Parents question the need for masks as beginning of the school year looms

As a new school year looms, many questions remain, including whether students and staff school be required to wear masks.

But when it comes to masks in school, several area parents are telling officials an emphatic "no."

At a recent Twinsburg Board of Education meeting, parents spoke for and against requiring younger students to wear masks.

The district's current policy for the new school year makes facial coverings optional for students 12 and older and for the staff who work with those ages. However, students younger than 12, and the staff who work with them, would be required to wear masks because no vaccines have been approved for children younger than 12.

Katie McVey, who lives in Twinsburg, has four children in the Twinsburg schools.

"Three out of four of them will have to mask," McVey said at the Twinsburg board meeting. "And they don't want to do that again."

McVey said younger children have low risk of serious illness from COVID-19, and that several other districts have made masks optional for all. In addition, the number of people testing positive in Summit County are low.

"They don't justify 3- to 11-year-olds wearing masks all day," McVey said. "Some children cannot understand others, or cannot be understood, with masks."

As of Tuesday, the seven-day average for positive COVID-19 cases is 15, according to Summit County Public Health. So far, the number of positive and probable positive cases for this month is 223.

Jim Lucko, also of Twinsburg, said he agreed with McVey.

"It seems like there are people who feel there are negative effects of wearing a mask," Lucko said. "A lot of things that have been decided don't seem to factor all of the positives and negatives. Give parents a choice."

However, Jeanine Gardinsky, who sent her statement to be read during the meeting, said she was a nurse and cautioned against loosening protocols too soon.

"Once you've ordered a refrigerator truck for bodies, it changes your perspective," Gardinsky said. "And yes, we used them. The looser protocols would be a mistake."

She added that one family's decision could impact other families.

"Yes, younger children generally do not develop serious symptoms, but how would you feel if one child died or had long symptoms?" Gardinsky asked.

Superintendent Kathryn Powers said that she and other area superintendents recently met with Summit County Health Commissioner Donna Skoda, who expressed concerns about the COVID-19 variants and told districts they "may have to pivot" in the coming school year.

In an interview Tuesday, Skoda said the Ohio Department of Health is working on guidance with the governor's office to be released sometime this week to help schools establish mask policies.

"We have asked them to get it as quickly as we can," said Skoda, who has had one meeting so far this summer with Summit County superintendents.

Skoda said her department believes "all children under 12 should be masked and socially distanced since they cannot get vaccinated."

She said children 12 and older who are not vaccinated also should be masked. For children 12 and older who are vaccinated, "masking makes sense depending on community spread, distancing, public health measures, etc.," she said. "Each situation is unique."

If there isn't mask use or proper social distance for unvaccinated children, they will be subject to quarantining if exposed, Skoda said.

More: Reactions mixed to Twinsburg schools mask policy

A Republican lawmaker wants to ban public schools and universities from requiring masks.

Senate Bill 209, introduced last week by Powell Sen. Andrew Brenner, R-19, would prevent public schools and universities from requiring students, staff or visitors to wear masks while in class, at school-sponsored sports or during extracurricular activities.

Local health boards could still take action to prevent the spread of disease, Brenner said.

"This is a good next step because the bill is designed for local health departments to make the decision versus local school boards," Brenner said.

Brenner's proposed ban on mask mandates at schools won't be in place before the start of the 2021-2022 school year. Ohio lawmakers aren't meeting to pass legislation until September and any changes would need 90 days to take effect.

More: GOP lawmaker's bill would ban mask requirements at Ohio's public schools, universities

Meanwhile, the American Academy of Pediatrics this week recommended all students, teachers and staff wear masks in schools this fall, regardless of their vaccination status.

"We need to prioritize getting children back into schools alongside their friends and their teachers —and we all play a role in making sure it happens safely," said Sonja O'Leary, chair of the AAP Council on School Health. "The pandemic has taken a heartbreaking toll on children, and it's not just their education that has suffered but their mental, emotional and physical health. Combining layers of protection that include vaccinations, masking and clean hands hygiene will make in-person learning safe and possible for everyone."

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention also has recommended those who have not been fully vaccinated continue to mask up in indoor settings, especially in crowds and in situations where social distancing can't be maintained.

The CDC also recommends schools maintain at least 3 feet of physical distance between students within classrooms, combined with masking by those who are not fully vaccinated, to reduce transmission. If the social distancing recommendations are not possible, it is important to layer other prevention strategies.

Gov. Mike DeWine recently signed a bill that prohibits public school districts from requiring an individual to receive a vaccine for which the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has not granted full approval. Ohio House Bill 244 also prohibits public school districts from discriminating against an individual who has not received a vaccine that hasn't been fully approved by the FDA.

Currently, the FDA authorizes the use of the Pfizer, Moderna and Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccines under an emergency use authorization but has not yet granted full approval. The bill will not go into effect until Oct. 13.

Stow-Munroe Falls is currently planning to make masks optional for students and adults, but has also stated that the district cannot guarantee 3 feet of distance, which does not align with the latest AAP recommendations. About 90% of staff were vaccinated through the school clinic.

"I would have a hard time going against the American Academy of Pediatrics and saying we should allow students, especially ones that are less than 3 feet away, to be unmasked," school board Vice President Jason Whitacre said.

Whitacre said that AAP "has been pretty consistent since the beginning of the pandemic about what the risks are and aren't for staff and students.

"Hopefully, their guidance is heeded," Whitacre said. "I know it's just guidance at the moment, and the AAP has no legal authority, but I tend to listen to my kids' doctors. I know what I don't know and when it comes to health, I rely on my doctors."

Whitacre said the district cannot mandate vaccines, but it can mandate masks.

In the Woodridge Local Schools district, the policy currently states that masks will be optional for those who have been vaccinated. The district's plan states that "facial coverings are recommended for people who have not been vaccinated or have elevated health risks."

"The language also gives the superintendent the authority to require mask wearing if state or local health orders change due to 'elevated communicable disease community spread,' " according to the back-to-school plan created by Woodridge school officials.

More: Woodridge schools returning to full in-person instruction at all sites

Officials with the Nordonia Hills City Schools have said their aim is to have mask-wearing optional.

"As of now, we are leaning towards going without masks, using our lockers and having our cafeterias open," school board President Chad Lahrmer said during the school board's Monday meeting. "If we get a mandate, whether it is a county mandate, a state mandate or a federal mandate, we will follow it."

Jim Colbert, who said he had five children in the district, said during the meeting that "a mandate is not a law."

"I would strongly encourage the school board to eliminate any sort of mask mandate in the school," Colbert said.

Superintendent Joe Clark said not following the mandates could lead to repercussions, such as loss of funding.

Stacey Kopec of Northfield Center also encouraged the district to not mandate facial coverings.

"I don't think you understand the damage done to students who are being forced to wear these masks," Kopec said. "The kids were happy to have some weeks of normalcy, where they could see each other's faces, and they are horrified that they would be going back to wearing them."

The Cincinnati Enquirer and Beacon Journal reporters Betty Lin-Fisher, Phil Keren and Krista Kano contributed to this report. Reporter April Helms can be reached at ahelms@thebeaconjournal.com

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