Masks should be optional for those want or need to wear them. These cloth masks don't prevent the spread of anything and even the KN95 masks aren't 100%. (you have to have real one - see the City of New Orleans handing out counterfeit N95 masks, proper fit, etc.) My family is vaccinated and have been wearing masks and we all still got COVID. If you have a medical need or desire to wear the mask, then please do so. For the rest of us, let the mask go.

Anonymous wrote:In HS, they could send the unmasked kids to a separate room and have them live stream the class that their masked classmates are getting.

I rather they send them to a separate room and have them stare at the walls. You want to risk college, go for it.

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Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:I am a teacher and it will be impossible to enforce. Kids will stop wearing them.

I am a teacher and you will be surprised how well peer pressure works. If everyone else is wearing a mask, all my kids wear masks. Even the belligerent ones whose mom and dad have told them masks are useless still wear their masks in class. They tell me what mom and dad have said to them, but the mask stays on.

That might be at your school but it’s not the case at other schools. Since the executive order has been issued, more and more kids will not be wearing their masks and teachers are going to have to choose between teaching content and making their goals and being law-enforcement.

I doubt that this will be the case. The EO is meaningless. FCPS statement is clear. Nothing has changed. Kids who come to school unmasked will be promptly provided with a mask. Those who refuse will be sent to the clinic to wait for a parent to come and take them home. I don’t think there will be any issues.

+1

At this point, people can get masks that protect themselves. Originally, the cloth mask/help each other concept worked because we were short masks That protected people. We should offer real masks for those who want it and for those that dont, don’t need to. With haphazard cloth masks being no longer recommended and vaccines available as well as actual protective masks, people should now accept responsibility for their own safety wrt Covid. The genie is never going back in the bottle. Take care of yourself and stop asking kids to.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:Regardless of mask or no mask, I think the bigger issue is that the Governor through his EO has basically given permission for families and students to say, “I don’t have to listen to you. I don’t have to follow your rules”. Teachers think student behaviors are difficult now? Just wait.

Yes, I don’t give a flip about masks or no masks, this is just another example of how teaching has become harder because of family attitudes towards education. I told my husband tonight that if I feel this sense of dread as a teacher, my kids teachers probably feel the same way. I am kicking myself for not convincing him earlier to enroll our kids in private next year. This is the beginning of a really crappy decade for public education in Fairfax County. All manufactured by public attitudes towards teachers.

This is a VA issue. Privates are dealing with this too. Go over to DCUM Privates and read for yourself.

Private school teachers feel like crap because parents hate them? My youngest kid goes to a private school. They sent out a message saying that masks would continue to be required. And they can do that because Youngkin didnt mess w privates.

That's not 100% accurate. I personally think his EO is bubkiss and applies to no one. But to the extent it applies to public it may also apply to private schools. A court will have to flush that out.

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Anonymous wrote:^^^^ There are plenty of parents (like me) who have vaccinated and boosted kids that would prefer no mask mandate.

Well, the CDC disagrees. But I think we should do an FCPS survey and see what the numbers really are. As someone who has already had a kid who is vaccinated (not yet eligible to be boosted) have to stay at home as a close contact (masked if you're in 3 ft for more than 15 min you have to go home, unmasked--e.g. lunch or exemptions--it's 6 ft.), not really wanting to more than likely double the case of having to do that again.

The CDC also thinks that we should be canceling basketball, choir, and theatre in our area of high transmission. But we are choosing to not do that. Clearly, FCPS can pick and choose which CDC guidelines to follow. Personally, I feel that we should eliminate the mask mandate and eliminate the close contact quarantine requirements. Both are unnecessary given our highly vaccinated community.

Anonymous wrote:^^^^ There are plenty of parents (like me) who have vaccinated and boosted kids that would prefer no mask mandate.

Well, the CDC disagrees. But I think we should do an FCPS survey and see what the numbers really are. As someone who has already had a kid who is vaccinated (not yet eligible to be boosted) have to stay at home as a close contact (masked if you're in 3 ft for more than 15 min you have to go home, unmasked--e.g. lunch or exemptions--it's 6 ft.), not really wanting to more than likely double the case of having to do that again.

^^^^ There are plenty of parents (like me) who have vaccinated and boosted kids that would prefer no mask mandate.

I'm ready to get rid of the masks. We've been so careful for months upon months, only to get covid last month. My kid masked everywhere too.

Get vaccinated, get covid (or do both) but let's get rid of the masks. Causing more harm than good.

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Anonymous wrote:The CDC recommends many things that FCPS chooses not to follow. Why are we stuck on only the masking recommendation?

Such as? Just curious.

- 3 feet of distancing
- screening testing
- cohorting
- 6 feet of distance between staff and students
- canceling band, choir, plays/musicals, and other activities that involve singing or shouting
- canceling high-risk indoor sports such as basketball and wrestling

Oh, I thought you meant in other categories of things, not just covid crap. I’m sick of covid. We certainly aren’t doing any of those silly recs, thank god. They need to update their guidance to reflect how mild omicron is.

I hope that they update the guidance soon. The hysteria is wearing me down. I teach high school, and I think that if they did away with the mask mandate, the students would still be showing up in masks for the next month or so. Look at Walmart and Wegmans, for goodness sake. No masks required, but almost everyone is still wearing one. People should realize that doing away with the mask mandate in schools does not mean that you are forbidden to wear one.

Masks protect other people more than the wearer. The selfish ones get to spread their germs more freely to the ones with common curtsey

Not an issue anymore. Vaccines work. If FCPS allows students to not get the vaccine, then they should allow students to not wear masks.

Other than the under 5 year olds, its pretty much the same students.

^^^ Why don't you target your rage toward the parents not vaccinating their kids or themselves. It would certainly help more. Follow the science.

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The CDC recommends many things that FCPS chooses not to follow. Why are we stuck on only the masking recommendation?

Such as? Just curious.

- 3 feet of distancing
- screening testing
- cohorting
- 6 feet of distance between staff and students
- canceling band, choir, plays/musicals, and other activities that involve singing or shouting
- canceling high-risk indoor sports such as basketball and wrestling

Oh, I thought you meant in other categories of things, not just covid crap. I’m sick of covid. We certainly aren’t doing any of those silly recs, thank god. They need to update their guidance to reflect how mild omicron is.

I hope that they update the guidance soon. The hysteria is wearing me down. I teach high school, and I think that if they did away with the mask mandate, the students would still be showing up in masks for the next month or so. Look at Walmart and Wegmans, for goodness sake. No masks required, but almost everyone is still wearing one. People should realize that doing away with the mask mandate in schools does not mean that you are forbidden to wear one.

Masks protect other people more than the wearer. The selfish ones get to spread their germs more freely to the ones with common curtsey

Not an issue anymore. Vaccines work. If FCPS allows students to not get the vaccine, then they should allow students to not wear masks.

Vaccines aren’t available for everyone. Including everyone under age 5, people who are undergoing certain treatments, people with immunocompromising conditions, etc. These populations would be better protected if everyone wore masks indoors in public. Is that really so hard to do during an absolutely raging pandemic? If you were one of the people relying on others to wear masks, that it could literally be a life or death situation for you, you wouldn’t be so flippant about it. god people are so selfish

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The CDC recommends many things that FCPS chooses not to follow. Why are we stuck on only the masking recommendation?

Such as? Just curious.

- 3 feet of distancing
- screening testing
- cohorting
- 6 feet of distance between staff and students
- canceling band, choir, plays/musicals, and other activities that involve singing or shouting
- canceling high-risk indoor sports such as basketball and wrestling

Oh, I thought you meant in other categories of things, not just covid crap. I’m sick of covid. We certainly aren’t doing any of those silly recs, thank god. They need to update their guidance to reflect how mild omicron is.

I hope that they update the guidance soon. The hysteria is wearing me down. I teach high school, and I think that if they did away with the mask mandate, the students would still be showing up in masks for the next month or so. Look at Walmart and Wegmans, for goodness sake. No masks required, but almost everyone is still wearing one. People should realize that doing away with the mask mandate in schools does not mean that you are forbidden to wear one.

Masks protect other people more than the wearer. The selfish ones get to spread their germs more freely to the ones with common curtsey

Not an issue anymore. Vaccines work. If FCPS allows students to not get the vaccine, then they should allow students to not wear masks.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The CDC recommends many things that FCPS chooses not to follow. Why are we stuck on only the masking recommendation?

Such as? Just curious.

- 3 feet of distancing
- screening testing
- cohorting
- 6 feet of distance between staff and students
- canceling band, choir, plays/musicals, and other activities that involve singing or shouting
- canceling high-risk indoor sports such as basketball and wrestling

Oh, I thought you meant in other categories of things, not just covid crap. I’m sick of covid. We certainly aren’t doing any of those silly recs, thank god. They need to update their guidance to reflect how mild omicron is.

I hope that they update the guidance soon. The hysteria is wearing me down. I teach high school, and I think that if they did away with the mask mandate, the students would still be showing up in masks for the next month or so. Look at Walmart and Wegmans, for goodness sake. No masks required, but almost everyone is still wearing one. People should realize that doing away with the mask mandate in schools does not mean that you are forbidden to wear one.

Masks protect other people more than the wearer. The selfish ones get to spread their germs more freely to the ones with common curtsey

…is an asshole.