Jesus doesn’t get in the way of Sioux Falls Christian School requiring masks in crowded situations and acknowledging that masks prevent the spread of coronavirus:
At this point, everyone 4th grade and older (including all staff) needs to wear a mask when physical distancing is not possible within our building. The medical community has found that masks are an effective measure to prevent the spread of COVID-19 for persons older than 2 years of age. Fans attending extracurricular activities indoors are strongly encouraged to wear masks, but because participation in this activity is voluntary and there are outside visitors in attendance, mask-wearing will not be enforced like it is during the school day. Students younger than 4th grade are welcome to wear masks based on family preference and maturity [Sioux Falls Christian School, “2020 Reopening Roadmap (Covid-19 Response),” retrieved 2020.07.20].
SFC’s back-to-school pandemic plan expresses faith in the Lord alongside masks with several “Relevant Biblical Assurances of God’s Sovereignty,” including Isaiah 45:7: “I form the light and create darkness, I bring prosperity and create disaster; I, the Lord, do all these things.” Dang—from that line, one might gather that masks are a more reliable bulwark against pandemic. (And Trump keeps blaming China for the coronavirus, when Isaiah makes pretty clear who created this darkeness.)
SFC says people who’ve been in close contact with anyone in the school who tests positive for coronavirus “will be quarantined” (passive voice: is the school saying it will order quarantine?), but SFC won’t quarantine an entire class “unless we are forced to by the State Department of Health due to a high number of cases.” Wow—just how big are SFC’s classrooms that an entire class isn’t in close contact with each other?
In two particularly sensible moves, SFC is moving daily lunch and weekly chapel to classrooms to avoid big gatherings. SFC is also using some of its CARES Act money (because even private schools can’t make it without public support, and don’t you forget it) to install a fiber-optic connection that will give the school five times faster downloads and fifty times faster uploads.
SFC commits to holding school on campus and in person “unless we are required by law to close our doors.” However, the school will allow students who provide medical documentation of certain health needs to learn from home. SFC will also equip teachers with gear to teach live from home if they test positive but are still feeling up to beaming in lessons. SFC says it is also ready to pivot to all remote learning if there’s a major public health emergency.
But SFC makes clear that students and families learning remotely are responsible for keeping up with assignments:
The school endeavors to offer students the opportunity to access learning materials at their level (prepared and/or curated by their teachers), to communicate what is required, to provide opportunities to ask questions and expect a response, and to provide feedback on all assessments. If a student simply stops doing their part, there is little else the school can do. It is the school’s policy to communicate with parents about late/missing work, but then to give a grade that demonstrates the student’s mastery of the content.
In remote learning environments, active participation in the learning is the only way to assess a student’s progress. Therefore, by default, incomplete work will be given a zero. To avoid this consequence by default, all we request is regular and consistent communication with the school about any extenuating circumstances (e.g., a student not understanding a particular assignment or being too ill to work). Students on official learning plans will be given additional accommodations as designated by their plan.
Unfortunately, if a student persistently misses assignments, they could be in danger of failing courses and needing to repeat them to stay on track for graduation. This is to be avoided as much as possible. Students and parents should be on the same page that school is to be a top priority (over things like jobs, club sports, etc.) [SFC, retrieved 2020.07.20].
Kids, parents, when Kristi Noem talks about trusting you to take personal responsibility, she means school, too. Whether you’re in the building behind a mask or at home in your remote-learning sanctuary, hit those books and write those papers!
Related Pandemic Response: KELO-TV is surveying schools on their pandemic response plans and finds that Mitchell, Redfield, Marty Indian, and tentatively Brookings are requiring staff and students to wear masks in their school buildings.
It would be an absolute deal breaker if my child’s school did not require masks.