08/04/2021
Dear River Valley Community,
As the 2021-2022 school year starts, we realize that all the shareholders in the schools of the River Valley are concerned about the health and safety of our children. As pediatricians who see many of these children, we want to offer informed and medically appropriate guidance to facilitate our schools in providing a safe experience for our children.
First, we would like to express our support for in class learning for all students. We all know that attendance in the classroom is important for academics, psychological health, and social development. During the pandemic and with increased utilization of virtual instruction, we have seen a significant increase in visits for anxiety, depression, and other mental health concerns across all age groups. Many children depend on schools for their safety, nutrition, therapy services, physical activity, and the development of skills needed for normal development.
We encourage all students, teachers, administrators, and staff to receive the COVID-19 vaccine if they are eligible. Currently the Pfizer vaccine is approved for children 12 years and older. The data for the vaccines indicate they are safe and effective at preventing hospitalizations, severe disease, and death from COVID-19. The vaccines are the best intervention that we have to bring an end to this pandemic.
We recommend that all students and school staff wear a face mask while at school. In our practices, we observed the effectiveness in masking when we look at the numbers and the type of visits that we see in clinic. Our number of respiratory infections were significantly lower during the season when we typically see those infections, but our numbers greatly increased after the mask mandates were lifted. This has greatly increased the number of respiratory infections observed during a time when we usually have less of those infections. Masks are important to protect those students who are not eligible for vaccination and we recommend those masks for everyone including vaccinated individuals. According to CDC guidance, K-12 students in the classroom will not have to quarantine when exposed if both students were correctly wearing well-fitted masks. This will reduce absenteeism and allow students who were exposed to remain in class if they remain asymptomatic. There are few health conditions where a mask exemption would be appropriate, but most students would benefit from wearing masks as added protection.
Success in interventions are facilitated by shareholder buy-in. If we want our students to be successful, this is going to take encouragement and participation by all shareholders. If the students see that this is important to the people who are important to them, they will be more likely to comply with the rules. For the sake of our children, we ask that the school be aware of and intervene in instances where a child might be bullied by another student or staff member for wearing or not wearing a mask.
We know that guidelines and recommendations may change as more is learned during this pandemic. It is easy to get frustrated as recommendations change, but we are willing to be a resource for your school. We will be willing to meet or conference with the school administrators or the school board to answer any questions. The safety and health of the children in our care is our primary concern and we will gladly be a resource for the healthcare needs of our children.
Sincerely,
The Pediatricians of Millard Henry Clinic
Chad Masters MD, Rick Harrison MD, Barry McCraw MD, Lynette Smith MD, Christina Bartlett MD, Howard Orsburn MD, Jonathan Brixey MD, Kendra Hubbard Fletcher APRN
101 Skyline Drive
Russellville AR 72801
(479)968-2345
