Head Start, in Limbo Over Mask and Vaccine Mandates, Looks to Congress for Help
While the Senate has moved to eliminate COVID rules in the federal preschool program, Biden has threatened a veto
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When the Biden administration issued a mask and COVID vaccine mandate for the federal Head Start program last fall, Olivia Coyne, past president of the Colorado Head Start Association, was relieved.
Delta was causing cases to spike, and the schools where many Head Start programs are housed typically had mask mandates in place.
But in February, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention revised its guidance to reflect lower transmission rates. Mask rules for young children, the CDC said, should be the same as those for the general population.
Now Coyne, a Head Start director in the Boulder area, is confused. 鈥淗ead Start feels like the lone place where masks are required,鈥 she said. 鈥淔or staff, it feels really out of context.鈥
Members of Congress, including several Democrats, agree.
Earlier this month, the Senate approved that would 鈥渄isapprove鈥 the rule, essentially wiping it off the books. was introduced last month in the House, but it鈥檚 unclear if action will be taken soon. The White House said President Joe Biden won鈥檛 sign it. Officials say the mandate 鈥 which even requires staff and children to wear masks outside 鈥 gives parents 鈥渁dditional confidence鈥 that their children are safe and protects infants and toddlers in Early Head Start programs who can鈥檛 wear masks. It鈥檚 also necessary, they argue, because a vaccine for young children has yet to be approved.
鈥淧arents of children under 5 are in a really difficult position right now. They don’t have the choice to vaccinate their children, so they are dependent on the adults who care for them to do everything they can to continue protecting them,鈥 Sen. Patty Murray of Washington, a Democrat and chair of the education committee, said before the May 3 vote.
She opposed the resolution, saying it would permanently hamstring the administration鈥檚 ability to mandate masks and vaccines in Head Start in the event of a new,dangerous variant or a future pandemic. , in fact, have reinstated mask mandates or are strongly urging students to mask because cases are rising.
Once a vaccine is available for younger children she said it could make sense to revisit the rule, 鈥渂ut we are not there yet.鈥
Both Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech have asked the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to approve their vaccines for younger children. Reviews were scheduled for , but the governors of Colorado and Massachusetts have to act sooner.
South Dakota Republican Sen. John Thune, who sponsored the resolution, suggested that if Biden can on immigration along the southern border, he should do so for young children.
鈥淭he scientific evidence for masking toddlers is shaky at best,鈥 he said on the Senate floor, citing the World Health Organization against masking children under 6 and that masks inhibit language and social skills. Children also face of serious illness from COVID, studies show.
Researchers, however, have found that masks on preschoolers interfere with their development.
Meanwhile, half the states don鈥檛 have to follow the rule because in two cases blocked it. That leaves the rest of the country in limbo.
鈥淚t鈥檚 messy, it鈥檚 tricky, and that鈥檚 why we go back to Head Start roots 鈥 locally driven with high standards,鈥 said Tommy Sheridan, deputy director of the National Head Start Association, which represents both families and programs. The rule, he said, is making it hard to hire staff. 鈥淭he administration knows this is something that needs to change.鈥
In December, the association asking for waivers from the rule or solutions that 鈥渂alance safety with local circumstances.鈥
David White, CEO of WNCSource Community Services, a Head Start grantee serving four North Carolina counties in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains, estimates that his centers have lost about 25 of their 220 staff members because of the vaccine mandate. With early-childhood programs already coping with staff shortages, he鈥檚 concerned about having enough teachers this fall.
If the vaccine mandate makes it harder to attract and retain staff, and if it 鈥渕eans having closed classrooms because parents don’t like the mask mandate,鈥 he said, 鈥渁t some point it becomes counterproductive.鈥
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