“I'm told Wilmot School in affluent @DPS109 has a 'no talking' rule during lunch,” a Twitter user with the handle Emma Woodhouse tweeted. | twitter.com/EWoodhouse7
“I'm told Wilmot School in affluent @DPS109 has a 'no talking' rule during lunch,” a Twitter user with the handle Emma Woodhouse tweeted. | twitter.com/EWoodhouse7
One anti-mask activist tweeted of rumors that Wilmot Elementary School is enforcing a "no talking during lunch" rule.
Wilmot Elementary School, located at 795 Wilmot Rd, Deerfield, IL 60015, is a well-regarded public school.
“I'm told Wilmot School in affluent @DPS109 has a 'no talking' rule during lunch,” a Twitter user with the handle Emma Woodhouse tweeted. “Can anyone verify? OUTRAGEOUS, if true.”
Wilmot Elementary School Principal Eileen Brett
| Youtube
Sources say Principal Eileen Brett’s staff has been keeping order at lunch by disallowing idle chatter and forcing mask usage.
There are 471 pupils in grades kindergarten through 5th grade. The school spends $20,000 per student each year.
Teachers in the district make an average of over $81,000 per year — about $10,000 over Illinois’ average — before generous benefits, such as a defined pension plan.
Masking has been panned by some academics whose research suggests the practice has no backing.
The school noted in documents that lunch rules in include "[s]tudents at lunch will continue to be spaced out 6' or more” and “[l]unch will primarily be held in lunchrooms or outdoor tents.”
A University of Illinois at Chicago study found that "cloth masks and face coverings are likely to have limited impact on lowering COVID-19 transmission, because they have minimal ability to prevent the emission of small particles.. and offer limited personal protection with respect to small particle inhalation."
A 2006 Center for Biosecurity Disease paper, "Mitigation Measures in the Control of Pandemic Influenza," reported that “there are few data available to support the efficacy of N95 or surgical masks outside of a healthcare setting" because "N95 masks need to be fit-tested to be efficacious and are uncomfortable to wear for more than an hour or two," the paper said.
Even when local regulations conflict with community and state norms, the federal government has encouraged schools across the country to require masks through offering extra funding, NPR reported.
Insurance companies have threatened to cancel coverage for schools unless those schools follow public health mandates. They are concerned about lawsuits stemming from pupils contracting COVID-19.
Alerts Sign-up