Unmasking the school debate

A banner hangs on the side of a semi trailer parked on the northeast corner of 30th and Broadway in Quincy, imploring school boards to “Unmask Our Children.” Yard signs conveying the same message can be found scattered around town and elsewhere in Adams County.

I have read stories and listened to podcasts on the subject in local media in recent weeks. I have watched as public turnout for local school board meetings has increased to levels generally reserved for firing a coach or fighting a tax hike, with decorum often optional.

It begs a couple of questions:

Why has wearing a mask become such a social and political flashpoint?

Is wearing a mask the biggest impediment to a child’s ability to learn?

The Washington Post on Monday published a story on covid-19 guidance for schools reopening this fall from the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), the nation’s leading association of pediatricians.

The organization recommends that everyone over the age of 2 wear masks, even if they are vaccinated against the virus. It calls for in-person learning to fully resume and said universal masking should be part of a “layered approach to make school safe for all students, teachers and staff.”

The Post story said the organization’s updated guidelines come at a time of heightened uncertainty about the pandemic in the United States, and they have added to the ongoing debate over best practices for combating the coronavirus, which is spreading at its fastest rate in more than two months.

“We need to prioritize getting children back into schools alongside their friends and their teachers — and we all play a role in making sure it happens safely,” Sonja O’Leary, chair of the AAP Council on School Health, said in a statement published by the Post. “Combining layers of protection that include vaccinations, masking and clean hands hygiene will make in-person learning safe and possible for everyone.”

The Post reported the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention earlier this month relaxed its guidance, saying vaccinated teachers and students do not need to wear masks while in school buildings. However, the agency added that unvaccinated students and staff should still wear masks and that school districts should look to local virus trends to determine whether to ease or strengthen their measures.

Francis S. Collins, director of the National Institutes of Health, said he trusts the AAP and the group’s recommendations are reasonable, the Post reported.

“They will not be popular amongst parents and kids who are sick of masks, but you know what? The virus doesn’t care that we’re sick of masks,” Collins said Monday in an interview with MSNBC. “The virus is having another version of its wonderful party for itself. And to the degree that we can squash that by doing something that maybe is a little uncomfortable, a little inconvenient … if it looks like it’s going to help, put the mask back on for a while.”

Most local school boards are choosing the “mask optional” or “masks are highly recommended” approach for the beginning of the school year, leaving it up to parents and their children to decide whether to wear one. The primary exceptions are on school buses and in large in-school gatherings like assemblies, where masks will be mandatory.

That could all change, however, if covid-19 cases continue to rise. The Post reported the highly contagious delta variant has taken hold, causing the seven-day average of new coronavirus infections to soar by nearly 70 percent in just one week. The virus already has killed at least 609,000 people in the U.S. and more than 4 million worldwide.

The Post also is reporting unvaccinated people being hit hardest where the more contagious, more powerful delta variant is dominating, including in neighboring Missouri, which has one of the lowest vaccinations rates and highest infection rates in the country.

(Kaiser Health News describes just how Missouri got into this mess in this report released Wednesday.)

And in Adams County, which operated a model vaccination site in terms of accessibility and efficiency during the winter and spring in the Oakley-Lindsay Center, only 41 percent of residents have received the free vaccine, according to the Adams County Health Department.

In response, many local doctors are pleading with unvaccinated patients to get the vaccine because of the rising number of cases and hospitalizations, sounding an alarm to the potential threat of new variants.

The Post noted because children under 12 are still ineligible for coronavirus vaccines, student populations are likely to be far less vaccinated than their greater communities — a major factor in the AAP guidelines. As of Monday, just 36 percent of Americans ages 12 to 17 had received at least one dose of a vaccine, according to data analyzed by The Post.

I spent last school year in an elementary classroom as a paraeducator. Students and staff were required to wear masks except when eating or outside.

Was wearing a mask uncomfortable at times? Sure. Did it stop teachers from teaching and students from learning? No. Did kids complain? Rarely. They were too happy being back in school with their friends after a five-month absence.

It seemed like a minor inconvenience to help ensure that everyone remained healthy and in-person learning – critical for both educational and social development – continued. And that, it seems, should remain a priority.

Not once did I feel like my individual rights or personal freedoms were being trampled on, as some like to suggest – usually loudly, without credible facts to substantiate their claims. Maybe that’s because I’m older and was taught at a young age that “rights come with responsibilities.”

Of course, that was long before talk radio, cable TV and social media, where outrage often rules the day.

PTAs no doubt would have appreciated receiving the money spent on political banners and signs to assist with projects that provide additional resources for students. And most classroom teachers surely would welcome parents devoting that kind of time and energy to help create and support positive learning environments.

But this unmasking debate isn’t really about enhancing our children’s education and keeping them safe, is it?