Schools across the county are navigating a deepening debate among parent groups about whether schools should mandate masks.
Indiana required masks at all schools last school year, but state officials decided to leave the decision to individual districts this year. Locally, the Johnson County Health Department could recommend schools mandate masks based on what they’re seeing, which they have not done. But the county does not have the authority to mandate masks at schools. Only the districts themselves can make the decision to require students to wear masks, and so far, none have.
Among the county’s six public school districts, only Clark-Pleasant schools requires masks in any form. Effective Thursday, all staff members are required to wear masks in classrooms and in indoor congregate settings, according to a video from Patrick Spray, the district’s superintendent.
From the first day of school July 28 through Wednesday, the district had 48 students test positive for COVID-19 and 288 students identified as close contacts, 29 of whom were vaccinated. Unvaccinated students who are listed as close contacts are required to quarantine for two weeks after exposure to a positive case.
“While we believe face coverings provide an additional layer of protection for our staff regardless of vaccination status, we also believe that modeling the wearing of face coverings for our students is the appropriate step as well,” Spray said in an email. “Some students may be hesitant to wear a mask amongst their peers, but having the adults in the building wearing them may provide the support they need.”
The issue of masks in schools has gathered much debate among parents on both sides, including at Center Grove schools, where no one is required to wear a mask, said Rich Arkanoff, superintendent.
“I get, maybe, one or two emails a day on both sides of the coin,” Arkanoff said. “Some people appreciate having the option; some people are asking to change it to mask mandatory.”
Parents against potential mask mandates have been vocal at local school board meetings.
At a June Clark-Pleasant school board meeting, parent Traci Staley spoke out against any potential mask mandate. Staley founded the Indiana Against the Mandate group, referring to Indiana’s previous mask mandate.
“As a concerned mom of a student myself, I’m opposed to mask mandates,” Staley said. “It’s hindering social development and raising (children) in a society based on fear, not science.”
At a Franklin school board meeting Aug. 9, parent Amanda Sorlie said masks caused her children anxiety.
“Children have been affected by masks. They’ve suffered anxiety, stress, bullying by peers and teachers. My daughter was getting headaches and couldn’t focus or concentrate. My son developed breathing problems,” Sorlie said.
The use of face masks results in a 70% reduced risk of infection from COVID-19, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Another study cited by the CDC shows 11 school districts in North Carolina that required masks showed low in-school transmission rates even when community transmission was high.
Some parents are disturbed by the lack of a mask mandate.
“I was very upset and also a little bit surprised, given how much information we have about the danger of this new variant and how it can impact kids,” said Rachel Carpenter, the parent of a child at Northeast Elementary School. “My child is too young to have a vaccine at this point. I find it difficult to understand why they wouldn’t take safety precautions to keep kids safe from something we know is highly contagious and very dangerous.”
The rise of the virus’s Delta variant triggered recommendations from the CDC advising all people wear masks indoors in areas of elevated infection regardless of vaccination status. The variant is driving a local surge in cases this summer. Johnson County had a seven-day rolling average of 64 cases a day as of Friday, more than 21 times the rolling average of three cases a day on July 5. The positivity rate in the county is more than 10%, according to data from the Indiana Department of Health.
Though they haven’t done so, Greenwood schools superintendent Terry Terhune said he and other administrators are looking at COVID-19 case numbers daily to determine the best course of action.
“I explain to parents I’m trying to make the best decision for kids and the staff. It’s not easy. It’s very polarizing. For everyone passionate about wearing a mask, there’s someone that’s equally passionate about not wearing a mask,” Terhune said. “We started off the school year more normal, but now schools are spreading out kids at lunch and reorganizing classrooms for more distancing.”
If Greenwood schools does implement a mask mandate, it will likely occur in short intervals, such as three weeks at a time, he said.
It is frustrating for administrators to have to make decisions that were made previously at the state level, Terhune said.
Neighboring states Illinois and Kentucky are requiring all students to wear masks in schools.
“I think the state of Indiana has really missed an opportunity to lead during a pandemic,” Terhune said. “They’ve put all that responsibility on local school officials, not health experts. We’re not trained in those areas. It’s become a political hot button issue. It’s not fair to us, to the school community, to our kids, who they put in a tough spot. What I would like is for someone at the state level to say, ‘this is what the state of Indiana will do.’ Kentucky and Illinois have stepped up, why can’t Indiana?”
A change.org petition to reinstate a mask mandate at Center Grove schools had gathered 78 signatures as of Friday. Some parents are also concerned Center Grove bus drivers aren’t enforcing a federal mask mandate on public transportation, which includes school buses. One of those parents is Eric Leucking, a parent of students at Center Grove Elementary School and Center Grove Middle School Central.
“There’s a federal mandate for masks to be required on the school buses. Center Grove is not enforcing that,” Leukers said. “I ask my kids if they’re seeing kids not wearing masks, and my daughter told me two kids on her bus weren’t wearing them.”
Leukers believes the best path forward is a district-wide mask mandate, he said.
“I think it’s important for kids to have an in-person learning experience. The best way to do that is to institute a mask mandate. The numbers indicate we’re at a substantial risk,” Leukers said.
While school bus drivers provide masks to students who don’t have them, their primary job is to drive the school bus, Arkanoff said.
“Bus drivers are doing a super good job reminding kids to wear masks, but their priority is being a bus driver,” he said.
Center Grove schools has had 23 COVID-19 cases since the start of school Aug. 6, and those numbers are low enough to continue to keep masks optional, Arkanoff said.
“Right now, we’re in a mask-optional phase because that’s something we can still do, and right now our numbers are pretty good,” he said. “We hear from both sides of the coin about masks. We will continue to monitor our numbers and if we start to see an increase, we will adjust the strategy and talk with other school districts.”
With no option for students to learn entirely online this school year, and with schools having no liability if a child gets sick, parents who are anxious about their children’s safety should have a family conversation about how to educate their children, Arkanoff said.
“Schools are not liable. It would be really difficult to prove where someone (caught COVID-19),” he said. “I think it’s a family decision. They need to have that family conversation and make that decision for themselves.”
