Districts in state’s NW revisiting mask policies

SPRINGDALE — The state’s largest school district ended its mask mandate this week and Northwest Arkansas’ other large school districts soon will decide whether to do the same.

Springdale’s School Board voted Tuesday to end a 30-day mask requirement for kindergarten through seventh-grade students indoors and on buses. Masks are now optional for all students and staff.

The seven-member board voted 4-1 to end the policy, district communications director Trent Jones said after the meeting. Two members abstained.

Board secretary Nick Emerson voted to end the policy and expressed conflict concerning whether ending the mandate outweighed the risk of more students becoming ill.

Eddie Ramos was the only member who voted against ending it.

“Even flu didn’t make it to our house last year, which is unheard,” he said. “Masks did that and I don’t think we used our common sense Tuesday.”

“As president, I believe my job is to facilitate the meeting,” board president Michelle Cook said of her decision to abstain. “I vote when needed to break a tie or if it’s unanimous.”

Cook said she encourages the community to make choices on masks that are best for their families and school.

“They can do this by adhering to best practices and talking with their doctor,” she said.

Creek didn’t reply to phone calls, texts or emailed requests for comment.

Christina Araiza, who has a 6-year-old attending Young Elementary School, said she’s unhappy with the change in policy.

“This is not about constitutional rights,” Araiza said of wearing masks in schools. “This is about having respect for your fellow human being.”

The temporary policy was set to expire Tuesday, said Clinton Bell, board member. The board may reexamine the policy if needed, administrators said.

Springdale has 21,873 students in grades K-12, according to Kelly Hayes, deputy superintendent.

Northwest Arkansas’ other large school districts — Bentonville, Rogers and Fayetteville, as well as Fort Smith — all implemented mask mandates for staff and students in grades K-12 before this school year started.

The Bentonville and Rogers school boards are expected to consider Tuesday the mask mandates they approved last month.

Bentonville’s administrators will recommend the board continue its mask mandate at least for another month, with the superintendent having the ability to relax the policy if the covid-19 infection rate — new, known infections for a 14-day period per 10,000 residents — falls below 30. The district’s current rate is 51, according to Arkansas Center for Health Improvement data.

Bentonville’s board approved on Aug. 11 its temporary mask mandate policy by a 5-2 vote.

The Rogers board approved its mask mandate by a 4-3 vote Aug. 12. Board President Nathan Gairhan said it will be on Tuesday’s agenda. Public comments will be taken for 30 minutes, he said.

Gairhan was among those who voted in the majority last month but said Friday he’s not sure how he’ll vote Tuesday.

“We’ll have some data presented to us, some new information,” Gairhan said. “I’m looking forward to getting in and studying it.”

Gairhan, a board member since 2016, said he’s never seen an issue inspire as much public feedback as the mask issue has. He said he’s received “a couple hundred” emails about it just since the board’s last meeting.

Fayetteville School Board President Nika Waitsman said she doesn’t expect the board will revisit the mask issue until its October meeting.

Springdale Superintendent Jared Cleveland said he’d like the state to reexamine its quarantine guidelines as well in a Sept. 9 letter he sent to Gov. Asa Hutchinson. Cleveland expressed concerns the state is over-quarantining students.

Current guidelines allow people who have been exposed to covid-19 to remain in school if they’ve been fully vaccinated or if both the infected and exposed person are masked, he said.

The district identified 6,332 probable close contacts who met covid-19 quarantine requirements because of school exposure during the 2020-21 school year, according to the letter. Of those, 104 tested positive for covid-19.

“As an education leader, I see this statistic as 6,228 individuals who were unnecessarily away from either school or work impacting teaching and learning in our district,” Cleveland said in the letter.

The district is experiencing similar positivity rates this year, he said.

As of Sept. 12, the district had identified 785 probable close contacts who met the guidelines for quarantine because of school exposure since the start of this school year. Of those, six people, or 0.8%, have tested positive for covid-19, said Kendra Clay, general counsel.

Bentonville had identified 671 staff and students as probable close contacts as of Thursday, said Leslee Wright, district communications director. Eight people tested positive for covid-19, she said.

“We see value in amending quarantine guidance from six feet to three so more children can remain in class,” Wright said.

A close contact is an individual confirmed to have been within six feet for 15 cumulative minutes or longer within a 24-hour period during the infectious period of a person who has tested positive for covid-19, according to the Arkansas Department of Health.

The Rogers School District has had 845 staff and students quarantine as of Thursday, said Charles Lee, general administration assistant superintendent. Of those, 81 people tested positive for covid-19, he said.

“We follow the Arkansas Department of Health guidelines and will monitor if there are changes or updates,” said Ashley Siwiec, district communications director.

Melissa Thomas, Fayetteville School District health services director, said 197 staff and students have been identified as probable close contacts as of Thursday, but information on how many of those tested positive wasn’t available.

The district had 47 active cases of covid-19 as of Thursday, according to the district’s online covid-19 dashboard.

Current quarantine guidelines are serving district families well, Thomas said.

Fort Smith had a total of 449 probable close contacts as of Sept. 10, according to the district’s covid-19 dashboard. Of those, 92 tested positive.

“We will continue to follow quarantine guidelines as outlined by the Arkansas Department of Health and the Arkansas Division of Elementary and Secondary Education,” said Christina Williams, district public information coordinator, of current quarantine policies.

Cook said a change in quarantine guidelines would benefit all districts as administrators continue to navigate the pandemic.