ST. CHARLES COUNTY, Mo. — Jenny Baumann wasn't surprised that her son's school reported a positive case within the first week given that at the time, they had an optional mask policy.
She said school leaders have now changed the requirements after sending his class home to quarantine.
"We got a call at 9 or 9:15 on Thursday morning, and they had just started on Tuesday," she said.
It only took two days for Baumann to get a call from her son's school that he was in contact with another student who tested positive for COVID-19.
"There was a positive case in my son's class, and so they had to send home about eight students to quarantine," she said.
Her son is a fifth-grader at one of the St. Charles County Catholic schools in the Archdiocese that started off the year with a mask optional policy.
"When you're taking the masks off kids and they're in such close quarters, I thought this was bound to happen unfortunately," Baumann said.
Her children know to wear their masks even when their classmates don't.
Pediatrician Dr. Molly Rozier with Cardinal Glennon Children's Hospital advises school leaders to make it a requirement.
"Of course I would recommend that all school districts would enforce a masking policy to keep kids safe, and to be completely honest kids do really well with masking. I think it bothers adults a little more than it does kids," Rozier said.
Rozier says masking can prevent students from having to quarantining, posing challenges for students in isolation and parents having to monitor their students.
"We have seen an increase in depression and anxiety over the past year and half for kids," Rozier said.
"As parents, it's a lot more challenging because I'm upstairs working, and taking conference calls and doing everything I need to do. You know he has ADHD, he really needs to be in the classroom to stay focused," Baumann said.
Baumann says her son's school recently changed their mask requirement and now students have to wear masks indoors.
"I'm glad that they have made the update to the policy to allow require masking and keep the kids in the classroom as much as possible," she said.
Baumann didn't want to disclose which school her son attends.
The latest response from the Archdiocese still leaves the masking decisions up to each individual school.