The Washington Community School Board voted to keep face masks optional during their regular meeting Wednesday night.
This was their first board meeting since a federal judge put a temporary hold on Governor Kim Reynolds’ mask mandate ban this September. Last Friday the same judge granted a preliminary injunction which means the law could be blocked for the duration of the lawsuit filed by parents of children with disabilities. Superintendent Willie Stone presented the board data of the number of positive COVID-19 tests in the district currently compared to last year. Stone noted that the number of positive tests has decreased since the district’s peak on September 14th of 52 positive tests among students. On that date a year ago the number of positive tests was one. Stone said the district’s peak last school year was 19 on November 17th.
Dr. Ryan Flannery of Washington County Hospital and Clinics spoke in favor of a mask requirement, and how the Delta variant is more than two times contagious than previous variants, “The problem with COVID, is you can’t predict who’s going to do what, ever, at any age group. We know that the elderly and the people who have other health issues have a greater burden of the severity of disease, the cost of death, hospitalizations, and then long-term symptoms after the fact. Kids are also very unpredictable, less statistically than the older adults to have all those complications, but not zero.”
Flannery mentioned that five children from the Washington community have been sent to Iowa City in the last month for treatment of COVID-19. Stone told the board he is most concerned about preschool through sixth grade students testing positive, as those 11 years old and younger cannot get vaccinated. A suggestion he gave to the board was to require face masks when student absences are 3% and above. The board proposed having masks as an agenda item for future meetings in case they want to make changes.
As of Wednesday, the state coronavirus dashboard shows the largest percentage age group with positive COVID-19 cases in the last seven days is 0-17 years old, and most of Iowa’s COVID-19 hospitalizations are among those 30 and older. Those not fully vaccinated account for 79.2% of those hospitalized for COVID-19, and 84% of COVID-19 patients in the ICU.