Independence Day: What The Mask Debate Says About Local Control
The CDC and state agencies reveal plans, now school districts must act
(Photo Credit: Deseret News)
A little over a week ago, we as a nation, the United States, recognized the 245th year of our “independence.”
Over the long time horizon of two centuries (and a half, almost), we can frame motivations for our independence into a fairly benign sentence.
A large group of European colonists, tired of the monolithic regime of the Brits, said enough is enough.
They fought for local control and they got it.
Fast forward to 2021, and we are fighting those battles.
Friday, the Center for Disease Control (CDC) released its updated guidelines for the 2020-21 school year.
Directives include an emphasis on in-person instruction, segregating between the vaccinated and non-vaccinated and continued insistence on maintaining three feet of social distancing on school property. None of these suggestions are all together unsurprising. The Covid vaccine, and the marketing machine behind it, is becoming as ubiquitous in our culture as e-commerce checkout systems for online purchases. But there is one significant distinction between the vaccine and e-commerce systems—almost everyone has bought something online. The e-commerce hesitancy of the late 1990’s and 2000’s no longer exists (does a day go by when we don’t spot one of those Amazon Prime vans rolling through our neighborhood?)
With the vaccine, legitimate hesitancy still lingers with millions of Americans. I don’t know if that will flip, or if it should.
But the federal government is investing heavily in the vaccine and its roll out, even touting a door-to-door campaign. The public health arm of the feds, the CDC, continues to pump out messaging on how critical mass dosing of an experimental vaccine is to the long term wellness of our country’s future.
Friday’s press release only re-affirmed what we already saw coming.
State agencies in Illinois—the Illinois Department of Public Health and the Illinois State Board of Education—responded to the news swiftly, their own press releases pre-written and confirming assumed to be true, that there would no deviation at the state level to federal instruction.
Said IDPH Director Dr. Ngozi Ezike: “Our goal is to protect the health of students, teachers, and staff so that in-person learning can resume as safely as possible. The CDC is right: vaccination is the best preventive strategy. As school board members, parents, teachers and superintendents plan for a return to in-person learning in the fall, we strongly encourage those who are not vaccinated to continue to mask. IDPH is proud to fully adopt school guidance issued by CDC, which is based on the latest scientific information about COVID-19.”
Said ISBE boss Dr. Carmen Ayala: “All our students deserve to return safely in-person to schools this fall. With vaccination rates continually rising and unprecedented federal funding to support safe in-person learning, and mitigations such as contact tracing and increased ventilation in place in schools, we are fully confident in the safety of in-person learning this fall. We look forward to a great school year and to the energy of Illinois’ young minds once again filling our school buildings.”
All the hunky-dory talk of ‘young minds’ and ‘energy’ comes with a catch.
That catch—the masking of students in classrooms—is the most toxic, divisive subject around the August re-opening of schools. Parents of school-aged children are vehemently against it, and school leaders are now faced with a decision.
What to do about masking?
The language in the guidance is clear on the status of vaccinated students—keep the masks off. More vague is counsel on the unvaxed as it pertains to masking. Here is the actual wording from the CDC:
Masks should be worn indoors by all individuals (age 2 and older) who are not fully vaccinated. Consistent and correct mask use by people who are not fully vaccinated is especially important indoors and in crowded settings, when physical distancing cannot be maintained
Another section from the CDC release:
When it is not possible to maintain a physical distance of at least 3 feet, such as when schools cannot fully re-open while maintaining these distances, it is especially important to layer multiple other prevention strategies, such as indoor masking
The ‘layer’ reference was copied by IDPH/ISBE. Their joint statement said, “this guidance emphasizes implementing layered prevention strategies (masking, distancing, testing) to protect people who are not fully vaccinated.”
Notice use of language in these statements. It’s been consistent all along.
Should. Especially. Can.
What it doesn’t say is “must.” No mandate.
That was never going to happen. The CDC was never going to command mask wearing at the state level, nor can it. Over three dozen states in this country didn’t wait for the CDC anyway. They’ve already enacted legislation preventing the ordering of mask wearing in schools.
In Illinois, Governor J.B. Pritzker has signed executive orders (16 since March of 2020) that—allegedly—mandate mask wearing in schools, the latest one lasting through July 24. I say “allegedly” because no one has challenged the mask part of the EO and knows of its true legal standing. Whether he renews the order again for what would be a period rolling into the start of the school year for many districts is unknown.
Here’s what’s known—school districts across Illinois are holding board meetings this month. On the agenda will be discussion on the latest guidance. In the public speaking portion of these meetings, masking will be the dominate subject.
Questions to consider in advance of these meetings:
How will district leaders—superintendents and board of education members—interpret the guidance?
How much will decisions be dictated by recommended directives from federal and state agencies?
How will they balance that guidance with views and opinions of their constituents?
What do they think is the healthiest and safest way to open schools next month?
What does ‘local control’ look like?
One way to interpret the guidance is to adapt it free and clear of any deviation.
But if that were the conclusion reached by BOE’s, it would not be consistent with the local control concept hundreds of districts have been publicly advocating for the past few weeks.
It would disingenuous for a superintendent, one that signed a document that stated the importance of allowing for the freedom of those in charge at the local level to determine what was best for their district, to then recommend their school board adapt the same guidance handed down by the feds and rubber stamped by the state.
If a superintendent did recommend no departure from federal or state advice, it would be dishonest for school board members, elected by their voting public, to ignore their citizens concerns and approve such a proposal.
Otherwise, what is their function? Why do these people run for school board positions behind campaigns themes of “locality” and “community?” Because saying ‘yay’ to any directive, regardless of its affinity with federal or state regulation, that includes the masking of children is someone not aligned with their community and illiterate of campaign pledges.
We know the CDC is federally controlled. We know IDPH and IDBE are under the watch of Pritzker.
School districts are now in a position, maybe more so than ever before, to break the downstream flow of deception and disinformation about Covid and reign in authority.
A desire for independence is why we have a United States. We just began our 246th year free of monarchal rule.
The opportunity is now. Don’t just ask for local control. Seize it.
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