Expo paused while schools forge ahead

It happened abruptly.

On Thursday, the Pine Bluff Chamber of Commerce was talking about all of the safety precautions that had been put in place in preparation for the Business Expo that was scheduled for Thursday.

Then, on Friday, poof! The event was postponed in response to the spreading delta variant of covid-19.

It is likely for the best.

Probably, attendees and vendors and exhibitors would have acted responsibly during the annual event. But even “probably” isn’t sufficient nowadays. That is especially true if an event is not absolutely crucial.

The Business Expo is, indeed, an important one for the community. Business people from big and small operations, as well as nonprofits, come together once a year to meet and greet and exchange ideas and share success stories. That camaraderie is important, giving a pat on the back to those who are doing it right and encouraging those who are inspired to do better.

But covid is rearing its ugly head again. Many yardsticks that we use to measure the severity of the pandemic are several times worse today than they were a year ago — when we thought things were pretty bleak.

All eyes are now on the beginning of school.

All students who are 12 and up can get the vaccine, although not that many have, and while teachers and staff are not being required to be vaccinated, school districts are bribing them with bonuses to roll up their sleeves and get it. Mandatory masks will be part of the local school landscape, but that could easily be a temporary condition.

For now, a circuit judge in Little Rock has found that a state law banning the requirement of masks is unconstitutional. That will be appealed, no doubt, and will head to the Supreme Court, which will have the final say.

If the high court overrules the circuit judge, students, by choice, will or won’t be wearing masks, with any increase in the infection rate putting those under 12 at the most risk. Those youngsters have not been cleared to get the vaccine yet.

Hopefully, the masks, at least for now, will keep our local schools from having the same problems that Marion School District had. That district started school early — and without masks — and very quickly, there were dozens of positive cases of covid-19 and more than 700 students had to be quarantined.

Even that catastrophe was not sufficient to get the state legislature to rethink that state law banning mask mandates.

On the flip side, it seems imperative that students get back into the classroom. Virtual learning was not a total loss, but education professionals are saying that the learning that happened there fell far short of what takes place in the classroom.

So on the one end, there’s the Business Expo that can be put off until conditions improve, and there’s the beginning of school, which is starting one way or the other. We find ourselves cringing at every turn.