Mask opt-outs expanded

Mecklenburg school staff allowed to go without; trustees change exposure guidelines

On Friday, an Arlington County circuit court judge issued a temporary order blocking Gov. Glenn Youngkin from enforcing his mask-optional executive order against schools.

Three days later, the Mecklenburg County School Board expanded its protocols by allowing teachers and staff to go without masks if they so choose. Trustees made other changes to school COVID policies at a special call meeting Monday.

Previously, the School Board voted to make mask-wearing optional for students provided a parent or guardian signs an authorization form allowing the student to forego masks. Mask-wearing continues to be mandatory on school buses and in cars under separate health rules enforced by the National Transportation Safety Administration.

Students also are required to wear masks when attending a school-related event in a location where it is required.

At the Feb. 7 special meeting, with Rob Campbell absent, the School Board voted 6-2 to expand the mask-optional policy.

Under the new rules, students can still forego masking, except while riding the bus, if the parents provide a signed authorization. Now, teachers and staff can also go maskless if they desire.

The original policy did not apply to teachers or school staff.

Teachers will not be allowed to segregate their students based on their mask-wearing preference. Superintendent of Schools Paul Nichols made clear that there should be no discrimination against students who either do or don’t wear a mask.

At the request of MCPS Nursing Supervisor Kelly Burns, the School Board agreed that students who are asymptomatic will not be required to quarantine despite contact exposure, and regardless of whether they wear a mask.

Trustees Gloria Smith and Lindell Palmer were the only two members voting against the changes. Board Chair Gavin Honeycutt, Vice Chair Dora Garner, and trustees Brent Richey, Wanda Bailey, Glenn Edwards, and Ricky Allgood voted in favor of the policy as amended.

Before asking the board what actions if any they wished to take relative to the masking policy, Nichols relayed advice from school board attorney Brad King. He said King explained that it is open to debate if the opinion issued by Arlington County Judge Louise DiMatteo extends beyond the seven school divisions that sued. In that case, the school divisions — Alexandria, Arlington County, Fairfax County, Falls Church City, Hampton Roads, Prince William County and the City of Richmond — argued that Youngkin overstepped his authority by ordering local school divisions to provide a parental opt-out on masks.

King also shared the view of several legal experts who believe that if you follow legislation enacted last year by the General Assembly, parents do not have the option of deciding whether to mask their children while attending school or school functions.

Nichols said ultimately health officials are responsible for interpreting guidelines for COVID protocols. For Mecklenburg County Public Schools, that responsibility rests with Burns, the nursing supervisor.

She explained that the prior masking and the current quarantining policies are not preventing the spread of the virus. Instead, they are keeping students out of school and hindering their ability to learn.

She said one class was out for 15 days in January on quarantine because of the contact-tracing protocols. These same students were also out of school for the first week in January when the schools were closed.

“Clinically, what is being done is not making sense,” she said.

Bailey, who has opposed masking rules, said she agreed. “One thing rings true, they [masks] have to be worn effectively and that’s not happening.”

Burns said the better practice is to follow what she described as flu infection rules: stay at home if sick, mask if desired, follow handwashing and respiratory protocols (sneeze into your arm) and implement stringent cleaning standards.

“Only 16 states and the District of Columbia are currently following CDC [Center for Disease Control and Prevention] masking mandates,” Burns explained.

When asked for her recommendation by Richey, Burns answered: make mask wearing optional, do not require the teachers to police masking by students, and distinguish between the need to isolate COVID positive students and quarantine COVID exposed students. “Why send healthy kids home?” she asked.

Bailey asked Burns if she knew why the schools were being required to implement strict contact tracing protocols that included quarantining, when the Virginia Department of Health was not doing the same except in congregate settings such as nursing homes and prisons.

Burns said she had no good answer but was told by local health department staff, “We’re not there yet.”

Bailey, whose husband is a physician, explained her understanding of why the health department has moved away from its contact tracing protocols. It has to do with the ability of the omicron variant to spread quickly and silently. Bailey said by the time symptoms begin to show in one person, others in contact have already been exposed.

Burns said she’s tracked the number of infections and quarantines in the schools for several weeks. Between Jan. 2 and Feb. 5, there were 505 positive cases and another 1,510 students quarantined because of contact tracing. Of those quarantined, only 65 more tested positive. Out of those, 44 were infected by members of their household, not the student or teacher with whom they had contact.

Despite high infection rates in the general community — as of Monday the seven-day metric for Mecklenburg County was 273 cases — the number of positive cases in the schools and the number of contacts decreased dramatically in the week since the school implemented its mask optional policy.

Between Jan. 24-29, there were 115 positive cases and 275 contacts. The next week, from Jan. 30-Feb. 5, there were 53 positive cases and 124 contacts. So far this week Nichols said the school division is down to 10 positive cases.

Bailey said the downward trend of infections in the schools is consistent with what has happened before with the highly contagious omicron variant — a significant surge followed by a rapid decline.

Hearing this, Edwards said, “It’s about time we go back and teach our kids. Unless we do something that makes sense, our kids will continue to fall behind.”

Honeycutt weighed in calling for the board to take a stand. “We’re in the business of educating our children. I was told that people elected you to make good decisions. It’s time we take the division back. Current practices are a detriment to the kids.”

Bailey wondered what other healthcare matters the schools typically handle — checking for vision, hearing, etc. — that were being set aside because the school nurses had to devote their time to contact tracing. “My nurses are doing two full-time jobs,” Burns said, “contact tracing takes a lot of time.”

Smith asked Nichols if he polled the teachers to learn their views about the new masking policy. Nichols said he had not, but has heard from several teachers — those who favor the new policy and those with health concerns who do not want to be around unmasked students.

Regardless of their opinion about mask mandates, Nichols said nearly all teachers he’s spoken with have said they want to teach and not devote their time policing masking rules.

He added that the school division has implemented several protocols to protect the health and safety of everyone in the schools. There are air purifiers in the classrooms and social distancing is in place to the extent possible.

Nichols reminded parents that this new policy puts the onus on them to protect the health and safety of not just their children but the other students and staff in the schools, “With these new freedoms come responsibilities,” Nichols said, while also calling on parents to keep children home from school if they are ill, regardless of the nature of the illness.

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