By GARLAND KENNEDY
Sentinel Staff Writer
Local schools plan to transition away from mandatory mask wearing once the current surge of virus cases passes, Superintendent Frank Hauser told the School Board at Wednesday night’s meeting.
He likened the current pandemic to the one in 1918-19, the Spanish Flu.
“No pandemic lasts forever,” said Hauser, who is in his first year as superintendent. “We put the masks away for over 100 years and we will do so again. SSD was wearing masks long before I arrived... This is the year we’re going to be putting them away again, hopefully for more than 100 years.”
But that will happen only after the current surge passes,” he said.
“Until we are on the other side of this surge, we’re going to continue wearing masks in SSD,” Hauser said. “We need to keep our students and our staff safe to keep our schools open… The data suggests that brighter days are just ahead.”
While a rise in school-related virus cases may be expected, the district will work to keep students in school and participating in activities, Hauser said.
Some board members said they have been involved in many conversations regarding district virus mitigations in recent months.
Board president Amy Morrison was absent and excused, and Andrew Hames presided at the meeting in Harrigan Centennial Hall.
Addressing those attending the meeting in person or online, Hames said, “I just want to remind everyone that we receive a lot of feedback through multiple channels and even just today, a lot of emails have come in from lots of different perspectives, and I want to assure everyone that we take those perspectives into consideration through the process we’ve developed to try to hear as many voices and concerns as possible.”
Another board member, Paul Rioux, said he had a number of conversations with people regarding mitigations, and mentioned the December board meeting when dozens of people turned out to speak against school masking protocols. He pointed out that board members can’t respond directly to public testimony regarding items not on the meeting agenda.
“A lot of folks maybe didn’t understand the process... Due to the Open Meetings Act, we can’t really have a discourse on stuff that’s off the agenda. I really appreciated the people who stayed until the end of the meeting (in December). I had some really good conversations, I had a lot of people reach out all over the place over the last month,” Rioux said.
Speaking for Sitka Tribe of Alaska during the government-to-government portion of the meeting, Dionne Brady-Howard thanked the board for taking measures to protect children,
“We as a Tribal government have faced similar questions in terms of the protection of our Tribal citizens, particularly regarding the protection of our children. Because as a Tribal government and as a Tribe in general, one of our most sacredly held values is to take care of our children… We wanted to just express our gratitude and also our support to the School Board for the extraordinary measures that you have taken in the interest in protecting our children as part of the children of Sheet’ka,” Brady-Howard said.
About 20 members of the public were present in person, and some two dozen others logged in to watch the meeting online.
In the public comments portion of the meeting, comments ranged from criticism of the district’s mask requirement to endorsements of it. Some speakers questioned the efficacy of masks and vaccines, and others supported continuing virus mitigation in accordance with CDC guidelines.
Sitka High student Taliah Fredrickson testified about the importance of attending classes in person.
“When we took a year online it was very damaging to my mental health... When we finally got back in school I was overjoyed,” Fredrickson said. “Just to be back in school was worth it to me... I’ve never been personally affected by a mask. It feels as simple as putting on a coat to me. I’ve never really found anything wrong with it.”
Jeremy Twaddle said people should have a choice.
“I’m not pro-mask, I’m not anti-mask. I’m not pro-vaccine, I’m not anti-vaccine. I’m pro-choice, and I think that is why these people are all sitting here, people on both sides,” Twaddle said.
Dawn Young also supported a voluntary mask policy, and asked the board to include public testimony at last month’s board meeting in the official minutes of the meeting.
Wayne Winther spoke in opposition to the COVID mitigation policy in the schools, which he characterized as “ongoing abuse of our children.”
Sitka High senior Darby Osborne spoke in favor of masking in schools. Like Fredrickson, Osborne stressed the importance of in-person education.
“Staying masked, at least during this spike, is what is in the best interest of students and children,” she said. “Right now we need to think about how we can continue to ensure that the spread (of the virus) is lessened and how we can keep kids in school.”
Speaking of her own experience, she said remote teaching “was damaging to my education, to my mental health, to my quality of learning, and I was elated when I was able to be back in the building.”
In new business, the board discussed new technology standards on first reading and reviewed the spending of federal coronavirus relief funds.
Sitka High’s volleyball team was honored for its Region V championship victory in November, and Hauser congratulated Sitka High’s Stephen Harmon for being named Alaska State Activities Association’s December student of the month.
The board’s next meeting will be Feb. 2 at Centennial Hall.
