Crown Point parents still fighting over face masks in schools

One Crown Point parent complained about what he viewed as a lack of timely reporting on COVID-19 infections during Monday’s school board meeting, while another parent urged the board to dump the wearing of face masks entirely.

Those opposing stances epitomize the divide in the nation over schools’ handling of the two-year long pandemic, exacerbated in the past month by raging infections from the omicron variant.

On Tuesday, state data continues to suggest the virus has peaked in Lake and Porter counties, even though both remain in the “red” designation along with the rest of

Indiana.

Both counties reported fewer cases than the previous week. In Lake, 190 positive cases were reported Monday, down from 566 on Jan. 18. Porter reported 75 positive cases Sunday, down from 211 on Jan. 10.

Hospitalizations also decreased in each county.

Brent Houlding, a parent of two children who favors masking, voiced disappointment over the district’s COVID-19 dashboard on its website.

“The dashboard is updated well after the fact and not on a day-today basis,” he said. “Due to the way the numbers are being counted, not in a timely manner, it’s open to manipulation,” he said.

On Dec. 6, masks became optional in the district. If infections rise above 2% in individual schools, students and staff will return to masking.

Houlding said the district should use the metric used by the Lake County Health Department to count cases.

School officials pushed back on Houlding’s assessment.

“We are not trying to skew this information one way or another to keep below 2% so they don’t have to wear masks,” said Superintendent Todd Terrill.

Art Equihua, chief human resources officer, said each school reports data in a spreadsheet that includes positive cases and close contacts.

He said it’s difficult because that data may come from a parent of staff member who stayed home because they weren’t feeling well and then waited two days for a test result before reporting.

“I don’t know that anyone is doing anything intentionally to delay the data, it’s how information comes to us. We work hard for accuracy for the school community to see.”

Another parent, Sarah Miller, told the board it should start turning to an “end game” that includes eliminating masking, even when the infection rate is above 2%.

“I feel you’re just appeasing the other side that’s a little fearful,” she said. “Listen to real data and not just fear and pandering …”

Board member Scott Babjak agreed with Miller.

“Let’s talk about the end game when enough is enough … it’s a very legitimate concern for a lot of people in the community,” Babjak said.

Babjak said although he voted for the mask optional shift with the 2% threshold, he’s in favor of removing masks in all circumstances. “By now, everyone we know has had it essentially,” he said of COVID-19.

Board president David Warne disagreed. “To me, we’re just getting into a kind of routine. I continue to be in the middle of the road myself. To me, in my mind, we’re still on the first lap.”

Warne said he fields call from residents on both sides of the issue.