Majority of board ignores advice of retired physician
The debate that has been taking place for months about wearing masks to reduce the spread of Covid-19 had its time at the regular meeting of the Greene County Schools board of education Aug. 19. The discussion was part of an agenda item, “reopening protocol update.”
The reopening protocol approved by the board in July recommended wearing face masks but didn’t include details of when or why the recommendation would be changed to a requirement. School superintendent Tim Christensen at Wednesday’s meeting presented a rubric for that decision.
Under the rubric, as long as the positivity rate of Covid tests in the school district (as listed on coronavirus.iowa.gov) remains less than 10 percent, wearing masks would be “highly encouraged.” That’s marked green in the color-coded rubric.
If the positivity rate increases above 10 percent over a 1-week average, or if the student or staff absenteeism rate due to Covid exceeds 10 percent, or if there is a positive case in the building, masks are required if social distancing is not possible. That’s yellow in the rubric. A change to yellow would be building specific, not the entire district.
If the positivity rate increases to more than 15 percent or if there is more than one case in a building, the building would be moved to red on the rubric and masks would be required at all times.
Board members started the discussion raising questions about Covid symptoms and how staff and parents would decide to stay home. Board member Catherine Wilson noted her allergy symptoms are also Covid symptoms.
Board member Dr Steve Karber, a retired physician, said the same is true of symptoms of a common cold. “Anybody that has cold symptoms should stay home until they’re better or until they’ve been tested… Our society has encouraged people to work sick… That has to change…If you have any symptoms that suggest you’re ill, you stay out until you know you’re not going to spread something.”
Board president Steve Fisher recognized members of “the public” who wanted to speak, some of them via the YouTube channel on which the meeting was been livestreamed.
High school teacher Darren Jackson said he’d rather go to school with the sniffles because that’s easier than getting ready for a substitute teacher. He asked if teachers would be able to teach remotely if they stayed home; Christensen answered that would be possible.
Elementary guidance counselor Teresa Skalla suggested requiring masks for everyone at school. She said she has health conditions that make her highly susceptible. She worked at the summer school program and wore both a mask and face shield. She said the first day of summer school most children wore masks, but by the third day, not as many did. She said masks would add protection in small classroom spaces, and that even young children would wear them. “If a teacher has a relationship with the kids, they’ll wear a mask. You explain why, you show them how to do it, you expect it, and you reinforce it. They’ll do it,” she said.
“Some people have said that if we can tell girls how long their shorts have to be, we should be able to tell people they have to wear masks,” she added.
“Why is everybody so afraid to just make it mandatory?” board member Mike Dennhardt said. “It’s proven that it stops it (Covid).”
Fisher disagreed. “It’s not proven masks stop it. There’s not proof. There’s a lot of evidence that conflicts with that,” he said.
Board member John McConnell mentioned possible spread by touching surfaces and by touching a mask. Karber answered that infection rates from touching surfaces are less than those from airborne transmission, and said wearing a mask doesn’t protect the wearer, but those near him or her.
Karber called the virus “sneaky,” and said “it’s going to beat us one way or another. Places that have been very good about all the social distancing and masks now see rates going down. Inevitably, we’re going to get it sometime, but we certainly can reduce the rate. Masks will do that.”
Fisher disputed that, too. He asked, “Are we retarding Society’s ability to defeat this virus in the long run by not allowing people… to create antibodies to fight the virus and eventually minimize the virus by doing all of this? That’s the other side of this,” Fisher said.
High school math teacher Patty Fisher spoke to the board remotely. She asked if absenteeism numbers from previous flu seasons would be a benchmark in a decision to move to all remote learning.
School nurse Jill Wanninger answered that in five years at the middle school, absenteeism never hit 10 percent due to influenza. She said the elementary school has reached that threshold.
School curriculum director Karen Sandberg said the leadership team that has met during the summer to develop the reopening protocol will continue to meet, and the team will compare absenteeism to previous “typical” years.
High school social studies teacher Heath Telleen, who is also in a leadership position in the Greene County Education Association, spoke remotely. He said he doesn’t think social distancing will be possible. “I know the things you’ve said are legitimate questions. It seems like the only thing we do know right now, the only thing that can stop the spread, is a face mask. It seems that’s the best play in the playbook and we’re not going to it. I know we want to save our football season and our volleyball season so we’re going to have them mask up, but how much sense does it make that you’re going to wear a mask on the way to a football game but they’re going to sit with 400 kids every day with no face mask on. It’s crazy to think we’re going to be able to stay in school very long. I want our kids to be in school. I just don’t think that without a face mask policy we’re going to be in school for very long at all,” Telleen said.
Fisher said again, “There’s contradicting evidence on face masks. I don’t agree with what you just said about it being the only way to stop this virus.”
“I still say you guys are the school board. You have the responsibility to provide staff members the safest workplace possible, and having face masks required in a building with 400-some kids in it all day would be the best policy… At some point we have to use some common sense on it and have the best protection we can,” Telleen answered.
At the end of the discussion Karber made a motion to require masks of all students and staff. The motion failed, with Karber and Dennhardt voting in favor and Wilson, Fisher and McConnell voting against.
Karber then made a motion to accept the guidelines presented by Christensen. That motion was approve unanimously.
A high school teacher reached out to GreeneCountyNewsOnline after the meeting, saying that staff was never surveyed or asked their opinion on requiring face masks. She said teachers were told it was a school board decision.
She said many teachers were “very upset” by the decision, and noted “hypocrisy” in requiring fans at a football game to wear masks when they’re not in their seats but not requiring students to wear masks in school.
