Dr. Bishop Said Every Student Must Wear a Mask. (Not So Much.)

At this week’s Health Policy Committee between the Anchorage Assembly and the Anchorage School District, ASD Superintendent Dr. Deena Bishop said that all students will be required to wear a mask at school.

When asked by Assemblyman Christopher Constant whether the school board believed that the mask-wearing policy would be enforceable among its students, Dr. Bishop stated emphatically that should a student refuse to wear a mask, the school would "send them home."

"Since July I've been very clear, very constant. We will ask you to put your mask on or we will remove you," Dr. Bishop said in her exchange, but it doesn't look like this is the case, according to the school district's own website.

On the Safety and Protocol FAQ. for School Start page, there's a question purportedly coming from parents asking:

• "My student has trouble wearing a mask. Are there other options (face shield, etc)?"

The school district's official answer?

• "Please call your child's healthcare provider to request an exemption letter if your child is unable to wear a mask."

Some teachers publicly speculated that face shields would be permitted in lieu of facemasks, a direct contradiction of Dr. Bishop's statement to the Anchorage Assembly.

In updated guidance, however, the CDC says, "CDC does not recommend the use of face shields alone. Evaluation of face shields is ongoing, but effectiveness is unknown at this time."

Confusion is not a good policy in the middle of a global pandemic.

Some also wonder if an "exemption" for mask-wearing might open the door for potential abuse by people who don't agree that masks help reduce the transmission of COVID-19.

You can see the exchange between Assemblyman Constant and Dr. Bishop's response in the video below, which seems to contradict the school district's official policy on mask-wearing.