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Fayette school board adopts district-wide mask mandate

Decision comes in response to new state guidelines

Justin Addison, Editor/Publisher
Posted 11/19/20

When Fayette students return to school on Dec. 1 they will all be wearing masks. The decision was made Wednesday, Nov. 18, by the district’s Board of Education during its regular monthly …

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Fayette school board adopts district-wide mask mandate

Decision comes in response to new state guidelines

Posted

When Fayette students return to school on Dec. 1 they will all be wearing masks. The decision was made Wednesday, Nov. 18, by the district’s Board of Education during its regular monthly meeting. The move comes in light of new guidance that was handed down from Missouri Governor Mike Parson on Nov. 12.

The new guidance, formed by Missouri’s Department of Health and Senior Service and Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE), was developed as an incentive for schools to adopt mask-wearing policies and as a method to keep schools open while also protecting students and teachers from COVID-19. Under the state’s new guidance, if both individuals at school – the person diagnosed with COVID-19, and the person exposed to the positive case – have on masks and are wearing them correctly, the individual exposed does not need to quarantine. Anyone who tests positive still must quarantine. This mandate will allow for fewer teachers and students to quarantine just because they were near a person who tested positive for the virus. 

Under the policy adopted Wednesday, students and staff who test positive for COVID-19, or who are identified as close contacts for exposure that took place outside of school, must isolate for 14 days. Parents and guardians are expected to keep a close eye on students and immediately remove them from school at the first sign of any symptoms. Quarantined students would transition to online learning.

“Our board and staff want to do everything we can to ensure that our students can remain in-seat and that we can continue to have high-quality instruction in the classroom by the classroom teacher,” said Fayette Superintendent Jill Wiseman. “This mandate increases our chance to keep our students in school and our teachers in the classrooms.”

Fayette had been able to remain open for in-person classes until last week. The district insisted it would stay open unless attendance dropped below 80%. Over the two weeks prior, attendance had dropped as low as 83.4%. By the time the district moved from Yellow Level to Red–which dictates all instruction moves online–more than 10% of school staff had been out on quarantine. 

“The majority of the numbers came from the quarantine side for close contact versus positive cases,” said freshman board member Aaron Bentley. “If we were in this situation with this mask mandate, the number of kids having to quarantine would be much lower and could have potentially kept us above the 80%.”

The Fayette school district transitioned to online classes starting Tuesday, Nov. 17, as a surge of staff and students became quarantined. The change will last until the end of Thanksgiving break when students return to school on Tuesday, Dec. 1. Until now, the district only mandated that faculty and staff wear masks. Students were strongly encouraged to wear masks. Mrs. Wiseman said she has seen a decline in mask wearing among students since the start of the year.

The decision by the board came after around 45 minutes of discussion before members ultimately gave unanimous approval. The board will address the mandate during future meetings in an effort to gauge its success. Howard County Public Health Director Marsha Broadus and Dr. Kevin Frazer attended the meeting virtually to answer questions and give advice. Both supported the mandate.

Dr. Frazer called the mandate a reasonable approach to keep kids in school. “I think this guidance will reduce school spread. It’s going to require masking to be worn appropriately–over the nose, over the mouth–throughout the whole day.”

Kelly Beeler, the school’s nurse, told the board that her opinion is that masking is a good thing and spoke in favor of the new measure. “I think it’s an approach we should try.”

According to data from DESE, the Fayette school district has had 22 positive COVID-19 cases for students aged five through 19 since March 1, and fewer than 10 in the last two weeks.



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