Why MCSD enforces mask mandate while other Columbus-area school districts go optional
As some Columbus-area schools districts and private schools loosen their mask policies, Muscogee County superintendent David Lewis prefers a “layered” strategy for fighting COVID-19.
MCSD’s coronavirus cases, at their lowest level of the school year, have declined for nine straight weeks, prompting stakeholders to wonder when Muscogee could join the local trend and change its mask policy from mandatory to optional.
“While I’m always grateful to have less quarantining of the children in person, I think the question that’s on a lot of people’s minds too, though, is when we think we might be able to move to mask optional and get these masks off, especially these little ones when they’re sitting at their desks,” Laurie McRae, the MCSD board’s vice chairwoman and District 5 representative, asked during the Oct. 25 meeting.
Her question came after discussion of an agenda item titled “Revised COVID Protocol Update.”
The policy change didn’t concern masks, but instead was about no longer requiring students and employees in close contact with a COVID-infected person to quarantine from in-person classroom instruction, as long as the close contact happened in a classroom setting and everyone involved was wearing a mask covering their nose and mouth.
Lewis emphasized the mask policy must be considered in the context of the entire COVID protocol, “making sure you have layered approaches in your mitigation strategies and then taking those or removing those one layer at a time, not to do it all at one time.
“So, in this case, we feel like the most prudent way to make sure we have more students that can stay in school is through this approach (making the quarantine policy less strict) with masking in place for now.”
Administration’s rationale
The Georgia Department of Public Health allows the quarantine guidance to be less restrictive only when the students are fully masked, MCSD risk management director Tracy Fox said in response to McRae’s question.
Referring to his panel of medical experts advising him to determine the district’s COVID protocols, Lewis added that vaccinations for kids ages 5-11 would be a first step toward considering changing the mask policy.
“Once there’s an appropriate waiting time for the vaccine to actually become fully effective, there may be a possibility of us moving to mask optional at that point,” he said.
Friday, the Food and Drug Administration issued emergency use authorization for the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine to be administered to children ages 5-11. It’s the first permission granted for this age group to be immunized against the coronavirus in the United States.
After the meeting, the Ledger-Enquirer asked McRae for her reaction to the administration’s rationale.
“The answer seems to be that we will be able to go mask optional once the younger children have the opportunity to get the vaccine, which should be mid-November, and the necessary time period passes for it to take effect,” she said in an email. “I will not be satisfied if this does not hold true.”
McRae wants makes to be optional, she said, to allow students and teachers to communicate more clearly and see each others’ facial expressions. This is especially important for elementary students, she said.
The majority of people, especially parents, who have shared with her their opinion about the policy think masks should be optional, McRae said.
“I have been asking and will continue to ask about the district’s mask policy,” she said. “I don’t know that it has any influence, but I always pass along what I am hearing, and I want answers so I can explain the administration’s policy to those who ask.”
Other board members
The superintendent is empowered to decide the COVID protocol without board approval, MCSD attorney Greg Ellington told the L-E.
“State law and local policy provide the Superintendent with the authority to make operational decisions in general and to implement safety measures in particular,” Ellington said in an email.
As the elected representatives who hire the superintendent, board members can influence such executive decisions.
Board chairwoman Pat Hugley Green of District 1, Nickie Tillery of District 2, Naomi Buckner of District 4 and Cathy Williams of District 7 told the L-E they support continuing the mask mandate. Vanessa Jackson of District 3, Mark Cantrell of District 6, Philip Schley of District 8 and citywide representative Kia Chambers didn’t answer the L-E’s questions for this article before publication.
“I believe that the Superintendent should continue to follow the advice of the medical panel and CDC guidelines as we approach year two of this pandemic,” Green said in an email. “I agree with the approach of having multiple layers of safety measures, which includes requiring masks, to mitigate the spread of the deadly COVID 19 virus.”
Tillery also praised Lewis for relaxing one COVID restriction at a time.
“Removing the mandatory quarantine is a great way to keep kids in school and allow them to continue their growth in physical, mental and educational areas,” she said in an email. “School provides so much more than just an education to most of the kids that attend MCSD.”
Buckner wants the district to “proceed with ultimate caution in order to keep children safe. As information changes, the superintendent will modify the mask policy based on facts.”
Williams noted the declining number of reported coronavirus cases in MCSD as evidence that the mask mandate works.
“It has proven to be an effective protocol to limiting the spread in our schools,” she said. “… I feel like the administration has done an outstanding job balancing the need for our student and staff safety with the critical need to return our students back to the classroom.”
Community feedback
Williams estimated two dozen constituents have contacted her about the mask mandate this school year, and it’s “fairly even between the pro and con.”
Although uncertain about the number of comments she has received from constituents regarding the mask policy, Buckner said all who have contacted her support the mandate.
“Many of the people that I have talked to have been negatively impacted by COVID,” she said. “Others believe that they have remained safe, without incident, largely because of mask wearing.”
MCSD’s mask mandate comes up in nearly every conversation Tillery has in Columbus, she said, with the pros and cons essentially split evenly.
“I have listened to so many people who have valid reasons for wanting the masks and people who would prefer for it to be optional,” she said. “We are moving in the right direction, and there will be hiccups along the way, but our goal is to keep everyone healthy, in school and emotionally/mentally supported during this time.”
Green encourages the administration to keep relying on the expert opinions instead of the loudest ones.
“Unfortunately, the passionate conversations surrounding this pandemic have many different focuses,” she said. “It is important that leaders remain focused on the health and safety of students, families and the community. Dr. Lewis receives feedback from Board Members and governs appropriately.”
This story was originally published November 3, 2021 at 11:34 AM.
