Did this Kansas City-area school district approve mask mandate behind closed doors?
The Independence School District failed its constituents by approving a mask mandate in secret. A publicly-elected school board operating in darkness is never OK. Neither is approving a districtwide policy with little to no public comment.
Welcome to Independence, where parents and community members wishing to address Board of Education members during an Aug. 10 board meeting about COVID-19 procedures and a masking policy were shut out. The measure was approved behind closed doors because the board classified this as a legal matter, which can be discussed privately.
But no, this was a public policy decision. Do the school board and Superintendent Dale Herl feel they have to hide what they’re doing?
They reached the right decision on the substance: Based on Herl’s recommendations, the mask policy was approved. But the lack of transparency and accountability is problematic.
We’ll never know which board member voted in favor or against the measure because “there was not a vote in closed session,” an email from the district read. “Administration implemented safety protocols for the school term including the requirement of masks.”
The Independence School Board met for just 14 minutes that day. No public discussion was held on the district’s masking policy. Later that evening, Herl sent an email announcing that masks would be required indoors for all students age 2 and older and all adults in district buildings, vaccinated or not.
The policy is a solid one that should help keep in check the district’s transmission rate of COVID-19. Under current recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, K-12 students are not required to quarantine due to close contact if all parties were properly masked during the time of exposure.
But process matters. Voters and parents deserve to have their voices heard. And discussions on important public health issues should be held in the open. That’s just good governance.
Wendy Baird is the mother of two children in the Independence School District. She wanted to address the board at its Aug. 10 meeting about the district’s COVID procedures for the 2021-2022 school year. Baird was told public comments would not be heard during the meeting. She was instructed to email questions to board President Denise Fears, who in turn would share the question with her colleagues.
“They don’t make it easy” to communicate concerns, Baird said.
No, they don’t. Of the 10 largest Kansas City-area districts, Independence is the only one that does not broadcast its board meetings live. It does not allow community members to sign up to speak to the board on the day of the meeting, either.
Minutes from each meeting are usually approved weeks later. Meanwhile, parents in the Independence School District are left in the dark about how policies and procedures are approved.
With all of the irrational outrage surrounding masks, we understand why school board members might not want to face an angry public. That is the job, though, and it’s their responsibility to do it anyway.