Education Week - August 31, 2022 - 5

'Over It': Most Educators Say They
Won't Wear Masks This Fall
But teachers are
more likely than
administrators
to keep masking,
EdWeek Research
Center survey
data show
By Madeline Will
Eighty-five percent of educators no
longer plan to wear a mask on a regular
basis at school this fall-but teachers
are more likely than administrators
to keep masking.
That's according to a new, nationally
representative survey by the EdWeek
Research Center of 1,042 teachers,
principals, and district leaders. The
survey was conducted July 27 through
Aug. 8-as COVID-19 cases across the
country rose. The latest surge is driven
by the BA.5 variant of the virus, which
is highly transmissible and able to
evade previous immunity.
Even so, most school districts and
every U.S. state have dropped their
mask requirements for students and
staff, leaving the choice up to individuals.
Nearly half of educators said they
don't plan to wear a mask this fall. Another
36 percent said they would only
wear one in certain circumstances, like
if they're not feeling well. Just 12 percent
of educators plan to wear a mask
regularly without it being required.
" A lot of people are over it, " said
Dave Richards, a high school teacher
in Jefferson County, Ky.
But a breakdown of the results shows
a significant difference in the behavior
of teachers versus administrators.
Just 44 percent of teachers said outright
that they will not wear a mask,
compared to 55 percent of school leaders
and 56 percent of district leaders.
Teachers were also slightly more likely
than administrators to say they'd wear
a mask in certain circumstances, like if
they weren't feeling well.
Fifteen percent of teachers said
they will wear a mask this fall even
though it's not required, compared
to 8 percent of school leaders and
another 8 percent of district leaders.
This gap held true in rural or town
areas, where mask-wearing is often
less common than elsewhere in the
country. There, nearly half of teachers
said outright that they don't plan
to wear a mask, compared to 67 percent
of school leaders and 61 percent
of district leaders.
Some teachers feel this difference in
behavior is not surprising: " We're in
the trenches, " said Cameron Mitchell,
a 6th grade science teacher in the
Dallas-Fort Worth area of Texas.
While administrators-especially
at the district level-are often working
alone in their offices, or with other
their school building to do so.
Several teachers who continue to
mask said they were doing so because
they are pregnant or have another
medical issue that puts them at
higher risk for serious illness, have an
infant at home too young to be vaccinated,
or are protecting high-risk family
members. Some are just reluctant
to get sick, and still others say their
decisions are informed by personal
experience.
Anita Chakraborty-Spotts, a middle
and high school teacher at Peak to Peak
Charter School near Denver, wore a
mask every day last school year-yet she
believes she still contracted the virus
at school and brought it home to her
son and husband. Her husband, who
had previously been healthy, became
severely ill and had to be intubated.
He now suffers from long COVID
with lingering cognitive dysfunction,
Chakraborty-Spotts said, and he has to
do breathing treatments every six hours
and wear a heart monitor.
She will continue to wear a mask
this year to try to protect her family-
and her students and colleagues.
" I really don't want to have other
adults, teachers are in close contact
with a large group of children. Secondary
teachers, in particular, may see
more than a hundred different students
throughout the course of the day.
Masks can protect against
COVID-19, but educators are weary
"
I really don't want
to have other
families go
through what
we've been
through. I'm trying
to communicate
that we have to
be as preventative
in our measures
as we can, because
COVID is still
ongoing.
ANITA CHAKRABORTYSPOTTS
Middle
and high school teacher
Peak to Peak Charter School,
Denver
Vaccines, boosters, and anti-viral
medications have helped prevent severe
illness for most people who contract
the BA.5 variant, although each
infection comes with the potential for
long COVID-ongoing symptoms of
fatigue, " brain fog, " and other ailments
that can last for weeks or months. Scientists
are still researching the prevalence
and risk factors of the condition.
Also, the virus may continue to
upend school operations as it did in
the winter of this year, with administrators
scrambling to find substitutes
if multiple educators in a school building
are sick and must quarantine.
Public health experts say that wellfitting,
high-quality masks can protect
against the variant. The Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention
recommends universal masking in
public settings, including schools, in
areas with high community levels of
COVID-19-although it stops short of
saying that schools in those communities
should mandate universal masking.
As of Aug. 18, about 34 percent of
counties had high community levels, a
metric that factors in hospital capacity
and rates of severe illness.
Even so, many Americans are weary
of pandemic restrictions and eager to
return to normal. And masks are one
of the most visible reminders of the
pandemic.
The Jefferson County, Ky., school
system is one of only a handful of
large school districts that is requiring
universal masking at the start of this
year-a decision that has been largely
unpopular among teachers. The Jefferson
County Teachers Association
surveyed its membership and found
that 52 percent of members oppose
masking, 38 percent support masking,
and 10 percent are neutral or
have no opinion.
Richards, the high school teacher
there, noted that the school district is
the only place in the county requiring
masking, making the mandate feel
" futile " in regards to containing the
spread.
Masks also can be uncomfortable to
teach in. Teachers have said projecting
their voices so they can be heard
through the mask has given them sore
throats and voice strain. Some also say
they feel as if the masks stymie their
ability to connect with students, who
can't see their facial cues and smiles.
There are particular concerns
for the teachers of early elementary
grades and students learning
English. Masks can get in the way
of teaching reading, since students
watch teachers model the correct
tongue placement and mouth formation
when sounding out letters and
words, educators have said. Englishlanguage
learners are also watching
their teachers' mouths during pronunciation
lessons.
Most educators are vaccinated, past
surveys show, which may also contribute
to the decision to unmask.
Linda DeBerry, an elementary
school principal in Dyersburg, Tenn.,
said she's vaccinated and has had two
booster shots. She now only feels the
need to mask if there is high community
spread or if she needs to be extra
cautious-as was the case before a
scheduled surgery that required her
to have a negative COVID-19 test.
Some teachers feel safer in masks
Yet some educators say they will
continue to wear a mask, even though
they may be some of the only ones in
families go through what we've
been through, " she said. " I'm trying
to communicate that we have to be
as preventative in our measures as
we can, because COVID is still ongoing. "
Jackie
Schacht, a high school
teacher in upstate New York, said she
plans to wear a mask for at least the
first couple months of the school year
in solidarity with the few students
who are still masking.
" One of my main driving factors is
going to be their comfort and wanting
to show them that they're not alone, "
she said of her decision.
Schacht, who has children of her
own, is a member of online parenting
groups, and she's seen posts from
parents who say their children feel
peer pressure to discard their masks.
The parents wrote that it helps when
the child's teacher, at least, is wearing
a mask.
" Some of my older kids are very
comfortable with themselves, but
you can tell that some others-not so
much, they're easily influenced by the
kids around them, " Schacht said. " If
masking already doesn't bother me,
and depending on the day, I feel more
comfortable doing it, why not just do
that all the time? "
Mitchell, the middle school teacher
in Texas, said he doesn't always wear
a mask when he's at the front of the
classroom, but he puts one on when
he's walking around the room and
engaging in one-on-one conversations
with students. That extra precaution
helps him feel more comfortable
getting close to a student as he
helps them with their work.
There's also another, lighter perk of
wearing a mask: It shields him from
any unpleasant smells while teaching
middle schoolers, an age group not
exactly renown for obsessive cleanliness.
Mitchell has a bag of freshly
laundered reusable masks that he
draws from, especially after lunch or
physical education classes.
" It helps me get through the day
when I'm smelling Gain in my nostrils, "
he quipped.
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