Sky Valley Messenger

Noah is an eight-year-old autistic third grader who starts back to school today. Today is the official start-up of school in his district, a district that resides in the democratic socialist state of Washington.

In the state of Washington teachers have been programmed to recognize children as bio-hazardous material that may be deadly to them and therefore must be treated with utmost caution. Hence, they are not to bring so much as a pencil to school, it may be contaminated. In order to get on the bus, the child must first present to the driver a filled-out form signed by a parent declaring that the child is free of an extensive list of symptoms. This, of course, will not get the child on the bus. In addition, the child must be waring a government approved face mask. That is still not enough. The child is then temperature checked by the driver; a medically trained state approved medical screener. The child is then directed to board the bus and seat in a strict socially distanced manner, speaking to anyone is strongly discouraged, and closely monitored.

Once the child arrives at the school his/her medically filled out papers are handed to the awaiting attendant prior to disembarking from the bus. Before the child can leave the bus he or she must then be temperature checked again by another medically trained screener. If the child has passed all those hurdles then the child, socially distanced from the teacher or attendant, is immediately escorted to a separate location where any warm clothing, such as a coat, hat, and gloves are removed, by the child, and stored until departure. Because these items are considered potentially contaminated, they are not allowed into the classroom. The child is then escorted to the nearest sanitized bathroom where they are directed to wash their hands for the medically approved time, at least 20 seconds. To ensure that the child adheres to those instructions he/she must sing a government approved song out loud during the cleansing process to help regulate the acceptable time. The attendant is listening and monitoring throughout this process. Ironically, the song most recommended is, “Happy Birthday”.

Once completed the child is finally escorted, socially distanced, to the classroom, and seated, again, socially distanced from any other child. In front of the child is a sterilized desk and computer where the child is now directed to begin his/her zoom classes.

If the child exhibits any symptoms during the class time, such as sneezing or coughing the child may be removed to a sterile, isolated room where he/she will remain until a parent or guardian can be notified to come and remove them.

If this sounds traumatizing to you in any way, imagine what it is like to any child, let alone a special needs child.

Welcome back to school Noah.