Commentary and Opinion by Samuel Strait – March 1, 2022

It is often said that parents should think of their children’s welfare
before they think of their own.  For most parents that is the case. 
Through thick and thin, their children’s welfare is upper most in their
minds.  Throughout society, a young person holds a special place in the
minds of most adults.  How often have you heard the sentiment, “We are
doing this for the children”?  If your occupation is the care and
education of children, one would think that this was especially true to
our educational community, especially teachers.

For those who left before Thursday night’s Del Norte Unified School
District Board Meeting ended at nearly 11:30 in the pm, an encore was
scheduled for the following Monday at 4:30 pm to discuss the district’s
staff and masking.  Embarrassing enough to listen to self absorbed
teachers and their Union leadership, who have forgotten who is most
important, whine on Thursday evening about the ramifications of not
toeing the line with California’s OSHA and CDPH, but to have a repeat
session earlier today at the district’s special meeting was above and
beyond.

It seems the Teacher’s talking points have evolved from health safety
and compassion for others, to the “dangers” that the action the district
did take would have on them and their career path.  I don’t suppose most
who are complaining loud and vociferously were aware of the fact that
they chose to be teachers and set children’s education above all else. 
May be that isn’t necessarily the case for some, at least those doing
the whining. Marshall Jones, the Del Norte Teacher’s Association’s chief whiner was in full throttle
complaining about the “what if that failed to materialize”.   The
district’s board elected to leave the teaching staff and district’s
employees masked and provided assurances in a Memorandum Of
Understanding that the district would protect them from any liability
from the board’s decision to change the masking enforcement for the
district’s students.  This coverage of liability was extended to all the
district’s employees.

Even though it was made very clear early on at the Special Session the
district’s employees would be “taken care of”, the audience continued to
hear about Insurance coverage being dropped despite assurances this
would not be the case, credentialing jeopardy, financial ruin, and
inability to be able to teach “any where in California”.  Nowhere did
there appear to be any concern for the malignancy that masking had
wrought on the district’s students.  Instead, the full folder of “fear
mongering” was on display for the district’s employees to feast on,
while calling parents who actually care about the welfare of their
children and their education were being vilified as “a MOB, bent on
‘bullying’ the board over their demands”.  This characterization did not
go over well with some on the Board and Mr. Jones was made aware of that
displeasure.

Granted, California will be doing away with the masking requirement for
all on the 11th of March, with students able to return to their
classroom on the 14th of March also unmasked. Splitting hairs over
masking was not in the cards for the district’s teachers and their
unions during the Special Board Meeting, but the audience got another
dose of ME, ME, MEEEEEE, out of a couple of the district’s teachers and
their Unions.  Mr. Jones felt it necessary to carry the Union’s water
and take a swipe at the parents of students who showed up Thursday
night.  It must have been a great disappointment for Mr. Jones when the
union demands were granted by the board without much resistance and his
pointless theatrics were unnecessary.   Quite the display. Unfortunate
for those teachers who have educated themselves and will find it
necessary to remain masked up for a further nine days to mollify their
brethren  who remain ignorant about the pointlessness of masking.