An East Cobb woman who has four children in public schools said the Cobb County School District’s student mask mandate should be dropped after teachers get vaccinated.
Amy Henry, who has two children at Walton High School and two others in grade school, said at a Cobb Board of Education work session Thursday that “we’re putting on a show and denying our children in the process” by requiring students who attend classes in person to wear masks at all times.
“They need to have a normal childhood,” Henry said. “We’re teaching them that they’re dirty. We’re creating a fearful environment that for these kids cannot be normal.”
While several school districts in metro Atlanta make masks optional for students, Cobb is among those that requires mask-wearing for students, teachers and staff on campuses.
Henry said “there’s no data that says kids are spreading” the COVID-19 virus.
COVID-19 case rates in the Cobb school district have been steadily dropping in recent weeks, but the district does not break down those figures between students and staff.
Teachers in the Cobb school district are eligible to get vaccinated through Cobb and Douglas Public Health. Optional vaccinations took place on Wednesday and more are scheduled for next week and two dates in April.
Cobb school superintendent Chris Ragsdale initially planned to “encourage” but not require mask use at the start of the school year. But after ordering schools to start all-online, Ragsdale said masks would be required when students returned to campus in October.
They have been mandatory ever since, although efforts by Cobb school board members Charisse Davis and Jaha Howard to make them part of the student dress code were unsuccessful.
Henry was a leader of a group called “Let Parents Choose” that advocated for in-person schooling. After the all-virtual decision was made, she enrolled her younger children in private schools, and they now attend Sope Creek Elementary School.
She told East Cobb News in an August interview that she initially supported measures such as mask-wearing, “but at some point we have to ask what kind of damage we’re doing to kids in the long run.”
On Thursday, Henry told board members she still hasn’t been able to visit her kindergartener’s classroom due to COVID-19 restrictions.
This is a virus, she said, “with a 99.97 percent survival rate.” She suggested that those parents and students who have concerns over the virus can choose the virtual option.
Board members don’t respond to public commenters. Later in the work session, Ragsdale said no decision had been made about whether masks will be required for next year.
He was asked by Davis during a discussion about virtual learning options. Ragsdale said the Cobb school district will “continue to follow the guidance” of Cobb and Douglas Public Health.
“At this point in time, we’re not able to say either way,” he said.
For the spring semester, around 66 percent of the Cobb County School District’s 107,000 students chose in-person learning.
In January, after the deaths of three teachers due to COVID-19, several teachers and parents pleaded with the Cobb school district to return to all-virtual. They also scolded Ragsdale and board members David Banks and David Chastain of East Cobb for not wearing masks.
Another parent who spoke at Thursday’s work session, John Hanson, told board members that students “should have a choice to wear a mask just like everyone in this room has a choice.”
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Bravo, Ms. Henry! Masks should be optional or non-existent next school year for kids now that teachers have the choice for vaccinations.
I know that all if these comments are posted out of love for your kids. I understand. However, not all students can attend virtually and achieve academic success. Some students NEED to be in the classroom, especially some students with disabilities. No parent should be required to make his/her child learn remotely due to relaxed mask mandates. Children are very resilient and if we remain positive about wearing masks they will remain positive. We just need to be honest with our children and teach them the importance of a little sacrifice for the greater good of us all. I tell my children that wearing our masks is an act of community service because we are responsible for protecting our community. So, I encourage everyone to hang in there and remain positive because our children deserve for us all to be on the same team.
I totally agree with the mother in the article. Including all age groups, the survival rate is above 95%. Kids’ chances of dying from it are almost non-existent. The line of cases has been dropping all year, at a steep drop. I see absolutely no reason, whatsoever, to mandate masks or even make it virtual. If parents are nervous about their kids going maskless, then they could always create a digital option – which is how a lot of kids learn better, anyway. That is not something that has to be just covid-related.
She is absolutely right when she says that it’s affecting kids, many on a long-term – for some, even permanent – basis. Adults are being adversely affected, too … it’s a no-brainer that kids are, too.
First, it was two weeks to flatten the curve. Then, school was virtual for the rest of the school year. Then, they changed from virtual option to all virtual. Then, everything was going to be “normal” after the vaccine. Then, it took two doses (J&J is only one – yay). Then, we had to still wear masks and social distance even if we’ve had the vaccine. The goalposts keep moving. When is this madness going to stop?
Influenza affects kids more than covid-19; how about treating this virus like that one?
Brilliant! Sums up the total insanity of the reaction to a virus. Masks cause lung and brain issues and are UNNECESSARY! 99.997% for 0-18 aged kids. Teachers vaccinated so TIME TO GIVE KIDS BACK THEIR INNOCENT CHILDHOODS BACK!!
“Masks cause lung and brain issues”
Source?
A few things to consider:
1) As of today: Cobb County is averaging 90 new confirmed COVID cases a day, or 630 new cases a week. This week, Cobb County schools had 222 new cases (twice as many as last week) which means schools accounted for 35% of all new cases this week in the county.
2) Great WSJ video (not CNN .. not NYTimes) on classroom spread of COVID. Masks do matter: https://www.wsj.com/video/how-risky-is-the-classroom-with-covid-19-controls-in-place/A95D4102-25F0-4B26-B5BE-C85B84F9FB2C.html
3) Today, the CDC revised distancing recommendations for school children: https://www.wsj.com/articles/cdc-revises-physical-distancing-recommendation-for-schoolchildren-11616166132
How about starting with the younger kids?