Tupelo School Board plans discussion of mask mandate request from NMMC
Aug. 2—UPDATE: Tupelo Schools Director of Marketing & Communications Gregg Ellis told the Daily Journal, "Unless there is a personnel matter there will be no executive session." This story will be updated.
TUPELO —The Tupelo Public School District Board of Trustees may consider whether to change course on masking for students and staff.
The school board has called a special session meeting at the Hancock Leadership Center at 2 p.m. Monday afternoon, where it is expected that COVID-19 health and safety protocol, including a face mask mandate, will be considered.
Dr. Jeremy Blanchard, North Mississippi Health Services Chief Medical Officer, told the Daily Journal during a press conference Monday morning that Dr. Mindy Prewitt, an infectious disease specialist at NMMC, "is going to the Tupelo School Board today to ask for mandatory masking."
Blanchard said he is "100% supportive of that," as are NMHS President & CEO Shane Spees and NMMC-Tupelo President David Wilson, who were also present at the conference.
"It's not about choices, it's not about any other personal beliefs, it's about protecting each other," Blanchard said.
The recommendation from local health experts follows guidance last week from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Mississippi State Department of Health that all students, staff and visitors wear face coverings in indoor K-12 school settings.
Tupelo Schools' current policy says, "Students and staff will not be mandated to wear masks/shields unless directed by Executive Order from the governor," however, "unvaccinated students are encouraged to wear masks when indoors."
Oxford reversed course on masking over the weekend and will now require masks through Aug. 20.
A public notice for the Tupelo meeting including the board's agenda says the board will hear a "public health presentation."
Following the presentation, the board will consider an executive session "to discuss the safety and security of schools."
Tupelo Schools Director of Marketing & Communications Gregg Ellis told the Daily Journal, "Unless there is a personnel matter there will be no executive session."
Ellis said consideration of executive session is on every board meeting agenda "because anything can happen."
He added that TPSD has "been the most transparent district in the state since the start of this and will continue to be." He said the district's COVID-19 case and quarantine counts will be posted weekly during the 2021-22 school year, as they were last year.
State law allows government bodies to enter private deliberations, with no members of the public present, only for certain purposes defined in law.
Court rulings have affirmed that the spirit of the Open Meetings act is in favor of openness wherever possible.
"The Open Meetings Act was enacted for the benefit of the public and is to be construed liberally in favor of the public," the Mississippi Supreme Court wrote in a 1985 case.
