SCHOOLCRAFT, MI -- Schoolcraft schools will comply with the mask mandate issued by the county health department, but district leaders said staff will be instructed to not confront students regardless of compliance.
After nearly two hours of public comment from concerned parents, the Schoolcraft Board of Education voted 6-1 in support of a recommendation from the superintendent to comply with the mask mandate issued last week by the Kalamazoo County Department of Health and Human Services.
While the recommendation was to formally comply with the mandate, the superintendent said told the group of about 150 parents gathered in the high school Monday, Aug. 23, that his staff will not confront students or parents whether they are wearing a mask in the school or not.
The mandate, issued Wednesday, Aug. 18, said students in kindergarten through sixth grade must wear a mask while indoors at school.
Related: To mask or not to mask? One district argues for parent choice despite Kalamazoo County mask mandate
“I refuse to put our kids and our teachers in the middle of this fight,” Superintendent Rick Frens said. “Our staff will be instructed to not confront parents or students. This compliance plan will also not exclude students, nor shame them or staff for wearing or not wearing a mask.”
The superintendent said all students and staff will be notified of the mandate and parents will be reminded of the mandate by administrators if their children are not wearing a mask.
“As a school district, we’ve stated clearly we believe in parent choice regarding the level of protection they choose for their students,” Frens said. “The mandate from the health department does not currently allow us to choose non-compliance as a response.”
The health department could take legal action against the district and administrators do not want to spend school resources on a legal battle, the superintendent said.
Board member Wade Rutkoskie said he voted against the recommendation because of the large number of his constituents who were against the mandate. He also said the board lacked enough data from the health department to warrant a mandate.
Board President Jennifer Gottschalk said while she personally agrees with the parents arguing for choice, she pledged to protect the district’s staff charged with teaching students through the divisive time.
“If I am clear about anything today is that no one will confront our staff in our buildings, or say one word to them or I will be standing in front of you,” the president said. “We all need to be respectful. If you can’t, please do not come in our buildings.”
The president said the vote to follow the mandate was likely not the outcome that many parents hoped for Monday night.
“I am not happier than anyone else sitting in this room, but legally we don’t have a way to spend school resources on the mandate from the Kalamazoo County Health Department,” she said. “We have to find a way to move forward. We are not going to stop fighting. That’s one thing I’m going to tell you. We will continue to fight this mask mandate.”
Prior to Monday’s meeting, Frens said the board was seeking additional information from the health department before deciding whether to comply with the mandate. The superintendent said the district sought additional data from the health department on pediatric cases and hospitalizations from the health department, but had not been given that information at the time of Monday’s meeting.
Students return to the classroom in Schoolcraft on Monday, Aug. 30.
A spokesperson with the Kalamazoo County health department could not be reached for comment by the time of publication. The mask mandate includes everyone, regardless of vaccination status, who provides services to those students in K-6. Adults who provide services to students identified as medically fragile, regardless of age, are also required to wear a mask.
Before hearing the board’s vote, a couple dozen parents took turns at the microphone. Most argued against the mandate and for parent choice. Parents quoted the Founding Fathers, read the dictionary definition of “freedom” and argued passionately against what they called “government overreach.”
Parent Kyle Selvidge said the mask mandate was not based on science but rather fear and a way to push the COVID-19 vaccine.
“This is an absolute joke,” he said of the mask mandate.
Parents said masks aren’t effective but instead have negative impacts on students, especially their mental health. Ultimately, the group of parents said whether students wear masks at school should be up to individual parents and not the district or the health department.
Brian Kudary, a father of two in the district, said the health department does not have the best interest of children in mind because they did not consider the impact of the mask mandate on students’ mental and emotional health. Kudary also said the issue of a mask mandate was simply about freedom and liberty.
“I fully respect and support the freedom and liberty of parents who feel safer having their children in masks,” he said. “That’s their decision as parents, as free Americans they should have the right to make that decision. And doggone it, so should I.”
About a dozen people at Monday’s meeting wore masks and a handful spoke out in favor of mandating them for the entire school community.
Marty Cobb said not everyone will be upset about wearing masks in schools this fall.
“One of the reasons that my son prefers to wear a mask is because when my whole family had COVID, that impacted his mental health,” Cobb said. “When he saw his brother have trouble breathing, that affected his mental health pretty steeply. Now if he can think of anything that might be able to keep his loved ones safe and to keep him safe, he’ll want to do that.”
Parent Sarah Dickman said the delta variant is more contagious and the district must remain diligent to protect the community and keep kids in schools.
“I don’t know if people are following it in other states where schools have already started, but they are quickly shutting down,” Dickman said.
A similar debate is playing out in multiple school districts across the region.
Mattawan Consolidated School mandated masks because of the health department order about a week after parents argued for hours against a mandate. In Climax-Scotts, a couple hundred parents were expected to attend the Board of Education meeting Monday to protest against the mask mandate.
Portage Public Schools is mandating masks for all students and heard from dozens of upset parents at their board meeting Monday night. In an update to the district, Superintendent Mark Bielang said the mandate would need to include Curious Kids and Young 5 students and staff as well as seventh and eighth grade students and staff.
The district’s youngest learners are in classrooms in the elementary schools while seventh and eighth grade students share a building with sixth graders. In order to comply with the health department’s order, the mandate needed to extend to include those students, Bielang said.
The health department mandate is effective immediately and remains in effect until six weeks past the date the COVID-19 vaccine is authorized and available to people age five years through 11 years old.
Currently, vaccines are available for children age 12 and higher.
Also on MLive:
Kalamazoo health care leaders ‘alarmed’ at COVID-19 resurgence, urge the unvaccinated to act quickly
Jackson County schools remain mask optional after health department guidance
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