By John Estridge
No mask mandate.
Franklin County Community School Corporation Board of Trustees had a special meeting Monday night, August 23. The meeting was supposed to be a nice event, a tour of the new music addition and the new upgrades at other parts of Franklin County High School.
That was postponed.
The topic was COVID and the number of students with positive COVID test results.
For about 50 minutes, the school board members and superintendent Tammy Chavis engaged in a very thought-provoking and open discussion about the situation and the options.
In the end, the final decision was a compromise. If a family member tests positive, the other students in that family have to quarantine. If a student comes in close contact, in a short amount of time, with multiple students who have tested positive for COVID, then the school nurse can decide if that student has to quarantine. Visitors and volunteers in schools are going to be limited. With case conferences, the first choice is virtual, but if they have to be in person, they can be in person. Field trips are suspended with the exceptions of academic team and FFA competitions. If any building has 20 percent of the student population out with COVID, then there will be an emergency meeting of the school board to see if other measures should be taken. Also, FCHS Guidance Counselor Whitney Gillman will send out a questionnaire allowing parents to opt out of the contact tracing. If they do opt out, then they will not receive a call from the high school about their child being exposed. And if there is a need, Chavis has the ability to hire people to help with the contact tracing notifications. She will use COVID money to pay for those hired in those positions if needed.
If students, administrators and teachers want to wear masks while in school, it is their prerogative. Also, parents can decided whether or not they want their children to be quarantined if notified through contact tracing except where it is a family member who is positive or the school nurse decides a student has multiple contacts with positive students in a short time.
The vote was 6-1 with Grant Reeves against.
Reeves said he believes more stringent measures should have been taken at this meeting, because he believes the school board will be back in an emergency meeting in very short order.
But not even Reeves is for mandatory masks over the long haul. He suggested the masks be temporarily mandatory by building – in the case of high school or middle school — where students mingle in different classes, or classrooms in other elementary buildings where the students are more isolated from other students in the building.
According to Reeves, the current COVID spike should begin to recede about mid September and then there will be a trough. During the times when the COVID numbers are down, then the mask mandate would not be utilized. And if the numbers come down on their own in the affected buildings or classrooms, then the mask mandate would be removed.
Every school board member spoke during the meeting, and there were no raised voices. While there were about 18 people in attendance, and many more connected through audio, no one from the public spoke out during the meeting.
According to Chavis and Reeves, the number of COVID-positive students at FCHS went from three to 33 in one week, which necessitated Monday evening’s meeting.
Almost every board member said they have received a large amount of feedback from the community where the parents do not want a facemask mandate. Board member Justin Moore said there would be a large number of people take their children out of the school system if masks are mandated.
Chavis said the opposite is true also as some parents will take their children out of the schools because they do not believe the school board has gone far enough with safety procedures. However, she admitted the number in that scenario is much smaller than the number who would remove their children if masks are mandated. But, she said the board members and administration should look to the safety of the students as their No. 1 priority.
Several board members said whatever decision was made Monday night would not make everyone happy or satisfied.
Board member Beth Foster explained what she was dealing with concerning this decision because she is a grandmother of a 6-year-old.
She started her comment by saying there are several students dealing with mental health issues due to COVID and how it is affecting their education. Some students felt isolated last year with the different schooling solutions which included virtual learning in different forms. However, her 6-year-old grandson would have problems sitting through a day of school in a mask.
“We have a lot of kids going through mental issues right now,” Foster said. “Not only because they’re isolated at home if we would send them home, or if we try to make a 6-year-old sit all day in a mask. I know I have a 6-year-old grandson, and he would have a hard time in a mask. I don’t know what the answer is either.”
Almost every school board members said they did not have answers for this tough situation. At the meeting’s end, school board president Sharon Wesolowski said being a school board member on nights like Monday night is very difficult.
“I hope people understand this is not easy,” Wesolowski said. “Sitting up here and making these decisions is not easy. Because for as many people who are listening and as many people who are here that have their opinions about what they believe is right, there are just as many people on the other side with very strong opinions about what they believe is right. And we are trying to represent everybody. And this is not a decision that is ever going to represent everybody.”
Board member Secret Brougher pleaded with parents to have some common sense in this difficult situation
“If your kid is sick, don’t send them to school,” Brougher said.
Also, don’t send students to school if a COVID test is pending, they said. Reeves mentioned as he was driving to the meeting, the line around the EMS building in Brookville, where COVID tests are being performed, was wrapped around the building.
https://www.remax.com/real-estate-agents/dennis-kolb-brookville-in/100081480
