"Parent-informed masking" is coming to ASD — whatever the hell that is

Anchorage School District Superintendent and Dunleavy cohort Dr. Deena Bishop sent a letter this afternoon to the families of students writing that she was confident that ASD would be able to transition to "parent-informed masking" when students and ASD staff return to school on January 3.

Dr. Bishop, seemingly eager to get off the mask bandwagon even though the school's mandated mask policy likely prevented widespread transmission of the virus in schools, partly cited the availability of the COVID vaccine as the basis for her willingness to trust anti-science, anti-mask and anti-vaccine parents to make the decision whether their children should wear a mask in a public school.

In a likely unwise move earlier this year, the Anchorage School Board handed over control and authority of the district's COVID mitigation strategies to Dr. Bishop. School Board member Carl Jacobs, through an amendment to an amendment, attempted to allow for the modification of COVID mitigation measures when the best available science and local state and medical health experts determined it was appropriate to do so, but his amendment failed with only Jacobs and Higgins voting in favor of the amendment.

Ah well, it's not like we have a new variant of the coronavirus (Omicron) looming on the horizon or anything — although interestingly, a non peered reviewed study just released by Columbia University says the Omicron variant is “markedly resistant” to vaccines.

You can read Dr. Bishop's letter below, and may the odds ever be in your favor.

Family Letter:

Dear ASD Families,

Congratulations on making it to the last day of the semester! I’d like to begin this COVID-19 message by saying how very proud I am of our students finishing strong.

A semester of full-day in-person learning has come to a close without a school closure or widespread COVID-19 outbreak in ASD. We have kept moving forward to make student learning goals paramount, as well as activities have been ongoing, sports are in full swing, and concerts rang through the halls.

Transmission numbers in Anchorage are trending down and the Municipality of Anchorage’s (MOA) emergency order has been lifted. Our own COVID-19 testing now shows a downward trend and cases in schools have remained low as well.

I have shared that our team will re-evaluate the mitigation plan once certain factors changed. I do understand that the new variant may have left us with unanswered questions. Nevertheless, we have done quite a bit to be prepared for life with COVID.

For example, the COVID-19 vaccine has been readily available to all school-aged children for several months now, and the booster is available for those 16 and older. As you are aware, ASD played an active role in making vaccines available to all school aged students, hosting large-scale vaccine clinics throughout the month of November, during which more than 3,000 vaccines were administered.

Therefore, I am confident that ASD is able to transition to parent-informed masking when we return to school on January 3. It means parents will consider the risk levels in their family and decide for themselves if they want their child attending school wearing a mask.

You may recall during summer school when masking was not required, about 40 percent of staff and students in buildings continued masking. Strong layers of mitigation will remain in place in our schools, including quick response testing in schools, frequent hand washing, social distancing when possible, and additional sanitation. Students who ride the bus will still be required to follow federal mandates for public transportation.

If risk levels in the community change, we will reassess and may return to required masking. I will continue to keep you informed via this direct communication.

Please enjoy your well-earned break with family and friends, and I look forward to seeing you in 2022.

Cheers,

Deena Bishop, Ed.D.
Superintendent