Mask frustration boils over in another tense Richland School Board meeting

A Richland school board member called this week for the district to end its mask requirements.

It came after more than two hours of parents and a couple teachers offering their opinions about the Washington state mask requirement. And the meeting nearly moved into a remote session three times when people would not wear their masks while at the meeting.

Board member Audra Byrd’s motion came in response to a KING 5 interview where State Schools Superintendent Chris Reykdal said he would support making masks optional in schools.

Reykdal pointed to the increase in the vaccination rates as a crucial turning point in the decision making process. In the interview, he said that the downsides to wearing masks did not outweigh the benefits in the beginning, but with vaccinations widely available the variables become more important.

He followed that up with a statement Wednesday recommending letting local health officials make that decision and a return to masks may be necessary when COVID cases spike or a new variant surges. And calling for a decision to be made in the coming weeks.

Reykdal is still recommending schools continue on-site rapid testing and quarantining people who test positive.

Byrd’s motion at the meeting was met with silence by the rest of the board, following by people in the audience calling them cowards.

Byrd, who was attending the meeting online because she was out of town, said she’s been advocating for the children with her fight against the mask mandate.

“The whole reason we’re doing this is not about politics,” she said later in the meeting. “It’s not about getting our way. I’m never running for school board ever again. It’s our children who are suffering and the way they’ve been suffering.”

Semi Bird, who won his seat in a wave of sentiment opposing the COVID requirements, told the Herald it was a difficult decision, but he wasn’t going to take a chance on the school district losing its state and federal funding.

“I advocate for all students, all families in the Richland School District and I don’t think I’m unethical or selling out because of it,” he said. “I’m not afraid and I’m not a coward. But I do believe I have honor and integrity.”

Reykdal previously said any district that defies the order risks losing revenue for each day they are not in compliance.

Any revocation of the mask requirement will need to come from the governor’s office. Gov. Jay Inslee said on Wednesday that he is lifting the outdoor mask requirement effective Feb. 18.

An update on the state’s indoor mask requirement will come next week.

“Our office continues tracking hospitalizations, cases and deaths,” said Mike Faulk, the deputy communications director for the governor’s office. “While those numbers are still high, we’re optimistic these trends will continue to decline to a point we can revisit mask requirements in the near future.”

The calls come as the surge of omicron cases appears to be subsiding but it’s been slower to ease in Eastern Washington. At one point last week, Franklin County ranked second highest in the country for new COVID infections.

Frustration

Mask protests continue to pop up across the Richland School District.

A group of Richland High students gathered outside the school on Wednesday, and some parents and students protested at Enterprise Middle School on Thursday morning.

While the students are allowed to protest the requirement, they aren’t allowed to be in the classrooms while they have their masks off.

Many of the people in the crowd at Tuesday’s board meeting pushed the board to do more to fight against the mask mandate and a possible requirement that students get vaccinated against COVID to attend classes in-person.

An Enterprise Middle School teacher said he hears from students frustrated with the masks, and he believe the district is looking down on students who speak out, labeling them as troublemakers.

“There’s got to be a better plan,” he said.

Vaccine requirement

While the district is moving forward with a resolution aimed at the vaccine requirements, the actual details included in the resolution haven’t been finalized though people have suggested it ask for the state to follow its procedures for requiring an immunization.

The state Department of Health has started to form a technical advisory group to examine whether the vaccination should be allowed like vaccines for hepatitis B, diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis, polio, measles, mumps and rubella and chickenpox.

A technical advisory group has been formed to make a recommendation about the vaccine. The group includes stakeholders in education and health care, as well as members of the public.

School board members have raised concerns that the department should have waited until the vaccines are fully-approved for children by the Food and Drug Administration.

The board members agreed to work on the measure during a workshop. They have not set the date.

Bird was hopeful that he could bring in neighboring school districts to form a unified front on the issue.

“We’re going to unite and do this as a team, so that every single school board member feels good about signing their name to the document,” Bird said.

School board President Jill Oldson pointed out that Kennewick, Richland and Pasco combined would represent the largest school district in Washington.

This story was originally published February 10, 2022 at 11:51 AM.