Didier calls for committee to help decide Tri-Cities school reopenings

Franklin County Commissioner Clint Didier is calling for a committee to reduce the Benton and Franklin county health officer’s responsibility to advise schools on reopening.

The proposal came at the Benton Franklin Health District Board’s March meeting last week after a group of parents said in written comments that students needed to be back in school full time.

The public health board is made up of the six commissioners for Benton and Franklin counties.

“I don’t think it is fair that you have to shoulder all this responsibility,” Didier said, addressing Dr. Amy Person at the meeting.

“Therefore, I would like to make a motion, Mr. Chairman, that we allow some other health experts, especially a psychiatrist to join Dr. Person in the decisions made by the Benton Franklin Health District,” he said.

He said his concern was the mental health of students.

No decision was made after commissioners questioned whether an advisory committee would be allowed under local health district regulations or state law.

In November almost 600 people, most of them concerned about school issues, signed an online petition calling for Dr. Person to be replaced with a committee of local experts. State law requires health officers.

A special board meeting will be called, likely in late March or early April, to discuss the proposal after arranging for a legal opinion.

Dr. Person gives public health recommendations to school districts, but school districts make their own decisions on when and how students should return to in-person classes during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Suicide concerns

Didier said Dr. Raul Garcia, a Pasco emergency room doctor who filed as a Republican in the 2020 governor’s race, has already agreed to be on the committee.

In addition to Garcia and a psychiatrist, Didier said a nutritionist should be on the committee, along with possibly a high school senior and a teacher.

“We have a crisis on our hands, and the crisis is suicide,” he said.

Students will continue to commit suicide if they are not allowed a normal school experience, he said.

Ten people submitted comments to the board calling for schools to reopen.

Kelly Ramacher said requiring her children to wear masks during sports will puts them at risk of heat stroke.

She would “hate to lose a child to something as ridiculous and unnecessary as playing sports with a face mask, she said.

Most of those who spoke called for returning students to school full time, or close to that, as soon as possible. Some cited mental health concerns, including the risk of suicide.

Franklin County Commissioner Brad Peck said the board also needs input from the Benton and Franklin county coroners and possibly coroners from nearby counties before it makes a decision.

He has not been tracking suicides for the past 30 or 45 days, but before that he was seeing suicide data that appeared consistent with the last decade, he said.

“Suicide is an incredibly serious issue and needs to be given the utmost attention,” he said. “But let’s work from facts and not anecdotal information.”

Schools make decisions

Washington state law gives county health officers the authority to institute emergency measures needed to prevent the spread of contagious diseases, but allows them to make decision in consultation with those they deem necessary, including health care providers, health facilities, emergency management personnel and law enforcement agencies.

Dr. Person pointed out that Benton and Franklin county school districts brought students back to school for hybrid remote and in person classes sooner than most districts with communities of similar size.

Gov. Jay Inslee is requiring all schools to offer both in-person and online learning by April.

The main stumbling block now to allowing local students to spend more time in classrooms is the current practice of keeping students six feet apart to prevent the spread of COVID-19, Dr. Person said.

But Friday the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said it would be safe for students to return to classes with just three feet of distance, if other requirements were met.

Those included wearing masks and keeping distance between teachers and their students.

However, the Washington state Department of Health must still decide whether to adopt the federal guidance.

This story was originally published March 22, 2021 at 5:00 AM.