Doctor said he, others pulling students from enrollment
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All Saints confirms COVID cases
Aug. 20, parents of students at All Saints Episcopal School in Beaumont were notified of COVID cases amongst the student body. The notification announced that confirmed positive COVID-19 testing required quarantining one student in grade 7 and one student in grade 8, as well as a host of other students deemed to have been in “close contact” with those infected with the virus.
“The students will be required to remain away from All Saints facilities until they have met established criteria to discontinue home isolation,” the announcement asserted. “Our thoughts and prayers are with these students, their families, and all of you.”
“These people are crazy,” Dr. S.K. Rao said of the All Saints administrative team, arguing that he and upwards of 20 other parents have rallied the school to offer distance learning in the absence of masking mandates to keep the children safe from COVID transmission. Their pleas, he said, fell on deaf ears. “Children are getting infected. Adults are getting infected … this is getting really, really bad.”
According to Rao, campus administrators were obstinate in being open to discuss options with the concerned parent group.
“All we’re asking is having the option of online teaching possible,” Rao said. “It is a simple thing to do, but they refuse to do it.”
Rao said he made the decision to remove his student from the campus before the Aug. 20 notification of COVID infection.
“My (student) said 75% of the kids in the class were not wearing a mask, and the teacher was not wearing a mask,” Rao said. The doctor said he believes the policies – or lack thereof – in place is opening up children and their immunocompromised family members to serious repercussions.
“Most of these kids are under 10 years old and are not given the opportunity to get vaccinated. There is nothing being done for these students who can’t get vaccinated,” he said. “This virus is highly contagious.”
Rao said he put two students through All Saints before the current student who is now looking for another school to call home.
“I want them to have a good education – and I also want them to be safe. Safety is No. 1,” he said. “This is a serious problem. The people need to get vaccinated and keep all the political bologna outside.”