When School Resumes in Aroostook County will Masks be Required?

For some students, teachers, and administrators this is the last full week of summer vacation. That’s right, schools that dismiss for the harvest break will be heading back to the classrooms next week and many have not made a firm decision if they will require students and staff to mask to start the year or not. 

The unofficial results

Over the weekend I took some time to talk to friends and other parents about the topic to gauge how parents feel about their children going into school again with their faces covered. In a very limited straw poll of 10 parents, 8 of them told me they do not want their kids to have to mask up for the 2021-22 school year. The two parents who were in favor of masking up, said that they prefer to see masks but if it is not a requirement, they are okay with the decision.  

This is a topic that will garner a lot of attention over the coming weeks and there will be great debate over the "science” of how the children and schools must operate. A parent who does not want to see masks as a requirement said that even though she understands the seriousness of what we have been through, she feels that anyone who wants to be vaccinated already would have started or completed that process.

Some considerations

There is an argument to be made that the masking requirement could help protect some of the older staff and those most vulnerable. A lot of the school systems employ many older teachers and support staff who have been identified as a high-risk population.

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It's your turn

Many parents are frustrated with the uncertainty of what school will look like in the 2021-22 school year. Children perform best when they have a routine and they know what that routine will look like. We are now approaching the two-year mark in which that routine has been disrupted. It's time for you to give your opinion on the topic. How do you feel about masks in school for the coming year?