In a regular Cardinal Schools Board of Education meeting Aug. 25, the board voted 3-2 to make mask wearing optional again, reversing the superintendent's decision from last week.
In a regular Cardinal Schools Board of Education meeting Aug. 25, the board voted 3-2 to make mask-wearing optional again, reversing Superintendent Bill Kermavner’s decision last week to mandate masks.
Parents will now have the right to decide if their children wear masks or not while attending school.
However, per a federal mandate, students will still need to wear facial coverings on buses and any mode of public transportation.
“This is all about parental choice, we should be the deciders if our kid wears a mask or not (while) in class,” said Jeremy Davis, a parent of eight children in Cardinal Schools, during the public comment portion of the meeting.
The crowd, almost entirely mask-less, consisted of over 65 parents and community members who had an issue with Cardinal Schools issuing a mask mandate the night before the 2021-2022 school year began after a fifth-grader tested positive for COVID-19.
Up until the positive test result, Kermavner and the board had decided to make mask-wearing optional at the start of the school year.
Wednesday’s meeting — which started at 5 p.m. and did not end until 7 p.m. — was heated and chaotic after the first half an hour, with parents such as Davis yelling at the board and superintendent at various parts, saying they had no right to issue a mask mandate over their children.
“You are not doctors!” someone yelled from the audience, prompting the crowd to cheer.
Wendy Anderson, vice president, said if he and others could not behave, they would be asked to leave.
Kermavner, board President Kenneth Klima and Anderson all agreed masks should be worn until at least Sept. 22, which is the next school board meeting. Klima and Anderson were the two “yes” votes, with board members Linda Smallwood, Barb Rayburn and Katie Thomas voting not to mandate masks.
Klima, Anderson and Kermavner used data showing the success of mask-wearing last year, citing low transmission rates in the schools. They also presented current, updated data from the Ohio Department of Health, Geauga Public Health and evidence compiled from pediatricians at University Hospitals Rainbows Babies and Children’s Hospital in Cleveland that showed how masks can cause lower transmission rates, especially when it comes to protecting the unvaccinated.
“I voted yes because kids need to be in in-person learning,” Anderson said in a follow-up text. “If all kids are 3 feet apart, masked and there’s a positive case, only that child must quarantine. IF we don’t mask everyone and there’s a positive case, we must contact trace (all kids who were within 3 feet for 15 minutes or longer) all kids who fit that bill. It can be the difference in quarantining one sick child versus 15-30 or more being quarantined for a minimum of five days up to 14.”
Anderson said Cardinal’s school policy says they need to follow the guidelines set by the health department.
“If we work to change the policy on contact tracing, the conversation may be different. I’ve done much research both ways,” she said. “I am charged as a BOE member to educate our children the best possible way and keep them safe. There is no way to make everyone happy in this situation.”
However, Rayburn agreed with parents that they should be the ones to decide if their child wears a mask or not while attending school.
“I am not an anti-masker or anti-vaxer by any means,” she said in a follow-up interview. “If you’re a parent and you want your child to wear a mask, that is totally fine and I respect that decision.”
When asked why she voted to no longer mandate masks in the school, she said her “greatest concern is that education is going awry because of diseases, especially COVID, and we have to figure out smarter, better solutions instead of just slapping a mask on a child’s face.”
“Parents are the best advocates for their children,” added Rayburn, who also has children in the district.
She said masks “are not the sole solution.”
“We (on the board) know this is a very difficult time for everyone and we are looking at solutions and new ways to solve these issues immediately,” she said. “We want everyone to be safe in our schools.”
Rayburn added she was concerned about the approaching cold and flu season, and the impact optional mask-wearing could have on the virus transmission rate among students.
“That does make me nervous, it makes me very nervous actually,” she said. “But once again, I do not think masks are the sole solution and with the season approaching, us board members and parents of students here at Cardinal need to come together to find more solutions to the problem(s) we face, as that is our responsibility to do.”
Kermavner did not respond to a request for comment prior this article’s posting.
