West Ada School District’s board mandates masks — sort of. Here’s how it works
The West Ada Board of Trustees on Tuesday approved a new policy mandating masks for students and staff when they return to the classroom this week.
But the plan had a big caveat — parents who don’t want their kids to wear masks have the option to opt out.
The decision came after a more than five-hour meeting that lasted until close to midnight and included about 90 minutes of public comment from students, parents, teachers and community members.
Hundreds of people attended the meeting, filling all of the seats in the room and lining the walls, with even more people standing outside. The vast majority of people at the meeting were dressed in yellow in support of mask-optional policies. A much smaller group of people were wearing masks and advocating for a mandate.
The board on Tuesday also approved an amended quarantine policy.
As part of the policy, if a person were exposed to the virus in a classroom but were wearing a mask and/or vaccinated, that person would still be able to participate in school and work-related activities, but they would have to wear a mask for the next 10 days and monitor for symptoms. They could also complete a negative test after five days.
The board’s new policies came after trustees in June approved a reopening plan making masks optional and giving Superintendent Derek Bub the “authority to make operational decisions,” which could include putting into place a mask mandate, “if necessary, to mitigate the spread of COVID-19.”
Bub said he had planned to look at the situation on a school-by-school basis, since the district spans such a large geographical area. Bub still has that authority under the board’s new policy.
West Ada is one of several school districts in the state that have been reconsidering and revising their reopening plans as Idaho experiences a surge in COVID-19 cases and health officials warn about the spread of the more transmissible delta variant.
What the experts said
During the meeting Tuesday, trustees heard from two experts from St. Luke’s Health System, who talked about how the increase in COVID-19 cases in the state was impacting hospital capacity and gave recommendations for school reopening. The board said they also invited Garden City pathologist Dr. Ryan Cole — a critic of COVID-19 vaccines — but he didn’t respond. Cole was recently appointed to the Central District Health Board of Health over some objections from the medical community.
“The truth is we’re in trouble,” Dr. Jim Souza of St. Luke’s Health System told the board over video. “And we’re heading for some choppier waters.”
He said if keeping students in school five days a week for the rest of the year was the board’s priority, the district should start the year with a mask requirement for all staff and students.
But, he recommended trustees commit to the fact that it would be a short-term plan and they would move away from that requirement as soon as possible.
The recommendations came after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention several weeks ago released updated guidance recommending everyone in K-12 schools wear masks indoors, regardless of vaccination status.
The doctors predicted if schools opened with a mask-optional policy, there would likely be outbreaks in schools given the rate of infection in the community and how contagious the delta variant is. That could lead to hundreds of people having to quarantine — something that has happened in other districts across the country that have opened with mask-optional policies. It could also lead to more kids, teachers and community members getting sick, and being hospitalized, they said.
Dr. Kenny Bramwell, St. Luke’s Children’s System medical director, urged the community to focus on more than the number of deaths from the virus.
“They are important, but what is far more important to me is the number of people who are walking wounded after having this illness,” he said. “The number of people who for months at a time can’t walk across a room, take a deep breath or think clearly.”
Bramwell said masks have been “incredibly effective” in preventing illness and that there have been no credible studies showing they are harmful.
“I’d also like you to stop thinking about masks as being some sort of infringement on your rights,” he said.
The two said there are no guarantees that masks will make it so students will be able to stay in school five days a week through the end of the year.
“I will guarantee that we don’t know,” Bramwell said. “I will guarantee that right now, our masks, or the wearing of masks, is the best option we have before us. And the higher the percentage we can get of mask compliance, the better things will go.”
The different proposals
During the meeting, Bub presented different options for trustees to consider. The first was that the superintendent would have the authority to implement safety measures — which was the policy the board passed in June.
The second was to implement a mask mandate for all, or for a limited group of students or staff, such as for those in grades K-6. And the third, the one that ultimately passed, was to put into place a mandate, but to allow parents the ability to opt out.
The pros of that option, Bub said, were that it allowed for parent choice and addressed community impact. The cons were that there were inconsistencies among students and that the timing of a change of policy was so close to the start of the school year.
“I like handling it school by school,” Bub told the board before their discussion. “I like having the authority to be able to make adjustments school by school.”
Under the new policy, Bub said communication will be sent out that will include a form that will let parents opt their child out of wearing a mask.
Pushback on both sides
Teachers, students and parents on both sides of the issue spoke passionately to the board Tuesday during the 90 minutes of public comment.
The public comment period started with a number of students, who spoke about their experiences over the past year.
Some students urged the board to put in place a mask mandate, saying the pandemic is far from over and calling it shocking and confusing the board wouldn’t act on this.
Other students talked about how hard it was for them to wear a mask over the past year and asked the board to let them show their smiles this year.
Many parents also spoke — with the majority being in support of mask-optional policies.
Parents argued they deserve a choice in the safety protocols their kids follow. They also pointed to data showing kids and vaccinated adults normally experience more mild symptoms if they get the virus. Parents said their kids struggled with the masks over the past year, experiencing anxiety, headaches and rashes. It also impacted their mental health, parents said.
Those fighting for a mask requirement argued they are one of the best tools to slow the spread of the virus and protect students and staff — especially those who are immunocompromised and kids who are too young to get the vaccine. Vaccines have only been approved for kids 12 and older so far. People said the board should listen to doctors and scientists and put a mandate in place to keep their students safe.
Several groups were represented during the meeting, including the West Ada Parents Association and the West Ada Community for Health and Safety.
The Parents Association, which supports a mask-optional policy, had put forth a plan before the meeting for how its members thought the district should decide what safety protocols are necessary.
David Binetti — who started the group — said the district should look at hospitalization and mortality rates among kids and vaccinated adults, not case counts and positivity rates.
“Our fundamental point is if the danger is significant, then for goodness sake don’t rely on a mask to protect our kids, you need to move to remote learning,” Binetti told the Idaho Statesman on Monday.
He also said there had been a lack of outreach and transparency from the board on the issue. The board made its decision Tuesday less than 48 hours before students head back to the classroom Thursday.
West Ada was not alone in changing course. The Boise School District earlier this month approved a plan mandating masks when students returned to the classroom.
Caldwell High School and two elementary schools in the district will also be requiring masks through Sept. 3, as a precaution, the district said.
This story was originally published August 25, 2021 at 8:39 AM.
