• Home
  • /
  • Topics
  • /
  • Regarding Item L on the 15 Apr 2021 Regular Board meeting agenda

Regarding Item L on the 15 Apr 2021 Regular Board meeting agenda

Viewing 8 posts - 1 through 8 (of 8 total)
  • Author
    Posts
  • #352
    Danielle Weston
    Participant

    Below are the TEA Public Health Guidelines regarding masks first published on 12 Mar 2021 and reaffirmed by TEA on 25 Mar 2021. The pdf of this document is attached to Item L on our on-line agenda. It can also be easily found in an internet search. Without board action, these guidelines are a mandate from the state. Thus far, there has been no board action on these guidelines.

    2. Schools must comply with the following requirements:
    Every student, teacher, or staff member shall wear a mask over the nose and mouth when inside a school building, school facility, facility used for school activities, or when in an outdoor space on school property or used for school activities, wherever it is not feasible to maintain six feet of social distancing from another person not in the same household; provided, however, that this mask requirement does not apply to the following:
    • Any person younger than 10 years of age, except where a school system determines it is developmentally appropriate;
    • Any person with a medical condition or disability that prevents wearing a mask;
    • Any person while the person is consuming food or drink, or is seated in a dining area to eat or drink;
    • Any person while the person is: (a) exercising outdoors or engaging in physical activity outdoors; and (b) maintaining a safe distance from other people not in the same household; or
    • Any person while the person is giving a speech for a broadcast or to an audience.

    Below are my suggested edits for implementation in RRISD to the original bullets regarding the select circumstances in which masks are optional as permitted by TEA guidelines. Edits only pertain to the first and fourth bullet.
    Edits address legitimate learning, and development concerns for our youngest students. Edits also address safety concerns as temperatures rise here in central Texas.
    • Any person younger than 10 years of age
    • Any person with a medical condition or disability that prevents wearing a mask;
    • Any person while the person is consuming food or drink, or is seated in a dining area to eat or drink;
    • Any person while the person is: (a) outdoors or engaging in physical activity indoors or outdoors;
    • Any person while the person is giving a speech for a broadcast or to an audience.

    #367
    Dr. Mary Bone
    Participant

    Trustee Weston, Thank you for starting this important discussion since it affects our students and staff almost every minute of their day.

    With only six weeks of school left I think all masks should be ban from RRISD. Yes, masks should be fully ban and no one should be allowed to wear one, after all it is only six weeks.

    This is how it sounds to people in our district that are asking the Board to make masks optional. For them and me it is not six weeks it is about our children and their continued suffering with children begging not to attend school due to the restrictive mask policies. Most of these children have been the resilient students that braved going back early in the year when others chose not to.

    I hope as Trustees we do not trade one person’s comfort for another person’s pain. Just as most things in life some people have wonderful experiences wearing masks but for others it truly causes both physical and emotional harm. The one fact that I know is that children and staff are suffering under our current policy because I have been given personal testimony describing this along with data. Parents know what is best for their child. I will not ask to ban masks nor condone the continued forced masking of people. I support making mask optional for everyone in RRISD which is in line with the Great State of Texas, City of Round Rock and many Texas Independent School Districts that have already made mask optional. It is time for RRISD to do the same.

    I also have heard that a concern about funding has been brought into play regarding this topic and I personally will not trade a child’s literal pain and suffering for any amount of money. I also fully believe due to the data the administration has shared that that our district has lost more students and funding due to having some of the most restrictive policies on masking in the area. Parents will continue to choose to leave and make different educational choices for their children next year if we do not show some sign of compromise. I think the changes proposed above by Trustee Weston is a good start to showing genuine compromise and care.

    #368
    Danielle Weston
    Participant

    Colleagues, this is the motion I have prepared for tonight on Item L:
    “I move that the following two clarifications to the TEA Public Health Guidelines be adopted in RRISD effective Apr 19, 2021 though the end of the 2020-2021 school year. Firstly, make it clear that masks are optional for students under the age of 10. And secondly, make it clear that masks are optional outdoors under all circumstances and that masks are not required indoors while exercising for all persons.”

    Given the drastic decline in the data including cases, but most especially the uncoupling of the link between hospitalizations and deaths state wide and here locally, it’s time to pivot to data driven decisions when it comes to requiring children to wear a mask in order to receive a public education. TEA Public Health Guidelines first published on March 12, 2021 are entirely appropriate as our starting point. The two clarifications I put forward in my motion are reasonable clarifications and address legitimate learning and development concerns for our youngest students. They also address safety concerns as temperatures rise here in central Texas. The fact that putting a mask over a student’s mouth and nose has been prohibited by the Texas Education Code for years should remind us that looking for an exit ramp to this practice must be prioritized. The data speaks for itself and provides that exit ramp. The good news is that TEA Public Health Guidelines already make it clear that masks are not required when persons are able to socially distance, even indoors. This applies to all persons on RRISD property.

    As trustees we have received much communication from the community including many parents, teachers and school nurses in recent days. We have also heard from area physicians, nurse practitioners and nurses. We are getting conflicting guidance, articles, research and perspectives from all of these community members and I appreciate their input. There is no consensus among our school nurses, teachers or area healthcare professionals on whether masks should be required in RRISD any longer. The CDC has published the results of their research on the efficacy of masks in a public setting. Their own research found a 1.8% difference in the spread of Covid when mask mandates are in place versus when they are not. This negligible difference means we are now at a point where the downside of requiring children and staff members to wear a mask all day long far exceeds the upside. This is why we are seeing state and local mask mandates being lifted. Furthermore, over 90 school districts across the state have lifted their mask rules originally put in place in 2020.

    As a trustee of this school district, I feel compelled to acknowledge that I do not believe that continuing to require persons to wear a mask while on public school property is going to withstand legal scrutiny for much longer.

    The mental health and academic progress of our youth has taken a beating over the last year. I want these things reversed and tonight’s motion is a good first step. I commend our teachers and staff for rising to the tremendous challenges this year has brought.

    Regardless of how the board votes on my motion tonight I want to make it clear that I think it’s extremely important to provide this community with clarity sooner rather than later on what they can expect next school year regarding masks. Parents deserve to know what educational experience they can expect for their children and staff members deserve to know what working conditions they will be under as well. All stakeholders need to know what to expect in time for them to plan accordingly for the 20210-2022 school year. We owe the community that clarity.

    #371
    Cory Vessa
    Member

    Dear Fellow Trustees,

    While I voted to keep our current protocols in place until the end of this school year, I think it is important we revisit this issue. Very soon, all of our employees who want to be will be fully vaccinated, and likewise parents. It is anticipated that soon (likely before August) all children 12+ will have a widely available and effective vaccine. Of course, variants are always a concern and I hope and pray that our current vaccines are effective against them. So far, it seems they are. I am hopeful that as vaccines become available to more of the population, the prevalence of the virus in the community will diminish.

    It has been suggested that as a result of these steps forward that we move toward more mask choice for summer school and next school year. I am amenable to the idea to the extent it is feasible and warranted by pandemic conditions. For the 2021/2022 school year, I would like to explore giving parents choices in elementary in the classroom (a classroom that requires masks or where masks are optional), while maintaining masking in public spaces. I also think it might be feasible to lift mask requirements in high school (if all students have access to an effective vaccine) and with some limitations, because 6th graders are mostly under 12, in middle school.

    I appreciated hearing your thoughts on this matter.

    #372
    Danielle Weston
    Participant

    Trustee Vessa, I am glad to learn that you see value in providing the clarity I called for in last night’s meeting to our community re: masks. Stakeholders deserve to know sooner rather than later whether masks will be required in RRISD during the summer months and in the 2021-2022 school year so that they can plan accordingly. Thank you for soliciting the thoughts of all of us. I am happy to share mine.

    I was disappointed that just as statewide and local mask mandates are being lifted, my colleagues voted last night for even more restrictive masking requirements than the TEA Public Health Guidelines mandate. I don’t think this decision will age well and that’s why I warned against it last night.

    Covid-19 isn’t leaving RRISD any time soon. It will be with us for a while, masks will not. We cannot delay moving to a mask-optional standard until Covid vanishes or until there is zero risk. It’s likely that many (if not most) of the staff and students who have tested positive for Covid and/or been hospitalized with it did not acquire it in RRISD. A virus is impossible to control or track 100%. Leaders are charged with weighing risks and making decisions.

    The three data points I have been looking for with regard to making masks optional in RRISD have been:

    1. An on-going trend of low data points (cases/hospitalizations/deaths). This trend began in late January and has continued to where it is now at a very low plateau. As an example, today in Williamson County, there were 12 new Covid cases. I haven’t seen that number that low since I started tracking this daily in November 2020. WilCo has 600k residents. But mostly I look at hospitalizations and deaths. The data clearly shows that the link between Covid hospitalizations and death has been successfully broken, probably since the vaccine has reached a majority of the most at-risk population. Travis county has a population of 1.3M and their data is proportionately similar to that of WilCo.

    2. 100% of RRISD staff age 65+ being granted access to the vaccine. We know that this population has suffered the wrath of Covid more than any other group. Dr Presley briefed us in January that 100% of our 279 employees over the age of 65, 100% had been given the opportunity to be vaccinated. As I recall, around 70 of these employees opted out of receiving the vaccine.

    3. Every RRISD adult staff member (of all ages, including those in the extremely low risk age groups) having access to at least the first dose of the vaccine. As I previously stated on this message board in a separate post, I was briefed by the county on 19 March 2021 that this metric had been achieved by this date (19 Mar 2021). Out of an abundance of caution, I waited until the end of March (30 Mar 2021 to be exact) before formally requesting the topic of discussing mask rules be added to our meeting agenda as soon as possible. Pres Weir added it to the 15 Apr 2021 meeting (last night’s meeting).
    These metrics are very meaningful. All 3 reduce the likelihood of not only acquiring the virus, but also these metrics mean that for anyone who does contract the virus, the symptoms will be lessened and the likelihood of hospitalizations or death reduced significantly. These metrics do not guarantee zero risk. No reasonable metric will guarantee that. These metrics provide a prudent exit ramp. Given that the metrics I needed to see had been met, I was 100% comfortable in moving to a masks-optional standard in RRISD on 30 Mar 2021.

    Since I did not believe that a majority of my colleagues would join me in this move, I scrutinized the TEA Public Health Guidelines and looked for reasonable edits that could be made to address the biggest pain points among students with masks for the remainder of this school year while maximizing safety. I developed two edits to the guidelines and presented them in a motion last night. These edits were born out of many e-mails we’ve received from parents, teachers and school nurses ever since I was sworn in in late Nov 2020.

    First, it became obvious that requiring our youngest students to wear a mask was very problematic. I’ve learned that mask wearing for a young child and teacher is a big barrier for students who are trying to learn to read and learn their phonics. I have learned how important it is for student and teacher to be able to see each other’s mouths when learning these basic skills. Teachers have explained this to me. This is just one example of how mask wearing is especially problematic among our youngest students. There are additional psychological and physical harms that it brings as we have all learned in the e-mails we receive. Thus, my suggestion to not require children under 10 to wear a mask was born.
    Second, it was clear that wearing a mask outdoors is very problematic as well as wearing a mask indoors while exercising. I didn’t need to see this in the e-mails to realize this, but there it was, over and over again. This has always seemed obvious to me as I have never worn a mask outdoors and never indoors while exercising. This is common sense. As an example, I have learned that children have been required to wear wet masks (whether from sweat or rain) all the way home while riding the school bus. This is obviously problematic. Why not put the mask away when it’s raining or when it’s sweaty? Thus, my suggestion to not require masks outdoors at all or indoors while exercising was born.

    I was surprised and disappointed that my motion to adopt these reasonable edits failed.

    I do not support any threshold for moving to a mask-optional standard to hinge on vaccine legalization or availability to minor children. It never occurred to me that this would ever be put forward as any sort of decision criteria for moving to a masks optional standard in our public schools. I do not support delaying a decision on making masks optional in order to wait on a vaccine for children. I also do not support some classrooms requiring masks and some not. That would lead to a logistical nightmare. I believe anyone, in any classroom or facility, should be free to wear a mask(s) whenever they choose.

    Furthermore, as I said last night, I do not believe that requiring masks in our schools is going to withstand legal scrutiny any longer. Just this afternoon, the Katy ISD Superintendent released a statement to his community stating, “Katy ISD will return to a completely normal operations on 1 Jun 2021. Students and staff will no longer be required to wear facial coverings and daily COVID-19 notifications will cease.” This is significant for several reasons. First, recall that Katy ISD is the defendant in a lawsuit that has been levied by a group of parents challenging their mask requirement. This statement from KISD changes the dynamic of that lawsuit meaningfully, virtually rendering it irrelevant. Additionally, Katy ISD has a student body of approximately 80k, over 30k more students than RRISD. KISD is now the largest ISD I am aware of that has set an end date for their mask requirement. This is their exit ramp.

    Where is our exit ramp? I can only speak for myself. I want masks to be optional in RRISD now.
    Ninety Texas ISD’s have already taken the exit ramp.

    I want to suggest that whenever we finally do move to a masks-optional standard, can we please provide an N-95 surgical mask for any staff member who wants one? These masks are MUCH more effective that the cloth masks virtually everyone is wearing now. This might help those who are still very concerned feel safe when masks become optional for all.

    #374
    Anonymous
    Inactive

    Trustee Weston, I appreciate the fact that you diligently monitor the dashboard data and are in constant communication with your constituents. However, it might still be helpful to consult the health authorities, and actual virologists and epidemiologists when interpreting data points such as (1) and drawing conclusions. Similarly, for the proposed edits, it might be helpful to learn from k-1 teachers on tools and creative solutions to teach phonics in-person and PE teachers about indoor exercises and their readings on COVID & indoor sports.

    I don’t see myself as a leader, but rather a public servant. Your N-95 comment is not appropriate.

    #375
    Dr. Mary Bone
    Participant

    Trustees,
    My goal has been and always will be to have clarity of district protocol and policies. I believe that our children flourish when there is clear consistent guidance in the educational system they live in daily. Last Thursday April 15th, 2021 the RRISD Board voted (agenda item L.1) 5-2 to: “Maintain the current RRISD district COVID protocols put in place by the administration for the district for the 2020-2021…rest of the 2020-2021 school year.” Trustee Weir further pointed out this protocol could be found online. The district protocol “Parent/Guardian Guide for COVID 19 Health and Safety Protocols” (V.1.10.19.2020) can easily be found on the Reimagining Education website.

    In this board approved protocol, the following is the stated regarding Masks on Page 5 under 2.a:
    “All students in Pre-K through Grade 12 and all teachers, staff and adult visitors, should wear a facemask (no valves/vented masks) on busses or other school transportation vehicles, inside school buildings, and anywhere on school grounds, including outside. Students may choose to remove or keep their masks on during outdoor activities such as P.E. class and recess. Students who remove their mask should still appropriately socially distance from others.”

    During the virtual board meeting today (April 20th, 2021) Dr. Presley briefly mentioned that some of the administration was on school property during our virtual meeting in their offices with their masks off and that this practice is allowed. I wanted to clear up that I am in full agreement with Dr. Presley that masks are optional as stated by the board approved protocol for “All students in Pre-K through Grade 12 and all teachers, staff and adult visitors…”

    I hope this post clears up any concerns about anyone choosing to not wear masks on district property and I hope messaging to district parents, staff, teachers, and visitors can be established for clarity and consistency in following the published protocol that has been approved by the board.

    #376
    Danielle Weston
    Participant

    I appreciate that clarity Trustee Bone. The definitions of “should” and “must” have been known for centuries. They also have legal definitions.

    I have combed through all 17 pages of the board-approved “Parent/Guardian Guide Covid-19 Health and Safety Protocols” publicly available on the RRISD website. It is void of any mention of administrators being allowed to remove their mask while in their office. But since the district policy for all persons is that masks “should” be worn, it’s not problematic at all for an administrator to not wear a mask while in their office, or anywhere else.

    My expectation is that all protocols and policies be followed as written and approved.

Viewing 8 posts - 1 through 8 (of 8 total)
  • The forum ‘Round Rock ISD Trustees Message Board’ is closed to new topics and replies.