Parents,
Thank you for your patience while we were waiting for clarification on masks at recess and P.E. The mask mandate states that there is an exception to the mask mandate for “an individual who is outdoors while maintaining a physical distance of at least six feet from any other individual who is not from the same household or residence”. After speaking with our teachers and district leadership we are ready to enact the following plan:
- Students that are engaged in outside P.E. can remove their masks at the direction of the P.E. teacher for socially distanced activities
- At recess:
- We know that for most students recess is a time that they want to be near their friends and play in a space much smaller than 6 feet from one another, therefore, students will be asked to wear their mask outside
- Students that wish to distance more than 6 feet from other individuals and engage in vigorous activity can remove their masks while they are distanced from other individuals. Before a student enters within a 6-foot proximity to another person their mask must immediately be placed over their mouth and nose
- Adults at recess will be monitoring all students and any student that is not wearing a mask and is not outside of a 6-foot radius from other individuals will be asked to put their mask on immediately
- Before and after school students will need to keep their mask on until they have left school property or have moved a considerable distance from others to maintain a 6 foot distance
Teachers will still be able to take their own class outside throughout the day and give their students a socially distanced mask break.
We will be sharing our outside/P.E. mask policy with students during the morning of the first day, please share it with your child today and help them understand the importance of distancing from others to prevent the spread of disease.
Thank you,
Anne Reese and the Morningside Team