This is my idea. I'll be presenting it to two school boards soon. Wish I had thought of it a month ago. I would have been a hero.
Schools are going to open in August (at least in the superior educated red states, like Florida). About 80 percent of parents are terrified that their children will either (a) contract the Covid flu or (b) bring the flu home and infect vulnerable adults.
Here's the solution:
Students (at least in the middle school and high school levels) think masks are cool. Cloth masks, which can be washed and reused, are relatively cheap to make. The school could make the masks, using material that features the school colors, images, sports teams, etc. Same concept as school T-shirts, sweat shirts, head bands, pennants, etc. The masks would be dirt cheap to make. A student would easily buy two or three and be able to wash them every night.
The school could also find a way to construct the masks from symbols of pop culture: Favorite pop artists, favorite video games, favorite foods.
I predict the merchandise would fly off the shelves. Enough profit could be included for the school to actually make some money from this venture and keep the students safe at the same time.
It could be something like this.
Apparently one school has already done it.
For the elementary schools (some parents think kids will want to take off their masks during the day) let's get creative. A paper mask like this
an imaginative teacher could have the kids as a homework assignment draw something on the front of the mask to show off. Make it a game. That kid would keep the mask on all day long.
Just thinking outside the box here.