Day #113 Writing Through COVID-19: THE PLAN or My School Board Is Pro-Choice

At 6 p.m. I (along 60+ others in the community, according to the numbers at the bottom of my screen) logged onto Youtube to watch our superintendent reveal the district's Return-to-Learn plan to the school board.

The superintendent identified the major factors considered in making his recommendation.

Number one, of course, was health and safety. He said this was "an important piece."

Next were concerns about the accessibility issues, low motivation, and lack of engagement we saw when we went to non-required "enrichment opportunities" for the last quarter of the school year.

The third concern was family dynamics in our community that complicate online or a hybrid model of learning. Most families would like to see us return to onsite learning.

Wouldn't we all?

So that is our plan: On August 24, our schools will reopen with on-site learning.

The superintendent acknowledged this will not look like school did last year.
------------------------

A key factor that influenced this decision is the low COVID rate in our county (24 cases total as of today). The luxury of living in a low-COVID area was mentioned at least twice during the meeting.
------------------------

I appreciated the empathy and good questioning shown by several board members tonight. When the superintendent said masks would be optional because they cannot be monitored for consistent cleaning and proper use, one member asked the worthy question: Isn't it better to have masks in place, even if not all are used properly, than to have no masks?

But then several board members spoke up in favor of allowing students and staff to choose if they want to wear a mask or not. They talked about the importance of not bullying those who make "the other choice."

For a moment I thought: HEY! MY SCHOOL BOARD IS PRO-CHOICE!
----------------------

Listening to the mask discussion tonight led me to related thoughts:

Should we ask all students to wash their hands after using the bathroom? Or is this an All-American personal choice? Cover our coughs? Refrain from picking our noses?

I will suggest that in a pandemic, mask-wearing is the least you can do to show common courtesy to others if you're going to be in public spaces.

Stop pussyfooting to accommodate the people who have politicized this issue. If we (yes you and me = we) want to tame this COVID beast, wear a mask.

Enough.
Be well.
Write.

Allison