It wasn’t on their agenda, but the Summit County Council Wednesday heard a debate about whether the county should push for a mask mandate in the local schools.
The vast majority of speakers from the community favored the mandate. But the county advised them that decision is made at the state level.
An audience of over 60 people showed up for the Council’s public comment period. Twenty-eight people spoke and supported a mask mandate by nearly a 6 to 1 margin.
Before the comments, Council Chairman Glenn Wright told the crowd that the council has consulted with the county attorney’s office.
“In reality, the sole authorities to authorize mask mandates in the schools at this point, contrary to what you may have read in the newspapers, is the State School Board.”
The council displayed contact information for the two State School Board members representing the county, Carol Lear and James Moss Jr.
Earlier in the week, retiring County Health Director Rich Bullough told KPCW the county is trying to work with state school authorities on a process, in the event a limited mask mandate is needed.
“And you heard the governor state publicly in a press conference last couple of weeks that local health districts can issue, local health officers with the county manager, and the elected—in this case, it would be a county council—can issue mandates in schools. And our legal team believes a little bit differently. They believe there might be a conflict with the state constitution there. There are apparently some other counties that have a similar view. We’re trying to work through a process right now, so that we do have in our arsenal of tools to address this, the ability to do targeted face-covering orders in schools. So we’re working with our partners State Office of Education, State School Board, etc to get a process lined up that we’re comfortable with that allows us to take preventive measures there. So we’re just not quite there yet.”
The bottom line, Bullough said, is that the county’s COVID-19 numbers are good and don’t require a mask mandate at this time.
Among the speakers Wednesday, Elizabeth Quinn Fregulia, an assistant at Parley’s Park Elementary and the parent of two children there, said in-person learning is desirable, but only if schools follow COVID protocols.
“For a few blissful moments in May and June, we thought that the worst of the pandemic was behind us and we all relaxed a bit. But this relaxed attitude has suddenly given way to the realization that the emerging Delta virus is highly contagious and has in many ways put us right back where we were a year ago, despite the existence of three highly-effective vaccines. The Delta variant is far more transmissible than the original Covid strain. In fact, Delta has been categorized as transmissible through fleeting non-physical contact, and as a “gold medalist” when it comes from jumping from one person to another.”
She added while personal freedoms are important, no one has the right to cause harm to others through negligence or willful behavior.
School teacher Brian Kretschmar said the issue is about the data. He said he also has a personal reason for feeling that way.
“And I see a lot of people shaking their heads and a lot of people smiling. And I wish my daughter could smile every day, and know that she’s gonna wake up healthy. Cause she got COVID in September and people can say that well, it wasn’t because of this and because of that. But there are people that made the choice to not wear the masks like they should have done, and to not social distance and contract COVID and then give it to my daughter. My daughter now has pox and wakes up every day wondering if she’s gonna be able to walk down the steps, not lay in bed all day long for hours at a time.”
A few people weren’t convinced to support a mandate. Julie Hughes said during the meeting, she had heard people for and against masks, and they had cited experts and counter-experts. She said, “This is becoming an endless war. When do we say we’ve won?”
