School reopening, mask wearing and vaccine mandates
Students are returning to school in the middle of yet a fourth wave of the Covid pandemic that is far more infectious than the earlier variants of the Covid virus.
Some Governors like DeSantis and Abbot are barring school districts from requiring masks. Other Governors like Newsom are requiring teachers to get vaccinated, and local school boards like Los Angeles are requiring mask wearing on school campus.
The new Delta variant spreads very fast and is more likely than the earlier versions of the virus to infect children so badly that they are being hospitalized. Children are being hospitalized with the virus in increasing numbers in those states with low vaccination rates. https://www.forbes.com/sites/jemimamcevoy/2021/07/29/hospitals-in-southern-us-reporting-record-numbers-of-children-hospitalized-amid-delta-surge-though-deaths-still-extremely-rare/?sh=15e03ec95f1e In person schools are prime spots where the virus can be spread either by infected teachers, students or school staff. Students have already lost about a year and a half of vital schooling in their classrooms. Some have prospered in online schooling, but many have not.
Twelve states require masking on campuses. Eight states prohibit their school boards from requiring mask wearing. The rest leave the decision to local school boards themselves. https://www.usatoday.com/in-depth/news/education/2021/08/13/school-mask-mandates-states-banned-mandates/8094422002/
School districts in Florida and Texas are challenging their Governor’s decisions to bar masks on public school campuses. https://www.axios.com/school-mask-mandate-desantis-abbott-6751aff0-0dbe-4ef7-a57e-5feac0fa2024.html The trial and lower appellate courts in Texas have so far sided with the local school districts who have challenged Governor Abbot’s orders. https://www.ksat.com/news/local/2021/08/13/appeals-court-sides-against-gov-abbott-upholds-bexar-county-mask-mandate-in-schools/
Los Angeles and Chicago require teachers and school staff to be vaccinated or get tested. https://chicago.suntimes.com/education/2021/8/13/22623445/chicago-public-schools-teachers-vaccinated-mandate-covid-vaccine-coronavirus There are exemptions for religious and medical reasons. Teachers’ unions in California and nationally are increasingly supporting the requirements to get vaccinated or regularly tested. https://www.politico.com/news/2021/08/12/teachers-union-aft-punts-on-vaccine-mandates-504164
The best advice for now while the Delta variant is so widespread and infections is for children and teachers to wear the masks in school, and if your child is eligible, get vaccinated unless it’s medically contraindicated. Make sure all family members are vaccinated and support your local school districts when and if they are being attacked over masking and vaccination orders.
Prepared by: Lucien Wulsin
dated: 8/14/21