CORE Butte students to wear masks
Marathon board meeting goes 6 hours
CHICO >> CORE Butte Charter School students will be expected to wear masks indoors, dialing back on the school board’s previous decision, after Friday’s lengthy special meeting that surpassed six hours.
The board had previously decided to have masks be optional at its last board meeting. The board also voted to not enforce masks indoors at least until Oct. 4 to give parents extra time to get a medical exemption for their children not to wear a mask.
Now, students who may be seeking a medical exemption are expected to wear a mask until the exemption is approved. The deadline to submit an exemption is Oct. 4.
It was a tense meeting with unmasked members of the public on one side of the bleachers in the gym and masked members of the public sitting on the other side.
Many hours were dedicated to public comments which were both in favor of masks and against masks. Students, parents and teachers all addressed the board.
Vivian Appleby, a trustee, said the board’s intent was misconstrued and that they never intended to put the school in peril. Other board members voiced their opinion against masks.
The special board meeting was called after CORE Butte executive director Mary Cox chose to enforce masks on Wednesday after many students were unmasked by the end of the first day of school.
However, some parents voiced their displeasure with Cox’s decision to enforce masks for all students inside the classroom claiming she went against the board. Some parents urged for Cox to resign.
However, Cox said during Friday’s special board meeting, she made the lastminute decision to enforce masks Wednesday. By the end of the school day Tuesday, Cox said that “there were a number of students not wearing masks.”
“This was a very difficult decision and for that, I apologize to the board. sometimes you have to make last-minute decisions to ensure the safety and health of our staff as well as the longevity of our school,” Cox said at the beginning of the meeting. “The entire leadership team and business officers met and came to an agreement on a course of action.”
If CORE Butte were to operate outside of the guidance from the California Department of Public Health, it would risk losing its charter. The school has to abide by the requirements set by the Butte County Office of Education and the Chico Unified School District. Both BCOE and CUSD have adopted the CDPH guidance on masking.
A few teachers voiced their support for Cox, citing her leadership during the Camp Fire and offering help to other charter schools. Daniel Martin, a government teacher who’s been at CORE Butte for 10 years, spoke in support of Cox during the public comment portion of the meeting.
“She was a leader during the Camp Fire,” Martin said. “We served meals at the church right across the parking lot and that was organized by Mary Cox. She is the woman for this job.”
On the agenda, a “public employee performance evaluation of the executive director” was to take place in closed session. However, the closed session announcement did not make deadline.
The next regular school board meeting is scheduled for 9:30 a.m. Sept. 10.