Coshocton reverses mask mandate
COSHOCTON – The voices of concerned parents were heard loud and clear at Wednesday's special meeting of the Coshocton City Schools Board of Education, as it voted four to one to rescind the mask mandate. The only no vote was Jere Butcher, board president.
About 60 people were in attendance with 17 speaking for nearly an hour. Of those, only one supported the facial covering requirement approved by the board at its last regular meeting. Others not only felt masks should be optional, but said they are detrimental to the mental health and educational development of students.
Board member H. Tad Johnson mentioned a poll showing only 12% of parents in the district were in favor of masks.
“One of the things you can be guilty of as a board member is possibly making decisions without having enough adequate information. That happened to me two weeks ago with this mask mandate,” Johnson said. “I can only speak for myself, but I can guarantee every one of these board members cares 100% about your child and totally about our staff. We're going to try to do what's right.”
Board member Phil Hunt shared his father was the first person in Coshocton County to die of COVID-19. He wants to look into having parents who don't want their children wearing masks to sign a waiver, which one speaker suggested.
“I wouldn't want anything like that to happen to anyone in this room, much less your child,” Hunt told attendees of his own experience with the virus. “I'm just as much anti-mask as everybody else, but I'm more anti-quarantine than anything else.”
Why Coshocton schools imposed mask mandate
At its regular meeting Aug. 19, the board decided to require masks for all students, faculty and guests in buildings during school hours. Originally, wearing of face coverings was going to be optional. Masks remain optional for Ridgewood and River View and they've not made any alterations to safe return to in-person instruction plans. However,
Ridgewood Superintendent Mike Masloski put out an all-call to district parents on Wednesday strongly encourage the wearing of masks.
Coshocton City Schools Superintendent David Hire said the change was made because the board believed wearing masks gave students the best chance to remain in school and keep everyone as safe as possible, especially as most students weren't vaccinated. Hire said they've had five positive COVID-19 cases so far this year with several students and staff missing days for quarantining.
On Aug. 22, the day before the start of the school year, the board announced a two week grace period for mask wearing until after Labor Day. Hire on the school's website said they were allowing the grace period due to concerns and confusion regarding the timing of the board action, forms provided at an open house giving parents an option for facial coverings and the difficulty of wearing masks indoors without air conditioning at the high school. Classes at the high school were canceled on Aug. 26 and 27 due to extreme heat.
Butcher apologized for the confusion and timing of the decision at the special meeting. He said they were not trying to conduct business in secret. Discussion of safety and health guidelines were added the day before the meeting and they weren't expecting to make a change, but felt it was prudent based on information from the Centers for Disease Control and Ohio Department of Health.
“The board collectively said we need to make some sort of decision. We can't just stop this at discussion,” Butcher said of the regular meeting. “In hindsight, I don't know what the board could have done different, because it all came on us so fast. But, we should have had some way to have more public input before that decision was made.”
Protests, parent complaints prompt board to revisit decision
The board was going to revisit the issue at its Oct. 21 regular meeting, but decided to tackle it earlier. The district had heard from many parents upset by the decision prior to the special meeting. On the first day of school, about 25 people participated in a protest in front of the school campus. Spearheading efforts was parent Christopher Brown, who started a change.org petition against the mask mandate that received more than 1,500 signatures in about four days.
“Our children have suffered enough. This will not be our children's new normal. We will not continue to cover the faces of healthy children and treat them as if they're dangerous. We will not shame them into masks and not condition them to fear their friends and peers,” Brown said. “How many of these kids are happy and smiling behind the masks? How many are constantly nervous or scared?”
Heidi Collins has four children in the district. Their father died of suicide five years ago of asphyxiation. Because of that her kids have a hard time covering their mouth and nose.
“Masking my children while keeping them physically, emotionally, mentally and spiritually healthy is not an option,” she said.
Her son, fourth-grader Pierce Peterson, also spoke. With the help of his mother he demonstrated speech issues he has and said being able to see his teachers and peers talk helps with improving his speech.
Amanda Fink, a former paraprofessional, wore a mask and did an exercise on pronouncing the letter A, which was hindered by the covering as the mouth could not be seen.
“In kindergarten, students are supposed to learn foundational skills used for lifelong success. Imagine for a moment how difficult it is for teachers instructing children while everyone is masked. How effectively are they learning their letters, sounds, how to manipulate those sounds into words and even read with their faces covered,” she said.
Megan Hendershot has been a registered nurse for 16 years, has a master's degree in nursing and is an associate professor of nursing science for Central Ohio Technical College. She said her daughter was quarantined this week because of COVID-19 exposure and she understands that need.
“I'm not dumb to this disease or the consequences of this disease. However, I am a mother and I want my children to have a normal childhood. I completely understand the risk and consequences of sending my child to school without a mask. This decision is my decision only. It's not the federal government's decision, state government's position or your position,” she told the board.