Parents, students, board members and administrators took the opportunity to voice their thoughts on masks and quarantines Tuesday at a special meeting of the Fairbanks Board of Education.
While all agreed that in-person learning is best for students, there was a sharp divide about how to make that happen. Some participants urged the district to disregard state mandates for restrictions and quarantines while others advocated for students to wear masks and hopefully avoid the need to quarantine.
Superintendent Adham Schirg said that while more than 180 students have been quarantined, until Tuesday, COVID had “relatively low impact” on the district operations. However, he said Tuesday hit the district hard. He said five teachers are out, either quarantined themselves or with their own children.
“That had a substantial impact,” Schirg said.
He said the district is scrambling to hire a third permanent substitute and added that several district departments are “three to four individuals away from having a dramatic impact on our staffing levels.”
He noted that recommended distancing is “an impossibility.”
Megan Pacha, a parent and a nurse, told the board that while COVID is more contagious and more detrimental, it is similar to other illnesses and it isn’t going away.
She told the board she would not have her children wear a mask.
“I am not doing it,” she yelled.
She said quarantine guidelines are “inconsistent.”
Pacha asked if the district had considered the consequences of having students quarantined. She asked the district to disregard state regulations that dictate when a student is quarantined.
Dan Wright, a parent in the district, said he does not want the district to honor state guidelines about quarantines.
“We are to the point in life where they are fearing us into submission and everyone knows it,” Wright said.
He compared quarantines to a lunchroom bully.
“You are either going to wear a mask or we are going to quarantine you. We are going to punish you one way or another,” Wright said.
He blamed district officials, saying “this quarantine stuff is not acceptable.”
“At some point, the leadership at your level has to step forward,” he said. “Following the state guidelines that you know aren’t right is not acceptable.”
He added, “at some point, we need to start fighting back.”
Another parent told the board that her daughter becomes frustrated and has violent outbursts if she has to wear a mask.
Parent Jonathan Bailey went further. He said he applauds the district’s decision to allow parents to choose whether to mask students or not. He said he is angered, however, by the district’s language urging parents to have students wear masks.
“I certainly don’t need my children to be influenced by teachers or the staff about masks, one way or the other, if it is parental choice,” Bailey said.
He said that when teachers encourage students to wear masks, “they are pitting the children against the parents.”
“Look into your hearts to determine if it is truly parental choice if children are being given any guidance whatsoever, by teachers or administrators,” Bailey said.
Schirg shared a statement written by parent Eryn Staats.
“It’s the (board of education)’s charge to do what is best for our kids and isn’t that following the physicians’ recommendations?” Staats wrote. “Before COVID-19 we all trusted the doctors to care for our children. Why are we not now with this novel virus? Why are we not listening to them as they learn more about COVID-19?”
She said local state and national health officials are “all banning together to plea with our schools to mask up.”
“Please, ask yourself why this school district isn’t listening to our medical community and then decide what Fairbanks should do to protect our kids,” Staats wrote.
Students Jordan Perry and Carly Lehman also addressed the board, asking the members to consider a mask mandate.
Perry explained that mask wearing “could decrease the number of students that would need to be sent home due to COVID case spread.”
She said many students and staff members are concerned about the number of quarantines and worry they could lead to more disruption in the school year.
Lehman said she wants to be able to do the things that high school students do, including have a basketball season with fans in the stands. She said if COVID or quarantine numbers get out of control, the district will need to limit activities or consider online and hybrid learning options.
“It is important to me to keep masks on and to protect what we have here because we have a really good community that we all care about and I want a normal high school experience,” Lehman said.
Board member Brian Phelps asked if students were wearing masks. He was told that in the high school, most students with specific goals, whether athletic or academic, were wearing masks while others were not. Mask wearing is spotty at the other buildings.
He was told symptom assessment, however, was higher with the elementary school students than with high school or middle school students.
Schirg said continuity of instruction is important, but is extremely difficult.
Board members said there is no easy answer.
Board member Angie Bouic said she is “a strong advocate of anti-masks” and believes parents should have the choice, but wonders if that is what is best for students and keeping them in class.
“I served this country for that very right — freedom of choice,” Bouic said. “But my problem is, as a board member, my job is for those students and staff. And we, as a community, need to come to a compromise to figure out how we can effectively educate our kids.”
She added that doing what’s best means that “sometimes you have to look past how you feel.”
Bouic said the way to “bypass” the quarantine mandates and keep students in school is to wear a mask.
Board member Derek Nicol said he doesn’t like them and neither do students, but that by wearing a mask, it is “very easy to overcome” the quarantine mandate.
Schirg stressed that the district does not impose the quarantines, the health department does. The district simply enforces them. He said he and the district cannot simply ignore the state rules.
Audience members asked if the superintendent was recommending a mask mandate. He said he was not but board members will meet weekly to discuss the current COVID and quarantine numbers.