Heated discussion about masks culminates in compromise

In an effort to find a compromise to the mask mandate debate, the Newton school board decided Sept. 27 that any district building with more than 8 percent of its total student population absent due to sickness for two days in a row must be required to have everyone in that campus wear face coverings for 10 days.

The decision came after hours of intense discussions amongst school board members and public comments from concerned parents, the majority of which were not in favor of the district imposing a mask mandate. School board member Robyn Friedman pitched the compromise that passed with a 6-1 vote.

Newton Superintendent Tom Messinger said in a letter to parents a day later it “was a carefully considered decision.”

If this action had been enacted after Sept. 9, which was when the district began excluding medical appointments from its absence rates, Berg Middle School would have been applying the mask mandate starting Sept. 10 and Newton High School would have its own students wearing face coverings on Sept. 14.

Friedman’s motion is similar to Pella Community School District’s new targeted approach on mask usage in schools. KNIA-KRLS reported on Sept. 19 that if a building reaches 10 percent student absence due to illness for two consecutive days, all students and staff will be required to wear a mask for 10 school days.

Apart from the percentage threshold of sick absences, Newton’s approach is almost an exact copy of Pella. Right down to the 10-school day exit strategy.

Unsure if the district would face legal repercussions if it had instated a full mask mandate in all buildings, the board sought the advice of the school’s attorney, Krista Latta of the Ahlers Law Firm. Latta also provided insight to the federal court’s restraining order blocking enforcement of Iowa’s mask mandate ban.

Latta said, “The claim there is (Iowa Code Section) 280.31 effectively created problems under disability discrimination laws…Those claims were brought under the Americans with Disabilities Act, a federal law, and Section 504, also a federal law, both of which relate to discrimination against students with disabilities.”

In response, school boards across the state have taken the opportunity to decide whether to require masks in school buildings since enforcement of such action has been temporarily prohibited. Early on in the school year, Newton experienced an increase of student absences due to illness, prompting board action.

At one point four out of seven buildings in the Newton Community School District surpassed the 10 percent threshold of absences due to illness. However, the district noted not all absences included in the data were because of sickness or solely because of a positive COVID-19 test. Some were appointments.

When the district began asking parents more specific questions about student absences and excluded medical appointments, the number of student absences had begun to decrease. Regardless, the school board was compelled to utilize an old tool it had been provided in the 2020-2021 school year.

Other solutions are considered

School board member Mark Thayer was the lone “nay” vote in Friedman’s motion, and he was strongly against imposing a mask mandate that could take away a parent’s choice. The crowd favorite, Thayer was often applauded for his remarks. And prior to Friedman’s motion, Thayer offered his own.

Thayer’s proposal — which failed to pass in a 2-5 vote — opted for no changes to the Return to Learn plan but did concede to allow masking if certain requirements were met. The superintendent, Thayer proposed, would first solicit feedback from parents, from teachers and from local public health officials.

At the same time, the district would also take into consideration student sickness rates based on buildings and staff attendance. If the benchmarks are a above a certain point, Thayer said, either limited masking or all masking could take place in a specific building. He also sensed the board wanted a practical solution.

“I think the consensus, the way I feel it, is we want to be as reasonable as possible and not just carte blanche (and say) everybody has to wear a mask starting tomorrow,” Thayer said. “That’s not the way I feel this board is going. But we’re not boots on the ground. Tom has his staff. Tom is administrative team.”

If the board decided on Thayer’s proposal, he believed Messinger’s cabinet could create a detailed recommendation for elected officials.

“I think this warrants a couple weeks to come up with some recommendations that the school officials and the teachers and the parents can at least have some input in,” Thayer said. “And (that way) we don’t look like a bunch of people up here trying to implement policy when none of us work for the school district.”

On the opposite end of the issue was longtime school board member Donna Cook, who freely admitted to being in favor of universal mask mandates. Cook disagreed with Thayer, adding it is the school board’s duty to develop policies and direct how they want the district to be run.

“That’s why our positions are elected and that’s what we need to do,” Cook said. “I don’t think kicking a can down the road or waiting to see if maybe there will be an appeal and it’ll switch over in two weeks is the way to go right now. I don’t think we’re being responsible.”

Thayer said he wasn’t suggesting the school board do that. Rather, he’d like to see input from the aforementioned parties to determine a “reasonable compromise” where masking may be required in some situations. Some board members indicated they had already received that information.

Regardless, Thayer’s motion did not pass.

School board remains focused

Instead of extending the discussion into the next few weeks, board member Josh Cantu said he and the other elected officials need to provide some direction to the superintendent. Board member Graham Sullivan agreed, suggesting it’s their duty to be proactive rather than delay the conversation or action.

Cook said the pandemic hasn’t gone away and cautioned board members against deciding on something that’s “popular or unpopular.”

“I always base my decisions on what’s best for children, whether that’s popular or unpopular,” she said. “I’d like you to guard against doing what may be popular or unpopular, especially in the environment we have tonight. I want folks to understand we’re still in a pandemic. This is a worldwide pandemic.”

As much as people want to see smiling faces and have that sense of normalcy back, Cook said it isn’t normal. The school board member said she could cite a number of articles that she claimed show thousands of schools with mask mandates significantly reduced diseases.

“We are responsible to provide a safe learning environment, and we have a responsibility to protect all children — not just the children whose parents make one choice one way or the other, not just the children who may be medically needy,” Cook said. “We have a responsibility to all the children of our district.”

When elected officials were considering Friedman’s motion, school board member Travis Padget proposed the idea that “yellow flags” or some form of communication be sent to parents to let them know numbers are getting high and that extra mitigation measures may need to be taken.

“I think what we’re going to run into now is when a family’s surprised. And it’s going to create more chaos. I want to make sure we have a dashboard where people can see … I really want some mechanism of communicating with families quick and easy,” Padget said.

Cantu poked holes in Padget’s idea, suggesting an adverse reaction may be seeing more sick students coming to school in order to keep numbers down.

“Communication is good,” Cantu said. “But I hesitate with that because it feels like when you do the flag we’re going to get a bunch of sick kids going to school so we don’t hit a number, right? … There’s a balance there that I think we gotta be thinking about. But communication is going to be key either way.”

Crowd won’t let up, Cook storms out

Oftentimes, the crowd, seemingly against Cook’s viewpoint, spoke out of order when they were told ahead of time to not do so; they were also asked to hold any applause, a request which was repeatedly ignored. Cody Muhs, president of the NCSD Board of Education, spoke up for Cook when she was interrupted.

“Donna sat here and listened to every single comment that every single person here made without a word. I’d ask that you give her the same courtesy,” he said.

When Muhs offered fellow members to make any further actions or continue with the discussion, Friedman asked if the district has the ability to offer vaccine clinics within school buildings. Friedman asked how the school board can increase access to the vaccine. Meeting attendees were shaking their heads no.

“Is that something we have at our disposal?” Friedman said.

Matt Holmes, of Newton, replied, “The pharmacy’s have already got those.”

Messinger said the district has held vaccine clinics at its administration center. Friedman entertained the idea of having the vaccine clinics at other school buildings to increase access to those who want them. Again, many attending the meeting kept saying, “No.”

Friedman said, “It’s by choice.”

Cook added, “Right. Only with parental permission.”

Micah Cope, of Newton, replied, “Oh that matters now? Parental consent matters now?”

But the outbursts and comments became too much for Cook, who requested Muhs excuse them from the meeting or she will not continue.

“I’m not going to be called names and be said things behind my back,” Cook said. “I’ve tried to ignore it. I’ve had enough. It’s not OK. I did listen to everybody’s comments. And I didn’t judge. I don’t make comments. I’m OK with us disagreeing.”

Muhs appreciated Cook’s request but wanted to continue the meeting with those who want to view it if at all possible. Muhs then asked the audience to respect the board’s discussion. Friedman requested the board move on to the other items on the agenda in order to solve the situation. But Cook still left.

“I’m not going to be disrespected,” she said.

Contact Christopher Braunschweig at 641-792-3121 ext. 6560 or cbraunschweig@newtondailynews.com