Buffalo, N.Y. (WBEN) - Kids and teachers are about to exhale all across Western New York. But not all kids.
"Parents in the suburban districts that I've talked to, feel great relief that
their kids are allowed to move forward, the same way adults have," said
Tarja Parssinen, reacting to the lifting of the statewide mask mandate effective Wednesday, March 2.
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The mother, education advocate and founder of WNY Education Alliance, is not surprised, however, that while masks are coming off for most students, it's not happening in Buffalo yet. The district is going to re-examine data on Friday.
"Buffalo Public Schools are following the same pattern that we've seen throughout the pandemic. That district remained remote for the majority of last year. Those children have truly been out the longest," she said.
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Parssinen said even when the CDC was recommending six feet of distance, Buffalo Schools went with eight feet. "They've always marched to the beat of a different drum," she added.
For some, masking seems like the last thing before a return to normalcy. But a lot of schools are continuing with distancing, keeping kids apart as much as they can during lunch, and dividers and Plexiglas still remain in many classrooms.
Parssinen is anxious to see how this plays out. "We are at a point in the pandemic where we can return to normalcy and I think people's fears will be allayed when we see it all go smoothly."
With restrictions going by the wayside, where does Parssinen's group go from here? "We need to all work together, government, state, county, schools and parents as well as mental health professionals. We need to all work together to address the problems that have been neglected for the past three years, due to our sole focus on COVID. We have to make sure this doesn't happen again," she added.
Parssinen said there is still a fear among parents, that she has spoken with, that schools could be closed and educational rights could be taken away at any moment. "It's never mission accomplished," she said.
At some point, Parssinen added that something else needs to be accepted. "There needs to be a recognition that school closures and quarantines for healthy children, and masking in classes caused significant harm to kids. And that the harms outweighed any benefits."
