You know it's August in a Pandemic when A Note from Ms. Brandee starts arriving in your inbox multiple times per week!
I'll apologize in advance for all the summer reading, but it's important to me that I'm both gathering and sharing the information that we need for the school year to be a success.
On that note, I have a mask update.
First, let's make sure we are all on the same page with the vocab.
If a school or business has a universal masking policy, itmeans that everyone (students, staff, visitors, the Amazon delivery person...) is required to wear a mask indoors regardless of vaccination status for the duration that the policy is in place. The policy can be adjusted as the community spread level changes. Some RI Schools have gone with this policy: Barrington and Providence to name a few.
Due to the flexibility allowed by the Governor, some schools are passing masking recommendation policies as opposed to universal masking policies. In a masking recommendation, everyone, K-12, staff and students (even the littles), vaccinated or unvaccinated, can make their own choice about masks. Some RI schools have gone with this policy: Chariho and East Providence, to name a few.
Last night the Compass policy committee met to hear live public testimony, review the written feedback that was submitted, and to take a committee vote on universal indoor masking to send to the Compass Council.
Here are the stats from the policy committee meeting:
There were about 25ish people present at the policy committee meeting (a record for any Compass policy meeting during my 7 year tenure here!)
3 people offered live testimony prior to the committee discussion/vote. 100% of those who spokewere in support of universal masking.
28 people submitted written testimony prior to the meeting.
Click here to read the written testimony (the authors' names have been removed). I appreciated the thoughtful considerations shared from multiple perspectives. I would encourage folks to read through the responses from our community to continue to grow your own viewpoint.
Of the written submissions, they shook out as follows:
Pro Universal Masking: 68%
Pro Family-Choice Masking: 32%
After reviewing the testimony and having discussion, the Compass policy committee voted 5-0 in support of a universal masking policy at Compass.
Of note, I am not a voting member on any Compass committee or Council. I help inform the discussion, but I do not vote on the decision.
While I find all the data above to be interesting, I find the details below even more compelling. It is telling of what kind of community we are and strive to be.
You all totally lived up to our social responsibility missionin these stats:
% of audience members who used escalated voices: 0%
% of people escorted from the meeting by police: 0% (for real, this is happening in RI; it happened in Cranston last night)
% of people who engaged in thoughtful, professional, socially responsible discussion (written or verbal) even when they disagreed: 100%
Not every RI school can claim those statistics!
Here's how you can participate in the final stage of the process:
While differences of opinion are sometimes uncomfortable, they inspire people to participate in policy and discussion. I love that! Here's how you can get involved:
Come to next Tuesday's Council meeting!
You can prepare a public comment to be shared before or after the committee member's deliberation.
Speaking opportunities will be timed (2-minutes per person).
Note: it is preferred that you sign up in advance so that I know how many chairs to bring outside. Or, you can just show up, but you might have to go hunting inside for a chair!
Submit comment via a form!
Since some of you won't be able to get to the meetings listed above because you're lounging on a deserted island... you may choose to participate by submitting your input from a distance via this form.
Note that your input will become part of the public record as it will be entered into the minutes of this meeting on the Secretary of State website.
You may share your ideas with your name attached or anonymously.
What's Next?
Some things to keep in mind as we move forward:
While the policy committee's 5-0 vote suggests that Compass willlikely have a universal making policy, the decision is not final until the Council votes next Tuesday at 6pm.
Even if Compass has universal masking next year, there aremany steps we've taken to improve the student experience, while still coloring in the lines of the updated RIDE/RIDOH/CDC 2021-22 guidelines.
no masks outside!
mixing of groups outside!
more mixing of middle school groups inside so that students are not socially isolated from their friends or inhibited academically!
re-opening of the health, music and art classrooms!
the "close contact" quarantine radius has been reduced from 6 feet to 3 feet!
and the kids do not have to sit in rows facing forward in 2021-2022!
After reading that long list, you might be thinking,
"Geez, with all of these new variables being introduced,
it seems important that we keep universal masking...
otherwise how will we know if we've gone too far?"
If that's your thought process, you are not alone in your thinking.
A Note from Ms. Brandee will appear in your inbox again later this week with some Frequently Asked Questions (and answers!) about our 2021-2022 Reopening.
Our Partnership
No matter which way the Council votes on Tuesday, some members of the Compass Community are going to be totally on board and other members are going to really struggle with the outcome.
Some members of our community are re-reading that bulleted list of the relaxed regs and they're having a panic attack, while others are doing a party dance.
It's not easy to guide a community of diverse perspectives, but that's where the true lessons lie for all of us.
Just like it is critical for parents to present a united frontto their kids even when they disagree, the same is true for our home/school partnership.
You might be thinking, "Some team, Ms. Brandee! What you're talking about doesn't match my family's values!"
I get it.
At the same time, I ask you to please stretch your perspective and put yourself in the shoes (or the masks - ha!) of our Compass staff members who are going to be tasked with pulling all of this off...again.
Our work to educate our Compass kids is challenging (the good kind of challenge) on a "normal" day, but it gets exponentially harder if the kids (especially middle school students!) sniff even a hint of division between the adults at home and at school.
At Compass, parents and educators are partners in shepherding the kiddos from early childhood through adolescence; it a 9 year journey if you do the Full Compass Experience!
In that span, we will tackle many things together. If you are able to zoom out just a bit, the Great Mask Debate will (hopefully) only be a small blip in our timeline together.
Let's work hard to keep it all in perspective and help our kids do the same.
