Parents, grandparents, teachers share thoughts on masks in schools
Managing Editor Editor’s note: This is the second part of a two-part story concerning the El Dorado community’s thoughts on masks in schools. The first part appeared in the Tuesday, September 1, edition of the News-Times. T he El Dorado School Board held a specially called meeting on Monday, August 30, at the El Dorado High School Auditorium, where local residents were given a platform to share their thoughts on masks in schools.
The same day, the Arkansas Department of Health released its latest report on COVID-19 cases in schools. Since the start of the school year, the El Dorado School District had reported 19 total cases to the ADH, including 15 that were active Monday.
District Superintendent Jim Tucker said 81 students were in quarantine due to exposure that day, in addition to 14 students who had tested positive for the virus. If there wasn’t a mask mandate for the ESD, he said there would have been 460 students in quarantine Monday, representing almost 10% of the district’s 4,800 staff and student population.
Also, five district staff members had tested positive by Monday, and an additional two were in quarantine.
The ESD was one of two local school districts that started the 2021/2022 school year with a mask mandate in place, the other being the Strong-Huttig School District. Strong-Huttig Superintendent Kimberly Thomas said seven students were in quarantine in the SHSD as of Monday, and one student has tested positive for the virus since the school year started.
The Parkers Chapel School District implemented a temporary mask mandate last week after more than 90 students had to quarantine due to COVID exposures in the first two weeks of school. As of Monday, 21 cases had been reported among district students and staff, including 13 that were active.
The Smackover-Norphlet School Board also met Monday to discuss the district’s quarantine situation; Superintendent Jason Black said there were 109 students — almost 10% of the student body — in quarantine. According to the ADH, 10 cases had been identified in the SNSD by Monday, including seven that were active.
The ADH also reported Monday that seven cases, including six active on Monday, had been reported in the Junction City School District, as well as 12 at South Arkansas Community College, where there were also six active cases on Monday. School board meeting Parents, grandparents, teachers, school administrators and even one student shared their views on masks in schools at Monday’s meeting of the El Dorado School Board. Those who wished to share their thoughts were given a 15-minute period to sign up to speak, and Tucker called them up to two microphones, alternating between people speaking “for” and “against” masks in schools. More people spoke “for” masks.
Coach Phillip Lansdell, athletic director for the ESD, spoke in favor of masks, saying they help to support students by allowing them to engage in social and extracurricular activities. He noted that already this school year, a tennis match and a football game have been cancelled because of COVID-19 outbreaks at the other schools the Wildcats were set to face.
“I’m here to talk about how COVID has been affecting athletics. I know to some people that’s not a big deal, but to about 1,600 kids, it’s a big deal,” Lansdell said. “If (masks) help us from shutting down one athletic program or stopping kids playing and not having to miss a game, then I’m going to support it, and that’s what I’m doing; I’m supporting those kids. … I would hate for any senior athletes to have to miss their season, their final season, because we’ve had to shut down an athletic program. We had to do that a couple years ago, and that was devastating to those students.”
Aaron Smith spoke against masks; he cited the freedoms granted to American citizens as reason to not mandate masks.
“This is America. We have freedoms. It’s the parents’ job to decide what’s best for our children - not the government, not the school, but the parents,” Smith said. “If you force my children to wear a mask, we will home school. … I push for all you parents in here to not back down. If they push these mask mandates, home school or private school.”
Debbie McAdams, the ESD’s point-of-contact for COVID concerns, spoke in favor of masks. A health care worker for 30 years, she said she has been trained in personal protective equipment (PPE) use and detailed the impact being out of in-person school can have on children.
“The best way to educate a student is to have a student and a teacher in the classroom,” she said. “The only way to send just the sick student home and keep more students in the classrooms is to have a mask requirement for everyone. Not all students are blessed to have parents to help with homework, food on the table and access to a computer and internet if they are sent to quarantine. … We all have policies and rules in place wherever we work.”
Jill Austin, a dental hygienist who said she has two children in the district, advocated against masks, citing dental problems that can be caused by breathing through one’s mouth. She became emotional as she noted that she is a mandated reporter of abuse and neglect, and children’s facial expressions can’t be seen behind masks.
“I have seen a rise in dental-related problems such as tooth decay, dry mouth and periodontal
disease. It seems that wearing a mask has caused more people to become mouth-breathers,” she said. “Sometimes it’s impossible to tell which children are being abused at home just like you can’t always tell which children are having issues with anxiety when they’re wearing the mask.”
Michelle Henry, director of curriculum and federal programs for the ESD, spoke about her experience as a mother of a Class of 2020 graduate who missed out on key senior experiences due to the pandemic. She said she has another child who is a freshman at EHS.
“She lost lots and lots of life experiences. If you could think back to your senior year, you can think of maybe some of those experiences,” Henry said. “Like most parents, I really looked forward to her senior year and I’d looked forward to it for many, many years. … She lost her senior year on the soccer field; we didn’t get to do the El Dorado Promise signing day; they didn’t get to have the senior prom, senior Campfire banquet, soccer banquet; normal graduation.”
Elizabeth McAdams said that as she listened to others share their thoughts during the meeting, she realized the district had not a mask problem, but a “quarantine problem.”
“If we could change the rules — and I understand that your hands are tied somewhat — but the problem is not that our kids are sick, it’s that they’re being quarantined uselessly,” she said. “Maybe forget all that, you know? Used to, in the old days, remember — sick people stayed home. (That) made a lot more sense.”
Eugene Farley, Sr. said he was a father of three children who graduated from the ESD and a grandfather to two children currently attending El Dorado schools. He recalled that when he crossed the street with his children and grandchildren, he held their hands, saying that simple step to keep the children safe was analogous to the school board’s decision to mandate masks at school.
“I did mandate something, and as a father, I guess I had to, because they’re still with me; they’re still here and they have children of their own. That is that anytime we crossed a busy road, I mandated that I held their hands and they held mine. It didn’t matter how they snatched, how they wanted to go, how they wanted to get away — no problem. I had a mandate on me — that was to hold their hand because we were in the danger zone,” he said. “The reality is that they are in your care, and when they are in your care, you ought to do whatever it takes to make sure that they don’t get in danger.”
As he approached the microphone, Jim Bolding, who spoke against masks, asked Tucker for permission to ask a question of the meeting’s audience; Tucker said no. Bolding said he was a pharmacist for 52 years and said monied interests were behind studies that say masks mitigate the spread of COVID-19.
“You don’t have to look at what the study shows; all you have to look is who paid for it,” he said. “Why should what you believe be forced on me? … You can not prove that masks work 100% of the time.”
Angela Parker, EHS Advanced Placement Biology teacher, spoke in favor of masks, citing the difficulty of teaching — and learning — virtually. She also noted that some students might be safer and more comfortable at school than quarantined for extended periods at home.
“Last year, there was a moment in time where half of my students were quarantined. … Figuring out who was home for quarantine, who was home because they were absent, who was skipping my class made it very difficult for me to focus on the thing that I love the most, and that’s teaching,” she said. “I have three students on my roster right now that I feel are safer at my school than anywhere else. They consistently get love and support and consistency, honestly.”
Dana Ayres, a second grade teacher at Yocum Elementary, spoke against masks. She said she moved to teach in the ESD recently her children had very positive experiences at Yocum; however, with the district’s mask mandate, she said, she has experienced difficulty while teaching young children.
“A few days before school started, I was very disappointed that my choice on whether my children wore a mask or not was taken away. One of my four children that attends Yocum is autistic and he has a lot of trouble with facial expressions … It’s very hard on him,” she said. “I teach lower elementary reading, phonics — that’s all about the mouth. We’re doing the science of reading, and if the children can’t see my mouth and how to form the letters correctly, how can I expect them to do that?”
Jackie McGhee spoke in favor of masks. She said her daughter has children in the district, and she is a nurse at Medical Center of South Arkansas and has personally seen the impact COVID has had on families. McGhee was heckled as she spoke, and when she finished, Tucker asked the audience to treat whoever was speaking with respect.
“I’ve been a nurse up here at Medical Center for 28 years. I can tell you from that perspective, it’s not pretty. It’s not nice when people come up there that can’t see their families; it’s very disheartening,” she said. “At least we can be considerate of others, and just common decency … Wear the masks. I say wear the masks. … It can’t hurt to wear the masks.”
Adam Robertson spoke against masks, noting that the adults present at the meeting had voted El Dorado School Board members into their positions.
“We’re the ones who put y’all in power,” he said. “No one asked me.”
Naman Jamerson, who spoke in favor of masks, highlighted American freedoms and his Christian faith.
“These freedoms that we have right now, were it not for George Washington having the Continental Army inoculated against smallpox, we probably wouldn’t be here having this discussion right now, because at the time, smallpox proved to be a greater enemy for the Continental Army than did the British,” he said. “There are droplets that are coming out of my mouth right now that this mask helps to impede. I have had, since 2015, two cancers. I had part of this lung removed. I am 70 years old. I go to work everyday doing construction work. A lot of my work requires that I use a mask. It’s difficult, but I manage to breathe. … This is the Bible Belt. We are our brother’s keeper.”
Debra Faulkner, a grandmother of three, including two who attend Hugh Goodwin Elementary and one who attends West Side Christian School (where she said masks aren’t required), spoke against masks, noting that she was an X-Ray technician. She suggested that instead of mandating universal masking for all students, staff and visitors, the school board consider temporary mandates based on outbreaks at schools. She noted that she was a COVID survivor.
“I want to make a recommendation for something for you to think about, what’s called maybe temporary restrictive mask policy, which would mean that it would be from school-to-school,” she said. “If there’s positive cases at the school, like a percentage of cases, then we put the masks on the students for 10 to 14 days, and if it goes away, then we can unmask these kids again.”
Alphonzo Hardiman said he has two children in the ESD, including one with epilepsy. Also a COVID survivor, he said he wouldn’t wish the virus on his worst enemy and spoke in favor of continued masking at schools.
“COVID is something that will destroy your life forever,” he said. “How many parents here would literally stand there and let a doctor tell you you can’t go see your child because they’re going to the ICU? Would you fight that doctor? Think about it people. … What I would tell the school board is stand your ground. … I would rather have somebody trying to take care of my child outside of my presence.”
Zachary Rogers, a substitute teacher for the ESD, spoke in favor of masks. He talked about projections for the pandemic’s currently trajectory in Arkansas, and noted that the district often has trouble already finding substitutes.
“I’ve been subbing since last semester. … One of the things I noticed a lot is you’ll have difficulties finding substitute teachers. If we do not have masks, there’s a good chance that more teachers might have to go out, which is going to put a lot of stress on finding more subs, which is already a problem. Not only that, what happens if there aren’t enough subs?” he said. “The overcrowded hospitals — do we want to make that harder on our fellow Arkansans, or easier?”