SASD keeps masking optional after much debate  

Several Sparta Area School District community members, parents and students spoke at last week’s school board meeting regarding requirements for masking during the upcoming school year. The topic has been one of much debate as many individuals are split on one side of the issue or the other.

Ryan Oswald spoke during the public input portion of the meeting stating, “I personally believe we should encourage our teachers to teach children to think for themselves with common sense and learn from the past. I also encourage the school board to use common sense and learn from the past.”

He told the board there have been zero deaths of school-aged children in Monroe County since the beginning of the pandemic, according to the Monroe County Health Department (MCHD). 

“We have to worry about the false information and statistics on COVID in our own community, but statistics still say our children aren’t in any serious danger,” Oswald said.

Joshua Nichols told the board that he believes it is crucial to give parents a voice. “If you as a school board vote on mandatory masks, you are effectively removing the voice of a parent to decide what is in the best interest of their child when it comes to their health,” he said.

He asked that the school board allow parents to have the final say as to whether their child wears a mask or not.

Giovanna Lopez, a Sparta High School senior, told the board that before the pandemic, she never minded attending school and loved learning. After being forced to wear a mask turned her view of school from paradise into a prison.

“Thinking about the virtual semester, forced masking and social distancing that consumed my junior year leaves a sour taste in my mouth,” Lopez said. “It took away my love for learning.” 

She asked that the school board keep masking optional and keep students in-building all year long. Several other speakers encouraged board members to keep masking optional as well; no one in attendance spoke in favor of mandatory masking during the public input session.

There was a lot of discussion amongst the board about whether or not mandatory masking was the best option for district staff and students, however, after much deliberation, the motion to keep masking of staff and students optional at this time was made by James Rasmussen and seconded by Heidi Prestwood. 

The motion was carried with Josh Lydon, Eric Solberg, Rasmussen and Prestwood in favor and Nancy Sikorsky, Ed Lukasek and Colin Burns-Gilbert opposed.

With the first day of school fast approaching, the district will continue to work with the MCHD to monitor local COVID conditions. Should conditions warrant a change, the board will review the data and address the issue at a publicly noticed special or regular board meeting, according to Superintendent Dr. Amy Van Deuren.

At this time, the district is planning on starting the 2021-2022 school year with all students in-building five days per week. COVID cases will continue to be monitored, with quarantine and isolation orders issued from the MCHD, as they were last year.

The blended instructional delivery model will be used primarily as a tool to continue learning for those students who may be home under a quarantine or isolation order from the MCHD.

Under this model, a teacher may have some students in-person while others are learning remotely because of a quarantine/isolation order.

A virtual instructional model may be used in the event that entire classes or schools are under quarantine and/or isolation orders. Virtual learning models would likely be implemented on a short-term basis for the length of a classroom and/or building quarantine.