It is time to stop masking educators.  My K1 children are missing out on crucial phonemic instruction because I'm masked.  It is impossible for little ones to distinguish similar sounds when one cannot see my mouth.  Virginia is going to see an increase in articulation errors and a need for SPED intervention for this reason.  The greater good is NOT MASKING their teacher, it's letting children and their teachers interact normally for the first time in 2 years.  They need to see the joy in my face when they've done a great job.  They need to see my expression as I read a story.  The whole situation has been heartbreaking, but you can do the right thing and remove the excessive restrictions of masking employees of VA.