Wooster school board extends mask mandate to Feb. 14, then district will go mask optional
Wooster City Schools Board of Education
Jan. 25 meeting
KEY ACTION Approved extending the mask mandate until Feb. 14, then going mask optional if case counts remain low enough.
DISCUSSION The district will transition to a mask-optional policy starting Feb. 14, according to the motion, "as long as Wayne County experiences a continued decrease in cases. At that time, the district will return to using the 3% active case threshold to determine if a building will require masking. When a building moves above that threshold, masking will be required for two weeks and until cases move below 3%."
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During Superintendent Gabe Tudor's monthly COVID-19 report, he said the district attendance rate stands at about 90%. Typically, the rate would be about 94% at this time.
"We're down a few percentage points, but nothing too significant," he said.
The county is still ranked as high risk for COVID spread, however, said board President Sue Herman.
Board member Jody Starcher said, according to her research on school districts across the state, there's a small difference in cases in schools where masks are not required.
Board member Ryan Kuzma pointed out the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced loose-fitting cloth masks are not enough to protect against omicron. He said he has also observed students not wearing masks properly or masks being dirty.
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CDC recommends masks indoors in public
The CDC continues to recommend masks be worn indoors in public settings.
Herman said the board has been making the best decisions possible throughout the course of the pandemic, based on information available,
"These decisions were not made out of fear," she said, adding once again, "I would rather err on the side of caution.
"I don't think we can ignore community spread. That has to be taken into consideration," Herman said.
Also discussed was the fact that based on health regulations, required contact tracing would increase as mask wearing decreases, placing additional work on district personnel.
Board member Danielle Schantz brought up the transmission of COVID-19 through asymptomatic cases and questioned how to quantify a downward trend in cases.
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Starcher suggested removing the mask mandate as cases decrease in the county and potentially reinstating it based on an agreed-upon metric.
"We have 20 active cases right now," Tudor said.
Finding Leaders will conduct Wooster High principal search
OTHER ACTION
Approved Joe Rubino as associate principal of Wooster High School and Alex Mallue as athletic director.
OK'd the job description for the combined position of Gault Recreation Center manager and assistant athletic director.
Approved the firm Finding Leaders to recruit Wooster High School principal candidates.
Approved the establishment of a student-led Pickleball Club at the high school at no cost to the district. Herman compared it to the formation of the student bowling league.
FOR YOUR INFO
Tudor explained that the amount of families qualifying for free and reduced lunches is tied to Title 1 reading teacher funding. He encourages qualified families to sign up for the program, even during this time when lunches are government funded for all students.
The district commemorated Music in Our Schools Month and Youth Art Month.
In keeping with the initiative to offer educational topics each month, Schantz gave a report on how Ohio's Open Meetings law governs the operation of school board meetings.
UP NEXT Meets at 7 p.m. Feb. 14 in Wooster High School library, 515 Oldman Road. A regular session is set for 7 p.m. Feb. 22, location to be determined.
This article originally appeared on The Daily Record: Wooster BOE: School district eyes Feb. 14 to go mask optional