Cardona Wants To Require Jabs For Teachers; Mask Mob Erupts In Tenn.
The U.S. education secretary's stance has sharpened; Miguel Cardona previously urged teachers to get covid shots voluntarily. In Tennessee, protesters threatened people at a school board meeting after it reinstated a mask mandate for some students. "You can leave freely, but we will find you," one man said.
Politico:
Cardona Calls For Mandating Covid-19 Vaccines For Educators
Education Secretary Miguel Cardona on Wednesday said he supports mandating the Covid-19 vaccine for teachers and other school staff, as districts across the country prepare to begin another school year shaped by the pandemic.“ I would favor the vaccine being required,” Cardona said during a virtual National Press Foundation event, adding that he believes some reluctant adults will change their minds once the FDA fully approves the shots. (Calefati, 8/11)
In other updates on mask and vaccine mandates in K-12 schools —
Yahoo News:
'We Will Find You': Tennessee Parents Protest School Mask Mandate; People In Masks Heckled
Angry protests erupted in Franklin, Tennessee, after a school district reinstated a mask mandate for elementary school students, with some people yelling at and heckling those wearing masks in the parking lot at a meeting about the measure. The Williamson County Board of Education approved the mandate Tuesday night in a special session. It will begin Thursday and run until at least Sept. 12, according to the district. People opposed to the mandate gathered outside the meeting, chanting, "We will not comply." (Madani, 8/11)
Louisville Courier Journal:
Kentucky Schools Could See Universal Masking Into 2022 Under Proposed Regulation
Kentucky's public schools could see required universal masking for the better part of the 2021-22 school year under a proposed regulation. The Kentucky Board of Education will consider an emergency regulation mandating masks for the state's 171 school districts during a specially called meeting Thursday, according to a meeting agenda posted online. If approved, the mandate would be good for up to 270 days — until around the start of May. The state board could end the mandate earlier, if warranted, according to the proposal. The news comes a day after Gov. Andy Beshear announced an executive order mandating masks in schools, pre-Kindergarten classes and child care settings. (Ramsey and Krauth, 8/11)
PBS NewsHour:
Tensions Over School Mask Mandates Roil This Mississippi Town
As millions of students prepare to enter the academic year, rates of COVID-19 infection are soaring due to the highly contagious delta variant, and hospitalizations and deaths are making a grim climb upward. That is especially true in parts of the United States with low vaccination rates, such as Mississippi, where 35 percent of residents are fully vaccinated. That state is close to the bottom of the list for COVID vaccinations — neighbor Alabama is currently the least vaccinated state in the nation. Public health experts have urged vaccination rates more than double those seen in much of the South to slow the virus’ spread. (Santhanam, 8/11)
Oklahoman:
Santa Fe South Schools First To Defy Oklahoma Mask Mandate Ban
Facing an excessive number of student absences and 21 teachers already under quarantine, Santa Fe South Schools Superintendent Chris Brewster is defying state law and invoking a district-wide mask mandate. The Oklahoma City charter district with nearly 3,500 students is the first of the public schools in the state to openly disregard Senate Bill 658, which prohibits school districts from requiring masks unless the governor issues an emergency declaration for their area. Gov. Kevin Stitt has said he has no plans to issue any emergency orders. (Martinez-Keel, 8/11)
AP:
School Starts In New Mexico With Many Masked, Few Vaccinated
The incoming and outgoing New Mexico education secretaries on Wednesday launched the fall semester with appearances at a high school pep rally packed with around 1,000 mask-wearing teenagers as top health officials issued another plea to residents to help limit the spread of COVID-19.Ahead of the rally, students talked and hugged. One friend jumped into another’s arms. (Attanasio and Bryan, 8/11)
Detroit Free Press:
Henry Ford Health Pediatrician Supports Masks For Schoolchildren
The interim chair of pediatrics for Henry Ford Health System is encouraging parents of children whose schools don't have mask or social-distancing requirements to speak up and encourage those mandates be put in place for the upcoming school year. "I would encourage families to make a plan as they are going back to school. ... Go to the school. Talk to the principal. Talk to the superintendent. Encourage them to have that mask and social-distancing mandate," Dr. Tisa Johnson-Hooper said during a briefing Wednesday. (Hall, 8/11)
CNN:
Does Mask Wearing Harm Children's Development? Experts Weigh In
For young children, the pandemic comes at a crucial time for developing skills important for empathy, safety and more – a phase that some parents worry will be impaired by mask-wearing. “There are sensitive periods in early childhood development in which language development and emotional development are really rapidly developing for the first few years of life,” said Ashley Ruba, a postdoctoral researcher in the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Child Emotion Lab.Being able to use others’ verbal or facial cues to figure out how someone is feeling or pick up on safe or dangerous aspects of environments and people is a critical task for young kids, Ruba added. (Rogers, 8/11)
Also —
AP:
4 Georgia Districts Stop In-Person Classes Due To COVID
Four tiny Georgia public school districts have temporarily shut down in-person instruction within days of starting school, saying high COVID-19 case counts among students and staff makes it unsafe to continue. Other districts have closed individual schools or sent hundreds of students into quarantine after exposure to people with COVID-19. (Amy, 8/11)
AP:
Doctor: S Carolina Schools Facing More Virus Cases In Fall
South Carolina schools will undoubtedly face more COVID-19 outbreaks this fall as students return to classrooms amid the delta variant’s rapid spread, a top state health official forecasted Wednesday. Districts could try to keep students and staff safe by implementing widespread masking, social distancing and other public health measures proven to keep virus spread minimal, State Epidemiologist Dr. Linda Bell told reporters. But school outbreaks are unavoidable “with the current track that we’re taking,” Bell said. (Liu, 8/11)
KHN:
Reading, ’Rithmetic And Resisting Covid: The New 3 R’s As Kids Head Back To School
When kids head back to school this fall, for some it will be the first time they’ve been in a real classroom with other students since the pandemic began. Even if they attended classes in person last year, the spread of the highly transmissible delta variant of covid-19 will require a new safety calculation, particularly for parents of kids younger than 12, who can’t yet get a vaccine. “You have a confluence of three unfortunate events,” said Dr. Paul Offit, director of the Vaccine Education Center at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. “You have a group of children who are unlikely to have a vaccine available to them when they go back to school; you have the delta variant, which is far more contagious; and you have the winter months, with a cold, dry climate where the virus can spread more easily.” (Andrews, 8/12)