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Chandler Families Weigh Mask Options As Students Head Back To School

Tarwater Elementary School was abuzz on Wednesday morning as parents ushered their students to class for the first day of the 2021-22 academic year. 

Mother Nicole Pomerantz was there dropping off her son Ethan for his first day of first grade. This was a big day for Ethan who spent the last school year learning from home.

“I work at the university. I was blessed enough where my employer let me work evenings and afternoons so that I could teach him online kindergarten during the day cause with COVID we were just not ready for that step," she said.

This school year, however, Pomerantz feels more comfortable sending Ethan to class in-person now vaccines are available for individuals 12 and older. She also thinks the pros of being back in-person currently outweigh the cons.

“I think socially it’s really important for kids to socialize cause we really missed that aspect last year and it showed emotionally and socially," Pomerantz said. 

But most elementary school students are still not old enough to get a COVID-19 vaccine. So Pomerantz is reminding Ethan to wash his hands frequently and keep his mask on while at school to be safe. But other parents and students will get the option to be maskless since lawmakers passed legislation in June that bans mask mandates at schools.

Father Travis Osborn and his 9-year-old daughter Emma noticed as soon as they got to campus that many were already walking around without their masks so they also took theirs off. As for whether Emma will wear a face mask while in class, Osborn said he's leaving that decision up to the fifth grader. 

“It’s her immune system," Osborn said, adding that Emma has been fine while not wearing one this summer. 

Emma initially said she didn't want to wear a mask, but later said she might put it on when she's around others, but take it off when she's at her desk. 

Parent Erica Manheimer welcomes the flexibility this school year, and thinks it will be good for her two sons. One is in fourth grade, and the other is in fifth. Her sons struggled last school year when masks were required. 

"Even though we constantly reminded them this is cause of COVID and everything, they still had a hard time," Manheimer said. "Honestly it started to get them frustrated because they were getting in trouble for it and they weren’t as enthusiastic about being there at school.”

Manheimer’s sons did come to school on Wednesday with their masks in hand, but their mom said she won't require them to wear it. 

"Honestly they get so fidgety and it distracts them from their schoolwork and everything," she said.

But even though schools won’t be requiring face masks this school year, Pomerantz said she’s encouraged by the other mitigation strategies the district will be able to implement this school year. Those include social distancing practices, small instructional groups and contact tracing and quarantine. 

“I think the Chandler school district in particular has done an excellent job in mitigation, following the trends and the data and being scientific about everything and cautious," she said. "So I am not worried about his teachers or the school.” 

And Pomerantz said she will continue to watch the COVID-19 case numbers and see what happens. 

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Rocio Hernandez was a senior field correspondent at KJZZ from 2020 to 2022.