Superintendent Richard Baird, pictured right, presents a #NUPride Award coin to Dr. David Dunkin, who practices family medicine. Since 1995, Dunkin has attended the Friday night football games on the sidelines to care for athletes. (Journal-Tribune photo by Ally Lanasa)
The North Union Local School District had seven confirmed COVID-19 positive cases among six students and one staff member as of Monday, Superintendent Richard Baird told the school board at its meeting that evening.
“That is a downward trend as you know,” he said. “We’ve had a total of 101 cases this year. There are 21 students who are actively in quarantine at this time.”
Student absences are excused with verification of quarantine or isolation.
The superintendent added that school buildings notify parents of close contacts as soon as possible and low contact letters may be sent to whole classrooms.
“COVID-19 rapid tests are readily available from the school district. Each building has an ample supply of all of the rapid tests that any family or staff member will need,” Baird said.
Masks remain optional district wide in schools. However, masks are required on public transportation, including school buses.
“The district acknowledges that a federal mandate requires the wearing of masks on school transportation. All families have been notified of this along with signage on the buses,” Baird said. The district asks the bus driver to continue to focus on the safety of the operation of the bus rather than the enforcement of the mandate being the first priority.”
Robert Warner, a parent of a North Union Elementary student, addressed the board about this federal mandate.
“Yet, on the first day of school, we noticed that our son’s school bus driver was not wearing a mask. My niece and nephew told us that their bus driver did not wear a mask and told them that masks were optional,” Warner said. “Prior to this meeting, my wife provided the superintendent and school board with a packet of information. Appendix P of that packet is the Public Transportation Mask Order. In that order, it is outlined that masks are required on public transportation, including school buses, and that operator must implement best practices to comply with the order.”
Warner said his wife contacted the superintendent about the noncompliance with a photo of the unmasked driver and sent a follow-up email a month later.
“The only answer we received for our concerns on buses was that the mask mandate was ‘completed with signage and a request for support from families,’” he said.
He added that video evidence shows bus drivers “not complying with these mandates for weeks.”
“The school knows masks are required on buses, (knows) they are an effective mitigation factor, but they are choosing to not act on the lack of compliance. This is negligence,” Warner said. “This is why the board of education must vote on a universal mask mandate at this meeting tonight, and the school needs to enforce that mandate. It’s necessary to keep our students and community safe.”
Other parents also requested the North Union Board of Education vote for a mask mandate.
Renee Warner, Robert’s wife, learned that quarantine is not required if there is a universal masking mandate when their son was exposed to COVID-19 at school and was instructed to quarantine for 10 to 14 days. She encouraged a mask mandate to “improve continuity of education.”
“Parents are sending their exposed children to school, yet the district believes that family support is how we reduce spread,” she said. “How can we get that support when some still don’t believe COVID is real? When some have situations that make quarantine impractical? A mask mandate that allows all our kids to be exempted from quarantine is the logical solution.”
Renee Warner sent the superintendent statements from the CDC, American Academy of Pediatrics, the Ohio Hospital Association, Memorial Health, the Union County Health Department and Gov. Mike DeWine supporting the efficacy of masks in schools.
“I also attached to my email a link to a petition that has 128 parent, caregiver and concerned citizen signatures that support a vote of yes to protecting our kids with a mask mandate. Listen to these voices, call a vote and vote yes to a universal mask mandate tonight,” she said.
Danielle Geerdes explained how masks can reduce the spread of COVID-19 and sought a vote for a mask mandate to protect students and community members.
“Kids can also transmit COVID to their loved ones after they have been infected at school. If a child is asymptomatic, their parents may unknowingly take that child around other family members and friends in the community, exposing the virus to those more vulnerable and more likely to experience worse symptoms and death,” Geerdes said. “That means when cases occur in our local schools, it directly impacts our entire community.
“Imagine the devastation to a child’s mental health after finding out that they brought a virus to a grandparent or loved one, especially if that results in the death of that person,” she continued.
In addition, Geerdes asked the board to revise the COVID-19 continuity plan about universal masking in the future when there are “a certain number of positive cases in a school building and individual classroom.”
“You have a responsibility to create a safe learning environment for all students, and right now you are not doing everything you can to ensure their safety,” she argued. “Please do what is right for the safety of all our children and this community by voting yes for universal masking tonight.”
The board did not engage in any further discussion about universal masking in the district.
Board member Shelly Ehret, who represents Tri-Rivers Career Center, said Honda of America Engine plant in Anna donated three robots to the center’s RAMTEC facility.
She also said Dr. David and Alice Bailey have pledged $50,000 to establish an endowed scholarship fund for Tri-Rivers students attending Marion Technical College.
Tri-Rivers has a renewal levy on the Nov. 2 voting ballot. The cost to taxpayers remains the same as the existing levy, $20.98 per $100,000 of property value per year.
Then, Instructional Coach (K-12) Jodi Hoffman and Chief Academic Officer Dr. Erika Bower gave a presentation about the district’s numeracy plan, which was developed from the basics of the literacy program to increase students’ math testing scores.
“Our vision is to prepare all students with the skills and knowledge necessary to become enthused about mathematics while challenging them to see the value and beauty of mathematics in order to empower them with the opportunities mathematics provides,” Bower said, stating the numeracy vision.
Goals of the numeracy plan include “vertically aligning instruction with a focus on depth of knowledge; progress monitoring of all students on a regular basis to ensure the strategies we utilize are effective and implemented fidelity; aligned, targeted intervention that is progress monitored to support readers who are not at grade level and embedded and on-demand, ongoing professional development to understand and implement the mathematical practices and literacy standards for technical subjects.”
In addition, the policy committee met before the board meeting on Monday to review changes to the school’s policy regarding permissive language and new legislation. The committee members also discussed adding a Juneteenth holiday next school year.
In other news, the council approved:
-Amending the board-approved date of the North Union FFA members to stay overnight at the National FFA Convention in Indianapolis from Oct. 22-25 with the agronomy team leaving on Oct. 21 to Oct. 27-30 with the agronomy team leaving on Oct. 26.
-Girls Soccer as a Varsity OHSSA sport starting the 2022-2023 school year.
-A district Remote Learning Plan.
-To adopt a resolution to establish district discretion for hiring substitute teachers in accordance with Senate Bill 1.
-The Collective Bargaining Agreement between the North Union Local School District Board of Education and the North Union Education Association for the term of July 1, 2021-June 30, 2024.
The calendar committee will meet on Nov. 9 at 6:30 p.m. and the outdoor facilities committee will meet on Nov. 10 at 6:30 p.m. at the administrative offices, 12920 Rt. 739 in Richwood. The meetings are open to the public.
The next school board meeting is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. on Nov. 15 at Tri-Rivers Career Center, 2222 Marion-Mt. Gilead Road in Marion.