advocate by writing to the Mayor and the Council -- we should and are. It's just ridiculous for the Mayor to say she's going to avoid making a public health policy decision because parents aren't complaining about it enough. FFS.
Anonymous
03/02/2022 10:04
Subject: When should DC drop its school mask mandate?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:There is no confirmation bias in your social groups.
Screaming into the ether always accomplishes something
Just like the truckers. You will be successful in your advocacy.
The sad thing is we shouldn’t have to advocate to get our leaders to follow the science and guidance that we’ve been screaming for for two years. Why should that take advocacy when it’s common sense?
Exactly this. We should be able to expect DC to follow CDC guidance like the entire rest of the country.
Since that's sadly not the case so far, I just wrote some emails for the first time. I hope many other parents will do the same. I cannot believe they are using the absence of widespread advocacy as an excuse not to follow the CDC.
Anonymous
03/02/2022 10:03
Subject: When should DC drop its school mask mandate?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:
And you were all absolutely terrible to us. I'm not joining any coalition with you, even if I agree
DP, but if if your own personal calculation is that you find masks irritating/not useful to yourself, you should absolutely speak up for yourself. That's not a request to do something for anyone else.
She could also view it as advocacy for the kids, because that's what it's really about. Refusing to advocate for kids because you want to stick it to the parents is pretty petty. Then again, teachers thought that the school closures mainly hurt the parents, so maybe they think the same way about the masks.
Exactly, advocate for the kids! I personally was very supportive and quite sympathetic to the teachers. Science and facts evolved and we need to be able to adapt and use critical thinking to implement new guidelines.