Government : V-S School Board leaves masking decision to parents

Vinton-Shellsburg School Board grappled with masking decision at last night's meeting

At Monday night's School Board meeting the choice to leave mask-wearing decisions to the parents passed by a 4-3 vote. Voting in favor of parental control were Rob Levis, Tom Burke, Sue Gates and Jake Fish. Voting in favor of masking were Mike Timmerman, Kathy VanSteenhuyse and Becky Williams.

The meeting opened with an explanation to the attendees about how the public comment time would work. Each visitor was limited to 3 minutes of speaking time. The meeting then began with the public comments addressing the board.

There were 10 speakers who addressed the board. Speaking in favor or masking in an effort to control COVID and its variants were two speakers, both parents. Kaitlin Emrich began. A mom of two in elementary grades. She expressed her concerns that her children were not remaining masked throughout the day, expressing that even though she'd like them to remain so during the day, they were not.  Also speaking in favor of masking was Dr. Maggie Mangold who began by thanking the board for their service and presented a statement to the board. She reminded the board that they had received two letters this week. One was from the Benton County Board of Public Health and a letter signed by 14 area medical professionals asking that the board adopt a universal masking mandate to help stop the spread of COVID. She shared that the two groups had come to their conclusions upon the advice of other medical fields including the CDC and the American Academy of Pediatrics. 

One student addressed the meeting via Zoom, sharing how masks made him feel.  He was against being required to wear them because he said they made him feel sick to his stomach after 7 or 8 hours a day. He said that his friend group agree that they think they should not be mandated. This was just the tip of the iceberg with concerns.  

Two addressed the board expressing the struggles that their children have faced and the way that it has affected their mental well-being. Some drastically and in potentially life-threatening ways. There were others in the audience that I had spoken to prior to the meeting who have also shared with me their concerns about the mental well-being of their children.  In each case, the parent expressed that the lack of masks this year has been beneficial and seems to have helped their children's mental health. It appears that masking affected every age group this way. 

Most of the remaining speakers addressed the hindrances that masks present in learning to the younger children in that K-2nd grade when children are learning to read, learn sounds and are learning to speak.

There was also frustration expressed in online schooling and how it was ineffective.  One parent said their child failed a test three times, and the parent also put in the correct answers and according to the program also failed. Then incorrect answers were put in and the student passed the test. Because of these issues with the online classes the parent felt like online learning was not an option.

One parent called out members of the board finding it hypocritical that they don't mask in public, but they did for the meeting. Other parents expressed that they felt the mandate would begin to chip away at the basic freedoms of parents. Several parents had gone into researching information about how viruses spread. 

Braxton Morrison also spoke on behalf of his children. He said that we pick and choose which things we pay attention to from the CDC. He said that in Iowa obesity increases the risk of COVID along with other diseases, but we aren't really doing anything to make ourselves healthier. He said that the board needed to have physicians from both sides for and against mask mandates and any other issues they need to vote on. 

Two area men spoke to the board on how masks themselves work and how they don't. Joe Mullineaux, an engineer, spoke on the masks themselves. "It's simple math," he said explaining that you have to have the right mask for the right job. He asked, "If you're going to require masks, which one?" He explained the variety of masks available and the different purposes of each. He explained that the only mask effective to stop the virus would be the N95. The simple masks are not designed to stop something as small as the virus he said. He had been studying masks prior to COVID in 2018-2019 and explained that you need to find a mask that filters something as small as a virus particle and would only be the N95. Not doing that he said, is like going to get tires and not telling the shop what size you need.

He explained that if you can smell the smoke from natural burning materials, your mask is not stopping the virus. His conclusion is that masks don't stop anything if they aren't proper for the job, and if they aren't sealed around the nose and mouth.

Dr. Scott Barron addressed the board opening by handing them a stack of paper with research from 1946 until now from the CDC on masks alone. He brought the analysis by the CDC. He said that the information he obtained from the CDC, which was a systematic peer review, did not bring the conclusion that we have been hearing. In a nutshell, the CDC studies say that masks aren't effective in stopping viral particles. He questions why we are being told that when the CDC data shows that this is not true.

Barron also stated that there has been a 22% increase in mental health issues in students since the pandemic and feels like that is not being addressed adequately.  He also expressed concern that the K-2nd grade time is a critical time of learning for children, and that masks hinder this. He explained that while children are learning letters, sounds, how to properly form the letters and say the sounds, children need to be able to see their teachers speak and to be able to hear clearly the teacher. Sometimes the teacher also needs to be able to child's mouth to help them form letters and words correctly. 

Both Mullineaux and Barron stated following the meeting that if you wear the N95 mask for 8-10 hours a day your oxygen level decreases as much as 20% and questioned the board's decision to provide N95 masks to special needs children or others whose parents request them. Mullineaux expressed concern about the board providing those for children to use explaining that while they stop the virus from getting in, they also stop anything from getting out including carbon dioxide decreasing the oxygen level in children.

Following all of the comments, the board quickly conducted the remaining business. Concluding with the final discussion by the board on the topic of masks, Kyle Koppen shared with the board that they had received the two letters mentioned by Dr. Mangold, and also one from the WAMAC schools and in that group none of the schools in our WAMAC district have a masking mandate in place.

Mike Timmerman began by expressing that he thought that masks should be worn at least by the elementary-aged students because they cannot yet be vaccinated. He wondered if the mental health aspect might also affect the students who do wear masks and they see others who do not. He said that elementary kids are resilient and bounce back quickly. 

Jake Fish has three children in elementary school and said that his kids need to see those facial expressions of their teachers and wanted to not make them mandatory. When looking at the number of ill children this year he felt like perhaps the children are playing catch up with all of the colds and flu viruses going around that they didn't catch the last year with the school closing.

Sue Gates expressed that she felt that children also needed to see the faces of the teachers and was also aware that even the young children are facing mental struggles from the masking. 

Becky Williams said that she sees most of the teachers wearing masks as well as the children in the elementary school. But she worries for their health, so she would like to see masking until vaccines are available. 

Tom Burke said that while he has four children, he has to decide for 1,600. He said that he felt like they should just let things continue as they are citing last year when the board had decided on a Monday last spring to mask and the decision was overturned on Tuesday. He also talked to doctors who believed that to speed up herd immunity, unmasking is better. He also feels it should be left to the parents. He said that if they did mask they would need to be universal with the N95s. He said that in prior years, to be if your kid had a slight temperature they went to school. Now they stay home, so the numbers are going to be higher. He said it goes back to further local control, giving control to the parents because they control what happens after school hours.

Kathy VanSteenhyse felt that when the board first began this discussion they decided that they would follow what the Iowa Department of Public Health, Benton County Department of Public Health the American Academy of Pediatrics recommendations, and pay attention to the district's statistics. She said that she felt like they should follow what the medical professionals advise, and follow the data and science. She felt it wasn't appropriate to say, "I'm not going to listen," and because of that, she was in favor of masking.

Rob Levis summed the discussion up with his thoughts. He felt the decision at the state level was bad legislation removing the control at the local level. He said that he is strongly in favor of local control. He doesn't feel that the legislation will stand prohibiting schools from making their own masking decisions, explaining that something that might work in a large district doesn't always work in Vinton.  As to masks, he said that he thinks that they work. He read an article about how cloth masks work somewhat, surgical masks significantly more and N95 even more so. He felt that mask-wearing exceptions could be made for students who suffer because of health or emotional needs.

What he sees around town is that very few people are wearing masks unless the business requires the workers to wear them. He said if the community supported it, there would be more mask-wearing in public, but that is not the case. He also sympathized with the notion that the younger students do need to see the facial expressions and struggle with wearing the masks. Learning and social expressions are his concerns at the younger level.

He also stated that the school would be able to get the N95 masks for those parents who have children in the school and want to use those. 

Following the meeting, some of the discussion carried over to the parking lot. Several parents said that they felt that members pushing for the mandate "didn't have skin in the game" and weren't listening to the parents whose kids are suffering because of the masks. 

Just an observation of the room, of the 25 people who attended or chose to voice their opinion, 5 wore masks. Of the 7 board members, only 2 and none of the staff from the school in attendance wore masks.

Levis concluded the meeting by thanking those in attendance for keeping the conversations and discussions civil even when there was disagreement on both sides.