Mask mandate lifted, leaving students with mixed feelings

Some students are anxious and others are relieved after the recent announcement that masks are to officially become optional as of March 1 due to a newly passed bill for all Virginia public schools.

Based on the passing of Senate bill 739 on Feb. 16 and the CDC’s report of decreased transmission of Covid-19 in the area, FCPS has decided to relax its mask mandate policy for all of its schools. This decision allows families to decide whether their children need to wear a mask or not, and will result in some students choosing to remain unmasked throughout the school day.

Some students are quite happy by this decision as they have been waiting for this day ever since Covid began, approximately 2 years ago.

“I think it’s pretty good because I don’t need to wear a mask that suffocates me all day,” said Jasmine Kaur, a seventh-grader on the All Stars team.

However, others are still apprehensive about the whole situation and are not particularly pleased. Many students opted to wear their masks the first day because they were worried about the spread of COVID.

“I honestly think it is unreasonable to make wearing masks optional,” said Shreya Rao, a seventh-grade Trailblazer. “If we make wearing masks optional, the COVID cases are not going to decrease. It is most likely to go up.”

Additional changes were announced on Feb. 28. Masks are also now optional on school buses too, and FCPS also no longer requires contact tracing. There will still be tracing if an outbreak occurs, but they will no longer trace individual cases.

FCPS sent out a newsletter to families on Feb. 18 which said, “We ask everyone to do their part to keep our schools safe places to learn and to respect our educators and staff who are doing everything possible to keep our schools open and safe.”

The newsletter later mentioned several best practice tips such as maintaining good hygiene, receiving vaccination, and staying home when feeling unwell.

Principal Gordon Stokes sent out another email Feb. 28 reassuring parents that everyone will be respected no matter their choice.

“Here at Rachel Carson Middle, all students will be treated the same regardless of their masking choice, he said in the email. “Students will not be asked to separate based on who is wearing a mask or not. Our interactions with all students will be based on care and respect.”

Despite the reassurances, many students continue to have a multitude of feelings about this new change.

Angela Leo, a seventh-grade Trailblazer shared a thought that is common between many: “I’m happy that wearing masks is now optional, but the question I keep asking myself is, is this safe?”