On Monday, the Marion County School Board held a marathon emergency meeting, the first since March 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic was just getting started, and voted for a classroom mask mandate with a choice for families to opt out.
The discussion, which lasted more than six hours, took place just over a week after school began on Tuesday, August 10. The large number of COVID-19 cases and direct connections detected in the first four days of school encouraged it.
For the first week, 139 COVID-19 cases were reported, comprising 93 students and 46 employees. These illnesses have been traced to 531 direct contacts, including 456 pupils and 75 employees who are being quarantined.
COVID-19 positives were confirmed in 37 schools and nine district departments, according to the school system.
The board voted 3-1 to enact a mask mandate resolution with an opt-out mechanism, citing an increase in viral transmission caused by the delta strain and a wish to keep schools open. They came to an agreement on a 90-day settlement, with the intention of lifting the mandate once Marion County's transmission level reduces. It will take effect on Thursday and will apply to children riding buses.
Board Chairwoman Nancy Thrower compared this year's COVID-19 report to last year's first week of school on Facebook. There were just 10 positive cases and 44 direct contacts from August 24 to 27, 2020.
“We have to get out of this,” Thrower said at the meeting, “and we have to get back to a more ‘business as usual' school year.”
Options are sought by parents.
In anticipation of a mask mandate, several community members opened the meeting with public comments.
“I can't stress enough how important it is that masks remain optional. Please continue to let parents make the decisions,” said Lindsey Ardmore of Ocala, whose daughter suffers from sensory difficulties that make it difficult for her to focus while wearing a mask.
She stated that if the board members impose a mask mandate without providing an opt-out option, she may be forced to withdraw her child from school.
“I assure you, if masks become obligatory, a lot of people will start pulling their kids out of public school,” parent Samantha Shipwash said, echoing Ardmore.
Brandi Sones of Dunnellon, a parent, is against children wearing masks because they frequently touch them or put their hands in their mouths.
She advised, "Just go back to fundamentals." “Keep your child at home if he or she is sick.”
Two medical staff members also addressed the board. Internal medicine specialist Dr. David Kuhn backed a mask mandate with an opt-out option.
“I'm fed up with COVID. He said, "I know we're all weary of COVID." “Delta is spreading throughout our educational institutions. That spread is only going to widen. Students, employees, and teachers will be quarantined on a regular basis. It has already begun. Classrooms will be shut down. Entire schools will be forced to shut down. This is not the type of educational experience we want our pupils to have.”
Kuhn was backed by Rose Jenkins, a nurse and mother.
She explained, "We're trying to get things under control." “They won't be harmed by a mask. I had to put them on for 12 to 16 hours every day.”
Resolution 3-1 is approved by the board.
In accordance Florida Governor Ron DeSantis' ban on mask requirements, Chairwoman Thrower, Vice Chair Kelly King, and board member Eric Cummings approved a resolution for a mask mandate with an opt-out option. Allison Campbell, a member of the board, is against it.
Cummings had been campaigning for the idea in the weeks leading up to the start of school.
He stated, "We're supposed to make the greatest decisions for those kids while they're in our possession."
He was particularly enraged to learn that parents sent their children to school knowing they were COVID-positive last week, calling it a "blatant disregard" for other people.
“What I am certain of is that we cannot continue in this manner. We've only been in school for four days. Thrower stated, "We have over 500 quarantines." "We have teachers who aren't in school and principals who would have wanted to have arrived earlier today but are quarantined." Our transportation system barely operates at around 70% efficiency.
“I'd rather look at a more proper, more evidence-based masking technique with an opt-out than tell families they'll have to figure out how to get their kids to school because we can't do it in a way that's efficient, dependable, and safe."
Vice Chair King agreed with Thrower that the school district's existing practices are ineffective. She also expressed hope that a mask policy would help reduce the hospital load in Marion County, which had reached an all-time high due to the illness last week.
Campbell, who revealed earlier this month that she had tested positive for COVID-19, feels that since there is no medical reason to do so, parents will just opt out. She also questioned the role of the teacher in policing mask wear.
What will be included in the resolution
The resolution included plans for drafting and signing at a later date, but the board started debating the contents right away. They said they may send masks Tuesday and start enforcing the mandate on Thursday, according to the Star-Banner newspaper.
They talked about all students opting in unless their parents send an opt-out letter, which they can do as soon as Tuesday. On Skyward, they may also present an opt-out option.
Masks will not be necessary outside, according to one of the provisions agreed upon by the board.
Disposable paper masks, which will be provided, are more effective than cloth masks, according to Thrower. The district has face shields in stock, which the board discussed distributing to teachers in addition to disposable masks. They also want to recommend that masks be replaced every two and a half to five hours.
Teachers and employees should be permitted to opt out for non-medical reasons, according to the board. Cummings and Thrower did not believe they should be able to, although King and Campbell did.
“If we keep poking holes in a resolution, there's no reason to do a resolution,” Cummings said, adding that instructors serve as role models and may be less willing to enforce mask wearing if they don't wear them themselves.
Teachers will be required to wear facial coverings when social separation is not possible, and opt-outs will be allowed for medical reasons.
If children see the nurse with symptoms, the resolution will require them to wear masks. Children who do not wear a mask and have not opted out will be disciplined for not following the dress code.
Exemptions for persons who have been vaccinated or who have undergone COVID-19 were not included in the board's criteria for repealing the rule.
During a break in the meeting, the board met with the Florida Department of Health in Marion County, where Administrator Mark Lander advised that the mandate be lifted after Marion County has moved from the CDC's "high" to "substantial" transmission category for two weeks.
To transfer to the lower transmission category, the positivity rate must fall to 8%-9.9%, and the number of cases per 100,000 must fall to 50-99. Last week, the county's optimism rating was 27.4 percent. The number of cases per 100,000 is 712.8.
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