'You're going down' -- board meeting gets hot

May 12—NORWALK — To mask, or not to mask, that is the question.

A large crowd was in attendance at Tuesday night's Norwalk City Schools board meeting to discuss masks.

And before the meeting ever started, board member Steve Linder asked those in attendance to put on masks, per board policy. A school employee went around offering masks to everybody who was not wearing one.

"If not, I recommend that we just cancel the board meeting," Linder said.

"Nice try," somebody shouted from the crowd.

"You're going down. You're going down. You're going down," Jeremy Norris shouted from the audience.

Norris, who unsuccessfully ran for the board last year, pointed out three of the five board members are up for election in November — Steve Linder, Ralph Ritzenthaler and Beth Schnellinger.

Norris then got into a brief shouting match with another person in the crowd. That man had to be calmed down by superintendent George Fisk.

When the meeting did begin, 30 minutes was given to anybody in the crowd who wanted to speak.

First up was Sharon Linder, wife of Steve, who works at Norwalk High School.

"Per board policy, I wear a mask over eight hours a day," she said. "This is my reality. If I followed your lead and refused to wear a mask in school I could be sent home without pay and ultimately lose my job."

Linder called out board member Lisa Wick, the only board member not wearing a mask in the meeting. She pointed out Wick made the motion to accept the mask rule as board policy (which includes board members and people attending board meetings).

"Mrs. Wick, by not wearing a mask you currently are protesting against yourself," Linder said. "I do not understand what you are hoping to gain by not wearing a mask."

Shannon Mason talked about not wearing masks.

"It was stated that our kids were able to remain in-person learning because of masks. Let's be honest, they remained in-person learning because of teachers and staff showing up. And for that, I going to applaud.

"People need to start looking at data. I do not agree with mask-wearing. I do not wear masks. I have left establishments that have asked me to wear masks. That is my choice. It is not law."

Mason went on to present a number of statistics saying wearing masks to not help. She pointed out the word "may" is used a lot.

"May, that means maybe," she said.

Brittney Lesch has three youngsters in the school system.

"There is fear going on in 10-year-old's minds," she said. "When do we stand up and say no? Let's use some common sense."

Woman calls out board

Alison Crawford had some strong words for board members, asking them why they did not work harder to keep Fisk, who recently resigned to take another job. She pointed out it was common knowledge Fisk has been looking.

"Mr. Fisk has been here for six years ... How many times did you, our elected board members, come together and speak to Mr. Fisk about why he was looking for another position.

"Did you ever consider the costs ... of hiring a new superintendent. Are you really doing what is best for our school district?"

Crawford accused a board member of spreading information about a candidate already being considered before the job, saying that person already has purchased land at Eagle Creek. She then listed all of the violations committed by the board member — assuming unauthorized authority, discussing confidential information and by talking about candidates before talking to the board.

Finally, Crawford said "at this time, I am asking for all involved board members of these violations to resign."

Ritzenthaler, board president, talked about the meeting and answered Crawford's claims.

"It was nice to see a good number of people in attendance at a board meeting," he said.

"They expressed their feelings and it was good to hear their thoughts. This school district must follow mandates from the state. We understand their feelings about the mask issue, but until state officials relax or cancel the mask mandate we must follow it. They really need to express themselves to the state officials. The OHSAA also sends down its sports rules and regulation to all schools. The district must follow their sports policies too, or sports in our school could be gone. Eventually, this will all get better for us as time goes on. We just have to relax and be patient," Ritzenthaler said.

"Parents also expressed concerns about our superintendent search. The OSBA is in the process of receiving candidate applications. The closing date is May 23. The entire board will receive the names of all candidates from OSBA after the May 23 date. No board member has received any names of candidates from OSBA. There is a community and staff focus group night scheduled for May 20. This will be a time when people can express their feelings and ideas to the OSBA representatives. No board members will be at the meeting."

Ritzenthaler talked about the $30,000 check received from the Norwalk Athletic Boosters to cover participation fees for the next school year.

"What a generous gift from the Norwalk Athletic Boosters," he said. "It is a huge help to our school families. Many great things happen when people work together."

In other action, the board honored six employees who are retiring — Sherry Adkinson, Bonnie Morgan, Kelly Ross, Ann Sellers, Sarah Wilhelm and Jayne Ziemke.

At the end of the meeting, board members voted to amend its mask policy in school.

The new policy allows students to take their masks off for recess, outside classes and outside physical education classes.