Richland School Board won’t challenge WA on COVID mask requirements

Two newly-elected Richland school board members didn’t challenge Washington state’s COVID masking requirements on their first night in office, but one said she isn’t done fighting.

Audra Byrd and Semi Bird, who rode into office on a wave of voter frustration over COVID mandates, were sworn in Tuesday night. And on their first night in the new positions, masking requirements were on the agenda.

Byrd told those attending in person that after two weeks of research and contacting two attorneys, she can’t find a way the school district could buck the state’s rules that currently require students and teachers to wear masks while in schools.

But she encouraged community members to help her find ways to challenge the requirement.

It’s unclear whether the two new board members planned to challenge the state rules. The Tuesday night agenda only listed the item as “Mask Update and Discussion.”

It followed an incident at the Nov. 9 school board meeting when the board shut down the in-person meeting because audience members were not wearing masks. The meeting resumed after a short recess with everyone wearing masks.

Board member Kari Williams said this week that she didn’t want to shut down that meeting, but was overruled. She and Byrd scoured Gov. Jay Inslee’s proclamations and found that they do require people to wear masks while attending public meetings.

“Whether I agree with it or not is not the issue. It’s simply in there,” Williams said.

While the mask agenda item appeared to be prompted by the previous board meeting, parents on both sides of the issue spoke to the board about students wearing masks in schools.

Mask requirement

Since students returned to classrooms they have been required to wear masks inside buildings, except for limited circumstances, like when they eat lunch.

Some parents were concerned the school board would decide to oppose the state mandate.

“I took three years out of my work life to take care of a sick family member who then died. I think life comes before everything else,” one parent said. “These are evidence-based measures that will reduce the pandemic and get us all back to a viable economy.”

Benton-Franklin Health District’s Health Officer Dr. Amy Person has explained that masks are part of a series of safety measures that help prevent the spread of COVID-19 in schools.

The school district’s most recent numbers show 20 students and staff in one week reported they had contracted COVID-19.

The number is down from the beginning of the school year, when the district regularly reported 40 to 60 students and staff a week contracted the disease. However, infections are higher than at the end of last school year before the delta variant swept through the Tri-Cities.

Overall case rates in Benton County have dropped to the lowest rates since July, according to the Benton Franklin Health District. The district reported there have been 185 new cases per 100,000 for the past two weeks ending on Nov. 24.

State funding

State officials have said districts risk losing funding from the state if they don’t follow the governor’s proclamations around COVID-19. For most school districts, including Richland, state funding makes up the bulk of the money they use.

Other parents were looking for the school board to lift the mandate. They have claimed that the masks aren’t good for learning or in the case of hot buses not healthy for children.

“I think if you want to talk about students’ well-being and their emotional problems getting rid of their masks is going to solve a ton of that,” one parent said.

Byrd said she had heard from several members of the community upset about the mask mandate. She promised to continue to fight it.

“I believe that students and families should have the freedom to chose in regards to wearing masks, when now all students and adults now have choice to receive the COVID vaccine,” she said.

Semi Bird called on parents and the community to stay active, stay engaged and do their research.

“People know my views and it really serves no purpose to put that forward now,” he said. “We all want our children to be healthy and safe, and we have to value that there are two sides, maybe more, to this discussion.”

This story was originally published November 24, 2021 at 1:55 PM.