It’s September, and this was supposed to be the time that schools and universities were beginning to get back to the way things were before coronavirus became part of our vocabulary.
But, as Dr. Anthony Fauci, President Biden’s chief medical adviser, warned the nation many months ago as all of us were growing impatient and yearning for a return to normalcy, “You can’t make the timeline—the virus makes the timeline.”
The virus in this case is not the original strain of Covid-19 that forced nearly every education institution to shut down in-person instruction in spring 2020. It’s the Delta variant of Covid-19.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says Delta has become the dominant Covid-19 in the United States. It’s more than twice as contagious as previous variants, and some data suggest that Delta might cause more severe illness that previous variants in people who have not received a Covid-19 vaccination.
Covid-19 vaccines have been shown to be effective against the Delta variant, but because many people have not gotten a vaccination, and because children under 12 are not authorized to receive a Covid vaccination, the CDC has revised its recommendations for indoor spaces such as schools.
As the 2021-22 school year commences, students and teachers returning to classrooms are being told to follow some of the same precautions that were in place the last 18 months. The CDC recommends layered protection strategies to combat the virus--frequent hand washing, social distancing, quarantining of persons who have come into contact with the virus, and screening testing.
And masks.
“CDC recommends universal indoor masking for all teachers, staff, students, and visitors to K-12 schools, regardless of vaccination status,” the center says.
Having to resume mask wearing after being told that vaccinations had made them no longer necessary has been a frustrating setback. Still, many school districts, heeding the CDC’s medical guidance, decided to impose mask mandates for students and staff.
But what is a health and safety issue for those advocating masks is characterized as a personal freedom issue for those skeptical about the need for masks in schools.
Governors in Texas and Florida have rejected the CDC guidance and have ordered districts not to impose mask mandates, and courts in those states have blocked, the governors, at least temporarily, from enforcing the ban.
The Associated Press reported in late August that lawsuits have been filed in at least 14 states—some seeking to overturn state bans on mask mandates, and some challenging the mask mandates imposed by states or school systems.
As the legal battles play out, school administrators should keep the health and safety of their students and staff as their top priority.
