Now What?

We made the decision. 

We looked at the data (six cases in three days). We noted what other districts in our region were doing (some are making masks optional on the same day). We listened to our state leadership regarding buses (no longer are masks required on buses, per the federal government). All that was enough for us. 

On Monday, March 7, masks are optional in the St. Johnsbury School District. Almost two years to the day of the emergency school dismissal, we welcome our students back to our school, and they are not required to wear a mask. 

Some may choose to continue to wear a mask. We are more than OK with that. This is a personal, family decision. We ask for grace and patience as we transition to a final (hopefully) phase of this roller coaster of public health. 

We will continue to be thoughtful about how we are in our school. Sick students and adults still need to stay home. Anyone sick in school will be sent home. These last two years have been challenging at best, discouraging at times, downright rotten at worst. 

Now there is light - both in terms of the longer days of our spring and the opportunity to see faces. For some of our youngest students, this will be the first time they've come to our building without a mask. For some of our oldest students, this will be the first time in two years they will be in our school and see their classmates' and their teachers' faces. 

There may be some anxiety about this. There may be some relief about this. There may be mixed feelings about this. We ask for grace and patience.

We are not sure what the future holds, but then again, when do we really have any certainty about that? Maybe we will see another variant. Perhaps we won't. I know I am thrilled to see faces again - I've missed that human connection. 

I also know there are two things I'm not going to be saying in the coming days, weeks, months, and years. They are "learning loss" and "back to normal." Let me explain. 

I'm not going to say "learning loss" because that's an insult to everyone's efforts in the past two years. Students, teachers, staff, leadership, families, and communities came together to make these past two years work. Was it perfect? No. Did we do the best we could, given the circumstances? Absolutely. Our students haven't fallen behind. This was a global health pandemic. It spared no continent. 

Will we focus on academic growth as we look forward? Indeed we will. Our ESSER II plan has ambitious growth goals we will work to achieve. But we will not say learning loss. 

We are also committed to not going "back to normal." Normal was not working for all of our students. Normal was not working for all of our families. Normal was not working. We do not want to go "back to normal." 

Normal was brushing aside issues of equity because they made us uncomfortable. Normal meant accepting the fact that some families have been devastated by the opioid crisis. Normal was a building schedule so inter-connected that 8th-grade classes were tied inextricably to Kindergarten classes. Did we make it work? We did. Is there a better way? There is. 

I hope that our school community and the larger St. Johnsbury community will join me in promising not to say these two phrases as we move forward. We have a lot of work to do together as we emerge from the last two years. And with this shared commitment, we will have a way to talk about our future with the hope and expectation it deserves.