Farmington Students, Staff Will Wear Masks

FARMINGTON -- Farmington School Board President Travis Warren opened a special meeting last week on a recommendation to mandate masks with a reminder of the district's mission statement:

"We are committed to positively impacting the educational experience. Our students are worth it."

"We need to keep that in mind as we go through all of our business tonight," Warren said to his fellow board members. He welcomed guests and visitors and said he realized the matter at hand was of a great importance to the school.

Jon Laffoon, superintendent of schools, recommended the board consider an Emergency Communicable Disease Plan, which included an indoor mask mandate for all staff and students in kindergarten-12th grade while attending school or a school function or while riding in school-provided transportation.

Laffoon said the plan has five objectives in light of the covid-19 pandemic:

• To maintain the safety of students and staff.

• Keep school as an onsite operation.

• Avoid excessive quarantines.

• To recommend wearing masks, regardless of vaccination status, because of the high transmission in the state, regional and community.

• To review the data and make changes to the plan when transmission goes down.

The board approved the emergency plan 3-1, with board member Amy Hill voting against it, and Warren and board members Jeff Oxford and Josh Petree voting in favor of the plan.

In opposing the motion, Hill said she agreed with other board members who said the decision was not an easy one.

"I truly don't think a lot of people want a mask," Hill said. "I think there should be a choice in the matter for families, parents and teachers. I know that teachers who want to wear a mask will wear a mask. I hate to force all of our children to wear a mask."

She noted students are at school from 8 to 3 and the school has no control if they wear a mask after that.

"We can force it at day but not at night. Is it really helping to force them to do it at day?"

Hill said she thinks masks should be an option and those who have underlying conditions or feel they need to wear a mask would be able to do so.

Information in front of the board at the meeting showed the results of surveys on Act 1002, the state law passed that prohibits any mask mandates. This law has not taken effect because a Pulaski County judge placed a preliminary injunction on its implementation.

Out of 888 parent responses, 345 people, or 38.9%, said they were concerned about their child returning to school without a universal masking in space. Another 367 people, or 41.3%, said they were not concerned. The remaining responses fell in between the two.

Of 161 staff responses, 36, or 22.4%, agreed that they were concerned with students returning to school without masks in place, and 56, or 34.8%, said they were not concerned.

Other parent surveys showed that about half of the students would wear a mask, regardless of any changes to Act 1002, and that 55% of the parents supported universal masking in schools for all students, all staff and all grades, and 45% did not support universal masking.

For staff surveys, 62.7% supported universal masking in schools and 53.5% said they would wear a mask to school, regardless of any changes to Act 1002.

Board member Jeff Oxford said he's had people send him scientific data on both sides of a mask mandate.

"It's to the point, what do you believe?" Oxford said. "You can find anything to support either side."

Oxford said he was considering the survey results in making a decision. He noted that a majority of the staff, which Oxford considered a high number, supported a mask mandate and a majority of the public wanted universal masking.

"I'm not necessarily a mask person, but I understand this is the direction we probably need to go," Oxford said.

Board member Josh Petree said he would support a mask mandate with the understanding it can be reviewed and is not set in stone.

"I couldn't live with myself if something happened in school knowing that masks could have helped out," Petree said.

Warren said he supported a mandate when looking at the surveys, especially the results from the staff. He said he was concerned about everyone working for the district and the children.

"I look at these numbers and I believe we do need a mandate, and I think we need to monitor it constantly, vigilantly and alter it we need to," Warren said.

Laffoon said safety is the top priority for the school district. He's also concerned, he said, about students missing school because they have to quarantine. He noted what's happened in Marion where hundreds of students had to quarantine the first week of school because of positive covid cases and close contacts.

"If you miss that much learning time, I worry about that side as well," Laffoon said.

He pointed out that numerous medical organizations recommend mask mandates, including the Arkansas Department of Health, CDC and Arkansas Department of Education.

The district provided emails that have been sent in about a mask mandate. Of those, 10 were in support of universal masks and four opposed masks. The district redacted all names in the emails, including the name of the person who sent the email.

"I am writing to plead with you to mandate masks for our schools," one parent wrote. "I know that there are many debates over the efficacy of masks, and I am certainly not an expert but I have chosen to believe the trusted researchers at Mayo Clinic, John Hopkins, Cleveland Clinic, Arkansas Children's Hospital, and many more who are in support of mask wearing."

A parent opposed to a mask mandate said she or he previously worked in healthcare and understands the way viruses work and spread and understands how the immune system works.

"But that's not what this email is about," the parent wrote. "This email is about the school system thinking they know what is better for an individual's child(ren) than the parents do. I understand the school system has a certain degree of responsibility to protect the children in the district, but I do not agree that that should give the school district ultimate decision-making power."

The covid policy for Farmington will allow students to remove masks for eating or drinking and when appropriate social distancing measures are in place. Masks can be removed on a case-by-case basis for specific instructional needs, as determined by a teacher, and students may be exempted from the emergency plan due to special behavioral or individualized needs as approved by administration.

District employees may remove masks for eating or drinking, if appropriate social distancing measures are in place or may be exempted by the superintendent due to a documented medical condition.

The plan says that any students or employees who fail to wear PPE (personal protection equipment) when necessary at school or at a school function will be subject to enforcement consistent with district policy.

Along with universal masking, the emergency plan says district employees will be required to help with cleaning as needed in any school building or facility, which includes cleaning common and high touch surfaces, sanitizing buses after each route and advanced sanitizing in the cafeteria. Athletics will follow all guidelines set by the health department and Arkansas Activities Association.

All staff and students are encouraged to wash their hands and use hand sanitizer frequently.