Most of the Iola school principals agree: Their students and staff aren’t happy to return to face masks due to a recent surge in COVID-19 infections.
The principals asked the school board to consider reducing a policy that requires face masks to be worn for at least two weeks when the number of infections in a building reaches 4%.
Currently, all schools except Jefferson Elementary School are under a face mask requirement after cases exceeded that 4% threshold last week. Iola Middle School’s mask requirement will end Friday.
Iola Middle School cases have dropped from a high of 39 to 11, Principal Brad Crusinbery said. He did not otherwise address the mask issue.
Iola High School Principal Scott Carson asked board members if they might consider dropping the mandate to five days or when numbers reach 2% or fewer.
IHS triggered the mandate on Wednesday, with 16 cases. They reached a high of 22 on Friday.
They were down to nine on Monday and expect to have just four cases today “but we’re going to be in masks for another week and a half,” Carson said.
Carson spoke passionately about the difficulty in enforcing a mask mandate for high school students, especially after going without one for most of the school year.
His most important duty is to protect the environment of learning, he said. He took over as principal during the height of the pandemic, in July of 2020, and has faced that challenge every day.
“The shutdown showed me consistency in education is key. We were just getting back to that consistency,” he said.
A return to face masks “kind of sets us back,” Carson said.
The other principals agreed.
Older students either refuse to wear them or don’t wear them properly, they said.
Younger students struggle to keep them on, and at this time of year, they often have runny noses that create a mess inside the mask. Very young students need to see their instructors’ mouths to learn how to properly pronounce words, said Angie Linn, principal at McKinley Elementary.
AFTER the principals spoke, Superintendent Stacey Fager pointed out that the district’s COVID policies allow schools to remain open despite a high number of cases so there’s no threat of canceling classes.
