Anyone wearing an FFP2 mask does not have to be in quarantine: A circular from the health department with this notice caused uncertainty in schools and among parents.
It also said that teachers could document which students wear which masks.
The authority has now revised the letter.
District -
A corona case at a school in the district and angry parents who therefore did not want to send their children to quarantine: According to information from Starnberg Mercury, these events led to a chain reaction.
At the weekend, the health department sent a circular email to the schools with a note that some school principals understood as a request and passed it on to the parents.
Like Marion Otto, principal of the elementary school at Pilsensee.
She informed the legal guardians that, according to the health department, teachers now have to document every day whether students are wearing an FFP2 mask or not.
Background: Anyone who uses this mask is not classified as contact person 1 in the event of a positive Corona case.
Otto wrote to the parents that the documentation could quickly prove which children should be in quarantine if the health department inquires about an infection.
A father quoted Otto's letter in his complaint email to District Administrator Stefan Frey as follows: "It has already happened that parents knowingly misinformed the health department in order to free their child from the obligation to separate them at home."
The man from Seefeld also wrote to Frey: “Such an advantage as being exempt from the quarantine obligation by wearing an FFP2 mask indirectly means an FFP-2 mask requirement at primary schools for the entire teaching time including the break.
This is irresponsible and, above all, not child-friendly. ”AfD district leader Prof. Ingo Hahn then joined this criticism in a press release.
"In practice, this meant that almost all students in some schools now wore such a mask," claimed Hahn, who argued with peer pressure.
"There was and is no order and no recommendation from the health department"
The risk that children will be forced to use the FFP2 mask should have been lower again since Thursday.
When asked by Merkur, district office spokeswoman Barbara Beck clarified: "There was and is no order and no recommendation from the health department to wear an FFP2 mask in school and also no documentation requirements." .
Unfortunately, it "led to misunderstandings and also to uncertainty".
The health department specified and cleared up the issue in another email to the schools.
With older students, the masks hold less potential for conflict.
The Christoph-Probst-Gymnasium in Gilching, for example, is now well established.
In principle, a mask is required.
"We recommend FFP2, but surgical and fabric masks are also allowed," says school principal Peter Meyer.
He observes that the majority wear FFP2 masks.
This is probably also due to the simplified quarantine rules if a classmate falls ill.
If the high school students only have a cloth mask with them when they visit the secretariat, they will receive a surgical mask.
The fact that the students need regular mask breaks is not a problem at the CPG.
"We ventilate the classrooms every 15 minutes anyway, so they can take off their masks for a moment," explains Meyer.
This does not cause great unrest during the hours.
"We are already used to it."
There are CO2 measuring devices in many classrooms.
Intermittent ventilation takes place via windows and diagonally opened doors, "the load drops in seconds," says Meyer.
Only three of the 1,400 students are exempt from wearing a mask by means of a certificate.
Meyer has not yet received any complaints from parents about the cost of the FFP2 masks.
Also read:
Numbers and updates on the coronavirus in the Starnberg district
