Wright City students and teachers are required to wear masks for the start of the school year. School board members said they would have made a different decision, if not for an ongoing surge in cases.
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After considerable discussion and feedback from staff and community members, the Wright City R-II School District is mandating masks as students return to buildings for the beginning of the 2021-22 academic year.
Board members voted 6-1 on Aug. 19 in favor of universal masking for students in second through 12th grade.
Several school board members expressed that they would likely have voted differently as little as a week prior, but recent spikes in positive cases in Warren County raised concerns.
“I’m really torn on it,” said board member Michael Bates. “We sent out (a) survey and even our staff — a large portion voted for voluntary masking. Sixty-three percent were most interested in voluntary masking, so that’s a telling statistic for me.”
“When I filled out that survey I was much more wavering than I am today, because we weren’t in this place that we are today with numbers,” said board member Erin Williams.
R-II continues to focus on keeping students in the buildings and limiting quarantines.
“The empirical data is showing us when kids are not in school, they’re not learning,” said board President Austin Jones. “None of us on this board are mask zealots. Whatever the decision is, they’re going to be unhappy they have to wear masks or unhappy they have to quarantine. Whatever we vote tonight, that’s unfortunate.”
Dave Mikus was the lone board member to vote in opposition of universal masking.
“There’s a lot of talk about whether this should be left up to parents’ choice rather than a mandate,” said Mikus.
Community member and Wright City Alderman Don Andrews echoed those sentiments as the only member of the public to comment.
“I understand the concern with the infectious rate,” said Andrews. “I just hope the board will consider the mandate optional.”
The board also received several letters from community members voicing their opinion about the matter.
R-II’s decision comes one week after Warren County R-III voted 6-1 to make masking optional.
Superintendent Dr. Chris Berger said he had been hopeful the return to school would look different than when students departed in late May. When the board surveyed school staff for their recommendations earlier this month, the data looked much different.
“Where I’m most confident, outside of the new variant, is if masks were worn by students, whether voluntary or universal, the total quarantine numbers we saw last year are going to drop,” said Berger.
Berger said the district will take advantage of any opportunities to put masks down for a moment.
“We are going to try to use some flexibility when there are opportunities to social distance,” said Berger. “As soon as we see the CDC or Warren County Health Department lift mask recommendations, we will too.”
One added challenge for the district this year will be the increased number of close contact scenarios and how to respond to each unique circumstance as it relates to social distancing space and vaccination status.
“The quarantine scenarios are complicated, and what most probably don’t understand is the unmasked student causes all close contacts to quarantine, not just themselves,” added Berger.
