Abbott’s mask order leaves area school districts scrambling

On March 2 Governor Greg Abbott issued an Executive Order (GA-34) lifting the mask mandate in Texas and increasing the capacity of all businesses and facilities in the state to 100 percent.

“With the medical advancements of vaccines and antibody therapeutic drugs, Texas now has the tools to protect Texans from the virus,” said, Governor Abbott. “We must now do more to restore livelihoods and normalcy for Texans by opening Texas 100 percent. Make no mistake, COVID-19 has not disappeared, but it is clear from the recoveries, vaccinations, reduced hospitalizations, and safe practices that Texans are using that state mandates are no longer needed. Today’s announcement does not abandon safe practices that Texans have mastered over the past year. Instead, it is a reminder that each person has a role to play in their own personal safety and the safety of others. With this executive order, we are ensuring that all businesses and families in Texas have the freedom to determine their own destiny.”

The news left area schools scrambling to decide what the best solution for their district moving forward, at least temporarily, as the COVID-19 pandemic still remains very fluid with the situation changing by the moment.

In response to the Governor’s Executive Order, Atlanta ISD on March 9, 2021, in a release by Superintendent Sidney Harrist decided to make mask-wearing optional effective March 10. The Atlanta ISD Board of Trustees voted to not require face coverings for students and staff.

In the release, it is noted that “wearing of face coverings is recommended, but optional. Quarantine guidelines are still in effect, therefore when social distancing cannot be maintained, wearing face coverings may avoid mass quarantine. In certain circumstances when social distancing cannot be maintained, staff may require face coverings, such as small group instruction, etc. This protocol change is in line with the recent UIL and State recommendations and may be subject to change if COVID cases increase.”

Shortly after Atlanta ISD’s decision to make mask-wearing optional, the Journal-Sun received a comment from an individual named Sherri that expressed concern in the light that the County continues to be a risk. “The students and teachers are not able to be vaccinated. The schools are receiving money from the government to protect the students and staff and I am wondering how they can be protected if they are not wearing a mask. I am 71 and my grandson already got COVID last Nov and brought it home to our family. We all survived. Some students and teachers at the school had it too. I believe the school should do more to protect the students and staff with the money they receive from the government.” The Journal-Sun is to the district for a response and will post one immediately to this story online.

Superintendent Cathy May from McLeod ISD also sent out a release making face-covering optional, saying that beginning March 15, “masks will be optional at McLeod ISD. We will continue with the many other precautions we have taken during the pandemic. If we see an increase in cases, we will make masks mandatory again. Sanitation, hand washing, and social distancing (to the extent possible) will be essential to keeping our students and employees healthy. If your student is exposed or experiences symptoms of COVID, we ask that you continue to work with us on quarantines. You all have done a great job in helping us manage this strange situation. We have not had any known cases since December! We will respect the choice that everyone makes, so your student can continue to wear a mask if that is what makes your family most comfortable”

On March 8, Bloomburg also made the masks optional with their release on Facebook, “The BISD school board made the decision tonight to allow masks to be an optional requirement for staff and students starting Wednesday, March 10th.” In response to the post, people only responded positively, with no negative comments or emojis.

While in contrast on March 9, 2021, Keri Winters, Superintendent of Schools, LKCISD in a release decided not to rescind the mask mandate for their district. “The School Board of Linden-Kildare CISD met at a special meeting on March 8, 2021, to discuss the updated Texas Education Agency Health Guidelines, as well as data and information about COVID in our district.”

“By a unanimous decision, we believe it is in the best interest of our students, staff, and district to continue requiring masks at this time. We are so close to the end of the school year and especially end-of-year activities, we are doing everything we can to ensure our students, especially our seniors, get to have end-of-year activities. If you remember last year, the Class of 2020 was not allowed to have an FFA award ceremony, Banquets, Spring Talent Show, Prom, and especially traditional graduation. In order to protect our students and parents, and opportunities, we want to be extra careful by continuing to wear our masks. By doing so, we will proceed with all spring activities and banquets,” the release went on to say.

“We certainly do not negate the statement put out by Governor Abbott. We have followed the mandates by the government, CDC, as well as that of the Texas Education Agency. At this point, as we are responsible for the safety of Linden-Kildare CISD students and staff, we want to ensure we are protective of every opportunity our students have coming their way this spring. Many of you have experienced what happens in contract tracing if someone in your friend circle tests positive. If we choose to not wear masks, those contract tracings become even more stringent and difficult to protect your child from being exposed through contact tracing. The masks do help protect us from exposure in contract tracing even if they do not protect us from exposure to the virus,” Winters went on to say.

“We want our students to always be safe. We want our freedoms to choose as much as possible. We are responsible for finding that balance between everyone’s free choice, and protection from exposure in regards to contract tracing. At this point, we are more interested in ensuring all our special Spring activities are protected for all our students, especially The LK Class of 2021. We will review the mask requirement again at our April 19 Board Meeting. LKCISD families can expect another announcement from us following that meeting,” said Winters.

Queen City ISD Superintendent, Darian Dover issued a video release on Facebook explaining that they will have a meeting on March 22 to discuss the issue, and until then there will be no change to the mask-wearing policy. Dover explained in the video that the staff and board want to take the time to evaluate and do some more research and observe how the Governor’s new mask update will affect our area. Dover pointed to the last time that Abbott opened things up to 75% and we saw a spike in numbers.

Dover also wants to give the time to get vaccinated if they choose to do so. According to a release from Texas Health and Human Services, “On March 2, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services directed states to expand vaccine eligibility to include people who work in school and child care operations. As stated in the attached federal directive, this includes those who work in ‘pre-primary, primary, and secondary schools, as well as Head Start and Early Head Start programs (including teachers, staff, and bus drivers) and those who work as or for licensed child care providers, including center-based and family care providers.’”

The only comment on Dover’s post came from Bonnie Kirkes Wright who showed obvious disapproval of the news by just saying “mask burning”. Dover encouraged the community instead of posting their concerns on Facebook, to instead reach out to him through the email communityimput@qcisd.net. In the video, Dover thanked the 18 people who then already took him up on his offer.

The Journal-Sun will continue to offer free COVID-19 content on the CassCountyNow. com website and will continue to provide COVID-19 updates until the virus is no longer a large threat to our community.