Tensions ran high during a Wells Spring Unified Union District meeting on Wednesday night as school board members discussed their 4-3 vote in favor of putting Superintendent Christopher Sell in charge of Covid-19 mitigation measures.
The board passed the motion in a special session last week, but some Wells and Middletown Springs community members disagreed, signing a petition that called for a re-vote. The petition was brought on Wednesday by board member Ryan DeCelle, who had voted against the original motion.
While this led to a heated discussion, there was no re-vote.
“What we’re experiencing is what most places are experiencing, which is that masks have become a very polarizing thing,” Sell said in a phone interview on Thursday.
The Greater Rutland County Supervisory Union, which includes the Wells Spring district, has abided by non-binding recommendations set by the Agency of Education and Department of Health, he said.
That means for the first 10 days of classes, which started Wednesday, everyone in the district’s schools must wear masks regardless of vaccination status. The state’s guidance suggests the mandate can be revisited after this period once 80% of the school’s eligible population is vaccinated. Children under 12 are currently ineligible for the vaccine.
Rutland County schools did not require students to wear masks during summer programs, but the start of the school year coincided with a surge fueled by the Delta variant. The state is seeing more new cases each day than it has since April.
“My kids go to school to learn how to read, and learn how to speak and learn how to be social with their friends,” DeCelle said. “That is more important to me than if they pick up a germ or the flu.”
In response, board member Meredith Morgan told DeCelle, “You are essentially saying that your needs are more important than the health of other children and/or families.”
“This goes back to why I support Chris making these decisions, because he’s not talking, even though he is a parent, about his own specific needs,” Morgan said. “He’s looking at the wider story with all the details and all the different families.”
Amanda Weeden was one of three board members to vote last week against giving Sell the power to make Covid mitigation decisions. During Wednesday’s meeting, she shared that her entire family of five has since tested positive for the virus.
The experience hasn’t changed her mind on the vote, she said, reiterating she still thinks it should be up to parents to choose whether to have their kids wear masks.
None are showing symptoms, she said, noting that testing was the only way she knew her children were sick. While she said suspects that more than half of the student body could be “walking around with Covid,” she does not support required testing in schools.
Sell told the board on Wednesday that he wishes he could include them in every decision, but with so much information coming in on a daily basis, there is no time. He emphasized that he is basing his decisions on state guidelines, a practice he plans to continue throughout the school year.
DeCelle and community members who signed the petition argued that it is the parents’ responsibility to keep their children safe even during school hours, not the district’s.
Sell agreed that such decisions should not be left to the districts — but felt they were the responsibility of the state, expressing frustration with Gov. Phil Scott and Secretary of Education Dan French.
“Instead of focusing on our students, their education and well-being, we’re fighting against each other,” Sell said in the meeting.
However, Sell said under the Duty of Care Provision, it is the district’s job to put forward policies that keep students out of harm’s way.
Despite the heated debate at Wednesday’s meeting, Sell said in a phone interview that most of the feedback he’s gotten from parents has been positive, with some asking if more could be done.
