Where schools break down, however, is during lunchtime. Kids - like adults - drop their masks to eat and drink (of course) and carry on as if there is something magical about holding a sandwich in front of their faces. After 30 minutes of much needed socializing, the masks go back on.
To be clear, at my both of my kids' schools in Seattle masks are 100% voluntary, yet there is a culture to wear them (even on the sidewalks while walking home from school - not joking).
It's not like the masked schools are 100% solid, no, so the tests are wobbly to say the least. Yet, my kids don't sit next to every student in the school during lunch, so their exposure is also teeny tiny. But we're anecdotally seeing cases rise at work and school here in Seattle over the past 3 weeks unlike any time I can remember during the past 2 years. Every area is different... It used to be, "Do you know anyone who has caught it?" And now I know several.
I sometimes think the UK has it right. People there have simply accepted it and deal. They have a big spike every 2 months but carry on with packed pubs, covid be damned.