School masking debate heats up

Local school board members faced crowded board rooms this week as parents and others turned out in opposition to school districts requiring masks when kids return to school after Labor Day. Unlike last fall, there is no statewide state of emergency, which means decisions are local.

Board members in Cloquet and Esko listened attentively to their constituents, but made no promises this week. Rather, they scheduled special meetings to discuss the issue in greater depth, and said they will wait to get up-to-date data closer to the start of school before they tackle any pandemic restrictions, if needed.

Wearing masks in indoor public spaces was recommended for only the unvaccinated for most of the summer. However, with the rapid growth in cases attributed to the Delta variant nationally, the CDC now recommends even vaccinated people mask up to maximize protection from the Delta variant and prevent spreading it to others in areas experiencing substantial Covid transmission, which includes Carlton and St. Louis counties.

Thirteen people attended the Cloquet board meeting Monday. Two-thirds of them addressed the board, including a soon-to-be fifth grader.

Many visitors read prepared statements, a few were off the cuff but all were in agreement: it should be a parent's choice whether or not to have their children wear masks in school.

"The government mandates put into place this year, from mask mandates to social distancing, to forced testing, quarantine and isolation, have made our population unhealthier, with a pandemic of obesity, mental illness, and weakened immune systems," said Hillary Hedin, mother to a high school student in Cloquet. "These mandates will make our children more susceptible to all health issues in the coming years and will create a health crisis far greater than any coronavirus ever could."

Others said making students wear masks was un-American. "We raise our kids how we feel they need to be raised and we tell our kids to do what we feel they need to do to become great people in society," said the father of four children in the Cloquet district.

Fourteen people attended the Esko School Board meeting Tuesday, and the message was similar, with a few questions thrown in.

Amy Feely wanted to know if the board will base its decision on a set number of infections, and use data for the Esko School District rather than the entire county. "I fear if we start with masks now, how do we not wear masks at some point," Feely said.

She also asked that the district share its quarantine requirements with parents as soon as possible, as it could influence their decisions about putting children on the bus or driving them to school. "Last year my kids didn't ride because I didn't want them to have to quarantine because they were on the bus with a senior who tested positive," she said.

At both meetings, a few of the residents spoke of "science," but their facts often contradicted or partly contradicted recommendations and research shared by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Esko's Chris Coleman suggested people do their own research as he has done, telling the board that using masks to keep the coronavirus from spreading is like 'trying to keep mosquitoes out with a chain link fence because the virus is too small."

The CDC says masks help stop the wearer from spreading or inhaling respiratory droplets or aerosols (carrying the virus) that are generated when people cough, sneeze, sing, talk or breathe.

Wait and see

School board members in Cloquet and Esko did not commit to any particular action or non-action this week, only to consider the facts and figures closer to the start of school. Most agreed that they'd love to go back to school with only recommended restrictions, as has been the case all summer, but the pandemic has taught them that situations can change very rapidly.

Board members approved a letter to families drawn up by Esko superintendent Aaron Fischer which outlined what the district knows now.

That anyone using public transportation must wear a mask. "That's not negotiable," Fischer said.

They will review local data, including case rates and vaccination rates before making a determination whether or not to require masks in the school building.

They will support vaccinations for staff and students, but not require proof of vaccination to attend school.

Distance learning will not be an option unless mandated by the state gain, and quarantine practices will be based on updated guidance closer to the start of school. As of now, people who are vaccinated do not need to quarantine after an exposure, Fischer said. More than 80 percent of Esko staff and students ages 16 and older are vaccinated, Fischer confirmed. "It's a huge advantage for us," he said.

At a discussion-only meeting Monday, Carlton superintendent John Engstrom offered some protocol recommendations for his school board members to consider. It's mostly a wait and see approach, with the expectation that the board will need to meet in special session sometime before the start of the school year and after the regular school board meeting Monday to set Covid policies for the start of the year.

Right now, the district would "request" that students and staff wear masks in classrooms. With evolving information from the state health department, that could change, Engstrom said.

Other protocols that were in place during the past school year will likely stay in effect until the variant threat subsides. That includes maintaining three feet of spacing among people in all areas, contact tracing when cases come up, and rigorous cleaning.

If a staff member or student does show symptoms, they could be required to wear a mask.

Engstrom said there would likely be a modified quarantine requirement for those showing signs of Covid.

Engstrom's memo said the district will "use local data and consult with local health officials to determine if we need to issue additional and/or more restrictive policies, or if we can relax these policies."

In Cloquet, superintendent Michael Cary told residents the district is still working on its requirements. "Last year our policy was if it was a requirement from the state, we followed it. If it was a recommendation, we passed it on as a recommendation but not required."

When the governor's executive orders on masking ended, the district shifted to simply "recommending," Cary said, "meaning it's individual choice."

The Cloquet board will hold a committee meeting to discuss various issues including masking starting at 8 a.m. Friday, Aug. 20.

Public health weighs in

After a summer of no mandates -- only recommendations -- and declining numbers of Covid-19 infections as more and more people were vaccinated, rising cases of the virus have officials worried about another wave of infections. But the next wave in the Northland won't be the same as last year, because more than 70 percent of adults are vaccinated here.

Nationally this wave of Covid infections - many of them the more transmissible Delta variant - are affecting mostly the unvaccinated. But the unvaccinated are not only those who choose not to get a shot, it also includes children under the age of 12, who have not been approved for any of the vaccines.

Casey Johnson, Carlton County public health nurse and Covid subject matter expert, told the Pine Knot News that Carlton County is following the CDC recommendation: to mask indoors in public if you are in an area of substantial or high transmission of Covid. As of Aug. 9, Carlton County reached that classification.

On the bright side, Johnson said the county is seeing increased vaccination rates along with a rise in new cases of Covid.

She did not know how many of the new cases here were in vaccinated versus unvaccinated people. "The most recent report is 99.9 percent who are fully vaccinated are NOT contracting COVID-19," Casy said, citing the July 28 media briefing by the Minnesota Department of Health, "This means less than .1% of cases are 'break-through cases' (for vaccinated people).

According to MDH, with the Delta variant, fully vaccinated people may be able to pass the disease to others. However, fully vaccinated people are less likely to get infected, and if a vaccinated person gets infected, the illness will likely be mild. The vaccine also greatly reduces the chance of hospitalization and death.