Under pressure from state, Manatee School Board makes decision on mask mandates

Despite pleas for more safety measures and a recent shift to mask mandates in other Florida school districts, Manatee County School Board members decided Monday to stay the course, maintaining voluntary mask use in the new year.

And even if the board were to pass a mandate, Florida’s health and education departments issued new guidance, noting that parents should have a choice to opt out of mask use. The new rule follows an executive order from Gov. Ron DeSantis, who called on both agencies to “protect parents’ right to make decisions regarding masking of their children in relation to COVID-19.”

Based on that guidance, any mandate with an opt-out clause would essentially lead to voluntary mask use anyway, board member Gina Messenger said.

“I don’t think anybody up here has to have an opinion on masks at all,” Messenger said, addressing fellow board members. “I don’t think you have to be for them or against them. We have to follow what’s in front of us. That’s not an emotional decision.”

Chad Choate, the board’s newest member, was quick to agree. DeSantis appointed Choate on Friday and his swearing-in took place on Monday morning, just before the meeting. In his first public statement, the board’s District 4 member said he looked “forward to standing with Governor DeSantis by opposing a mask mandate in Manatee County schools.”

Families opposed to a mask mandate have dominated recent School Board meetings. But on Monday morning, one day before the start of classes, about two dozen people — some of them hospital workers — addressed the board and made a last-ditch effort to push for more COVID-19 safety measures in the 2021-22 school year.

Some of those parents, joined by more than half a dozen children, stood outside the administration building before Monday’s meeting. As father Alex Nantes held a pro-mask sign and waved to passing cars on Manatee Avenue West, a man leaned out from his truck window and cursed at the families.

“I really just brush it off my shoulder,” the father said. “I’m not going to stoop down to their level. I’m a voice for my children right now.”

Nantes’ two sons, ages 8 and 10, will don face masks and return to school on Tuesday. Both were too young to qualify for a COVID-19 vaccine, and their father felt universal masking was vital during a time when COVID-19 cases hit record numbers in Florida — a result of the highly infectious delta variant and large numbers of unvaccinated residents.

“It’s nerve wracking,” he continued. “I don’t want to send my kids into harm’s way. And that’s why I feel really strong that we should all be wearing masks until this whole COVID is under control. We all have to do our part.”

Some parents said a voluntary mask policy contradicted guidance from leading health agencies. Both the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the American Academy of Pediatrics support universal masking for educators and students above the age of 2, regardless of vaccination status.

Ashley Berridge, the mother of two children in local schools, said her husband is a COVID long-hauler in his 16th month of complications from the virus. Berridge said she feared students would catch the illness and suffer from long-term health effects.

Another woman pointed to an online petition — “Mandate Masks for K-12 Manatee County Schools” — that garnered more than 280 signatures as of Monday afternoon.

More than a dozen other men and women — some questioning the effectiveness of vaccines and face coverings — urged the school board to keep masks voluntary in the new school year.

Bowen Summer said his four children stayed home last year, when the School Board had a districtwide mask mandate in place. The new school year, he said, presented a chance for students to make their own decisions and memories, making up for lost time as they return to campus.

“And I’ve told my kids under no uncertain terms are they ever to belittle or make fun of any other kids who choose to wear a mask in school,” Summer said.

Earlier in the meeting, school district attorney Mitchell Teitelbaum said the board had no legal right to mandate masks. He pointed to the governor’s recent order, along with new guidance from the Florida Department of Education and the Florida Department of Health.

It reads: “Students may wear masks or facial coverings as a mitigation measure; however, the school must allow for a parent or legal guardian of the student to opt-out the student from wearing a face covering or mask.”

The guidance says students “may” wear a mask, not “shall” or “must,” Teitelbaum said. But other school districts —including Hillsborough, Orange, Palm Beach and Lee counties — saw the guidance as a green light to institute mask mandates, including an opt-out option for families.

Florida’s recent spike in COVID-19 cases and pediatric hospital admissions revived the mask debate, which dominated Monday’s special meeting in Manatee County. After more than four hours of conversation and public comment, the board stopped short of issuing a mandate.

“If it were up to me, we would have a mask mandate for everybody until we squash this thing, but it’s not up to me — it’s up to this board” said Charlie Kennedy, the school board chair, going on to note that a mandate with an opt-out clause was “toothless.”

COVID-19 in Manatee County

Monday’s meeting included an update from Dr. Jennifer Bencie, head of the Florida Department of Health in Manatee County. Among other things, she said:

• COVID-19 led to the death of at least 755 people in Manatee County during the pandemic.
• The local seven-day positivity rate for those who got tested was 17%, while the goal is no more than 5%.
• Between July 1 to July 7, the county discovered 219 new COVID-19 cases. That number spiked to 1,961 new cases between July 29 and Aug. 4.
• Of those 1,961 new cases, 360 were among children (those under the age of 18).

“The school system is not a bubble,” Bencie said. “Whatever happens in our community is going to be happening in the schools.”

How will Manatee schools keep children safe?

One of the big changes coming to Manatee County schools is the quarantine process.

Last year, over the course of two semesters, the school district sent thousands of students into quarantine after they were exposed to COVID-19 on their campuses.

Now, based on guidance from the state health department, vaccinated students are exempt from the quarantine rule, so long as they remain asymptomatic. The same is true for students who tested positive for COVID-19 in the last 90 days.

Superintendent Cynthia Saunders said the county health department — a partner to the school district — knows who was recently infected or vaccinated.

The district’s COVID-19 safety plan also said schools will:

• Empower families to make their own informed choices regarding the use of face masks/coverings and vaccines.

• Continue thorough cleaning and disinfecting of all schools.

• Maintain ample supplies of hand sanitizer, continue emphasis on hand-washing protocols and have “additional COVID protection materials in stock.”

• Continue to inform students, families and employees regarding accessibility for COVID vaccinations.

• Continue to update school air filtration systems.

• Maintain the District Operations Center (DOC) to manage and coordinate the response to COVID in our schools with the Florida Department of Health Manatee.

• Continue to provide the community with updates regarding positive cases in schools.

• Notify parents of positive cases via Connect-Ed messages so they can make informed decisions about their child’s attendance.

• Ensure students with specialized needs receive appropriate care.

• Prevent students and employees who test positive for COVID-19 or who have flu-like symptoms from attending their school or reporting to their job site.

• Continue to utilize social distancing, hallway transition patterns, personal spacing and other strategies when possible and appropriate.

• Have teachers continue to operate their classrooms in the safest manner possible.

• Continue an all-encompassing approach to behavioral and mental health support services to students.

• Ensure school nurses are properly trained and ready to handle COVID related cases.

• Communicate county COVID testing sites to all parents, students and employees.

“Through planning and preparation, the School District of Manatee County will successfully open schools in August with the health, safety and welfare of all students and staff continuing to be our top priority,” the district plan states.

This story was originally published August 9, 2021 at 3:49 PM.