Mask talk heats up as date to lift policy nears

The longstanding debate over lifting mask requirements within the Libby Public School District became increasingly complicated in recent weeks.

School board members weighed a sudden and recent coronavirus outbreak in the district against a push to vaccinate staff and recommendations from health officials during an April 5 meeting. The deliberations came a week before the board is scheduled to act on a policy that will either cement or lift requirements.

“This is harder for me than it was last time,” said board member Bgee Zimmerman after contemplating the factors involved. She had earlier brought the policy before the board in hopes of reiterating the district’s mask requirements.

During a March 18 meeting, a group of school administrators and county health department officials recommended that the school board lift the district’s mask requirement on April 29. By that date, anyone wanting to be vaccinated will have received their doses.

But just days after the meeting, an outbreak of coronavirus resulted in 13 positive cases within the district. Superintendent Ron Goodman said the uptick was strange because health officials detected the cases nearly all at once. In previous outbreaks, administrators saw cases crop up in waves.

“This one I really expected to be large,” said Goodman referring to the recent outbreak. “That’s a pretty big number and there was nothing that spread.”

During the April 5 meeting, board member Sam Rosling pressed mask proponents on how far they would take the measure. He asked if the district would bring its mask requirements in line with recent recommendations issued by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention if board members were to vote in favor of extending its face covering policy.

Rosling pointed out that the CDC now recommends wearing cloth masks with two layers.

Goodman said he felt that it wouldn’t be necessary to tighten requirements to the level recommended by the CDC. He noted that the district’s current policy, which does not restrict the kind of face coverings students and staff may wear, has proven effective at limiting the spread of the virus in schools over the past year.

“We haven’t done that and we’ve been successful. I don’t know why we would even need to do that,” he said.

Rosling questioned the legal framework of the district’s requirements if the policy failed to follow federal guidelines.

Board member Lori Benson said she learned that some Libby Middle High School students tend to wear their masks improperly. She wondered how schools benefited from requiring masks if the policy wasn’t closely followed.

“I just think we’re kind of to the point where things are a little more under control,” said Benson. “If people have concerns they can take it upon themselves to protect themselves a little more.”

Masks have been shown to protect the wearer, according to the CDC. But the organization maintains that the tool is most effective in cutting down virus transmission when worn universally. This is because the coverings prevent virus-laden droplets from reaching others. Additionally, it keeps those infected with the virus from spreading it unwittingly before symptoms flare up.

It’s not a cure-all. The CDC recommends mask use in conjunction with social distancing. And the type of mask matters. Multiple-layer masks, surgical masks and those with filters are preferred over knitted or woven fabric coverings, scarves and masks with vents.

In recent months, the district has faced mounting pressure from students and community members to lift its mask requirements. After state and local officials rescinded face covering mandates, a group of students circulated a petition that had gathered 161 signatures by a March 8 board meeting.

Were the district to end its mask requirements, Goodman said he thought the board should keep a contingency plan in place in case administrators needed to quickly reinstate face coverings. While Kris Goss, staff attorney with the Montana School Board Association, recommended the district strictly reject or extend its mask requirements, Goodman said he was concerned about how the district would address a large outbreak without masks.

“Let’s say we take masks off on April 29 and two days later we have an outbreak at schools,” said Goodman. “Obviously we’re going to have masks back on. We would have to change the policy and meet again as a school board. There has to be a better way to do that.”

Goodman said the district’s policy could be worded to reinstate face coverings if Libby were to see more than 10 active cases of unknown origin.

Zimmerman said the district would also have to address the needs of staff who have medical conditions that make them susceptible to the virus.

Health officials have recommended requiring masks in classrooms with at-risk teachers or students, according to Goodman.