On May 13, White County School Board voted to remove the mandatory mask policy at all schools and make the wearing of masks optional for the remainder of the school year as well as during summer school, which is slated to be in session during the month of June.
The official statement that was posted on the district’s website reads:
Beginning May 14th, 2021, face coverings are optional for all White County students and staff. The school board voted to make this change at their May board meeting. Masks will be optional for the remainder of the school year and for Summer School. We expect to start the 2021-22 school year with masks optional as well. Thank you for your cooperation through this most difficult year.
This decision came after a lengthy discussion in which the board heard from director of schools Kurt Dronebarger as well as members of the community who were present.
Dronebarger began by giving a district-wide update as related to the prevalence of COVID-19 in White County schools.
“Our status as a school system in the red, yellow, green system is that we are still in the green,” he told the board. “We have seen a little bit of an uptick in the number of quarantines in some of our schools. A little bit of yellow showing up at BonDeCroft and Woodland Park where we’ve had some situations where we’ve had to quarantine some students. Certainly nothing like what we saw in the fall, but still some infection rate out there. But overall, we are in the green and going to finish the year strong.”
After Dronebarger’s report, the board’s chairman, Jayson McDonald, opened the floor for members to discuss the district’s existing mask mandate that required students, faculty, and staff to wear a face covering while at school.
“I’ve not had one person come to me and say, ‘Leave the masks on,’” Diana Haston told fellow board members. “Everybody that has emailed me, called me, they are asking that the masks be removed.”
Candy Phillips, a member of the community and parent of White County students, also addressed the board, saying that she was representing over 260 people who had signed a petition asking for the right to choose whether their students wear a face mask rather than be required to do so.
“I would like the school for consideration for the right to choose,” Phillips said.
Phillips then referenced a court case, in Williamson County, in which a judge ruled, on April 30, that the board of education there did not have the authority to require its students to wear face coverings. Phillips said that since the law and Constitution holds true in all counties, it would be her opinion that the ruling would also hold true across the state.
“I have researched all of the legal documents I could find that give power to the school board,” Phillips claimed. “I could not find any that allowed this power. Most of them were taken out of context and only quoted parts of the order. One part that was brought up to me was Executive Order 73, which expired in February. It said that schools were strongly encouraged. The Department of Education said that this is not a set of mandates.”
Phillips told board members that she had called the governor’s office to get clarification on Executive Orders, but, that regardless, the governor has said that entities across the state should start removing mask mandates.
“We have all seen the warning labels on the masks that said they will not stop the spread of COVID-19 or any other viruses,” Phillips said, addressing the health side of the argument rather than the legal side. “Unless you are ensuring our kids have clean masks every day or changing them out several times throughout the day, you are causing them harm. We don’t know how often they are washing them, not to mention lowering their immune system.
“Because to me, there is no medical reasoning to support that we need face coverings and because going without masks does not represent a danger to others’ health, the requirement to wear them is a violation of my student’s constitutional and medical rights. There is currently no mask mandate in White County, neither is there a mask mandate in my state. My student has the right to breathe freely unless current legislation has changed. Masking our kids should not be considered mandatory for my kids. Some of you will say, ‘Why should we stop now? It’s been working for us. We only have six days left.’ After hearing this information, it’s the right thing to do. You may not have the authority you thought you had.
Phillips continued, as she told the board that she respected their position and understood the problems they have faced and the tough decisions they have had to make this year.
“We have learned a lot this year, and I am not bashing anyone,” Phillips said. “This would be a hard call for anybody, and some of the stuff I have researched, I can see how it would have been misunderstood.”
Board member Bob Young thanked Phillips for her presentation and said the board has been dealing with this issue all year.
“We’ve had eight months to deal with this,” Young said. “It’s not easy, and I appreciate that you respect that. We tried to do the best thing with the information we had at the time. At the end of the day, kids got to go to school for the year. I think our students and our teachers appreciated that.
“As far as the mask goes, obviously I know that it has been a conflict in the community and I respect that. I appreciate the time you put into that.”
Phillips’s husband, Todd Phillips, addressed the board as well, saying the problem lies within determining whether the board has the right to issue a mask mandate.
“The fruit of the problem is: does the board have the authority,” Todd Phillips said. “They are saying the power was given to them by the Governor’s Executive Order. If so, one would think that with the expiration of the order, the mandate would go away as well. But that’s not been the case. Mr. Dronebarger and his attorney said it was solely up to you as a school board to make that decision.”
After hearing from the community members present at the meeting, board member DeWayne Howard made a motion to remove the mask mandate within White County schools and make the wearing of masks voluntary.
“The numbers have never been indicative of a mask mandate in my opinion,” Howard stated. “But still, with people being afraid, I think we should be respective of that. If you want to wear it, no one should be belittled. If you don’t want to wear them, the same.”
The motion was seconded by board members across the room, after which Chairman McDonald asked if there was any other discussion.
“I want to say for the record, I support keeping the mandate in place for the last six days and then look at summer school and next August,” Dronebarger said. “The reason is that it is an extra [safety] measure. I just want to make that statement – it is completely the board’s decision.”
Dronebarger went on to tell the board that he had reached out to the school’s attorney and had been told that the board did, in fact, have the authority to issue mask mandates in the school even with the Governor’s Executive Order No. 80 in place.
“It specifically talked to powers of local governments but did not address the powers given to local school boards in given in 73 or 77,” he said. “[Executive Order No.] 77 extends through May 30, and he said that 80 did not limit the powers of the local board to require facemasks. He assured me that the board is within their rights to do so.”
Dronebarger also addressed the claim made by Candy Phillips that the Williamson County ruling would hold true in all counties.
“It summarized that this is a trial judge, and it is only effective in that district, and anyone relying on this ruling is misstating the facts and misinterpreting the law and the clear and unambiguous interpretation of the law,” he said. “The Williamson County case does not apply here.”
Dronebarger also told board members the doctor whom the school board had been referring to for guidance all school year does not support the removing of masks and also said that removing masks will create problems for the school district.
“But I want to do what the board says, and we will deal with the fall out,” he said before giving two additional reasons for continuing to require masks for the time being. “Also, Dr Fauci said just this week that one of the problems is that kids aren’t vaccinated. They can’t be, so they are more vulnerable right now. Additionally, I asked our principals and our teacher advisory board and none of them said to take the masks off. I would like to listen to our people as well.”
Dronebarger continued, “As the director of schools, I don’t have luxury of thinking of [my own child] first. I have to think of 4,000 kids and the families they represent. That has been my focus all year long, which is part of the reason we have stayed in school all year long. I wear my mask because we ask our kids to wear them. If you see me out in town, I have it on. It’s not because I like it, and it’s not because I’m afraid, and it’s not because I don’t have faith. It’s because I want our kids to be safe. I do it for that reason. I just wanted to be on the record for saying that. I respect everybody’s opinion. I respect and will abide by the board’s decision.”
After Dronebarger finished speaking, McDonald called for a vote among the board members. The result was an affirmative vote for removing masks and allowing the choice for students, faculty, and staff to wear face coverings to be voluntary. The motion passed with only one no vote, coming from Kay Prater, and one member, Bob Young, choosing to abstain from voting on the issue.
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