Strength Over Surrender
One week after statewide mask mandate, how one Chicagoland school chose benevolent leadership over skittish capitulation
(Photo Credit: Timothy Christian Schools)
On a video posted Wednesday on the school’s website, Timothy Christian superintendent Matt Davidson said this about his school’s re-opening plans to start the 2021-22 school year:
After several nights to sleep on it, a productive exchange of ideas and plenty of prayer, the board and I have taken the necessary time to respond rather than react to the Governor’s press conference last Wednesday.
We’ve taken a prayerful and very methodical approach and we’ve determined that our goal - our goal - is to stick with the Timothy Health Plan, and thus remain mask optional.
Davidson urges viewers to keep watching—worth the full seven minutes—and I’ll get to more of what he said later in this post.
First, the roll out of the announcement is a clinic on how to execute a communications strategy. No press release. No mass email. Simply a video of the person in charge, on school property, speaking directly to his constituents. Optics? 100 percent on point.
Notable about the words spoken by Davidson is their lack of condescension. No “we have to comply with the governor’s wishes” and then slip in “we’re so thrilled to see the smiling faces of our students on the first day of school!”
Huh?
Davidson and his communications team know exactly what’s top of mind in the households of their families and delivered exactly what they wanted to hear.
On its website, Timothy Christian Schools states, “Go Beyond Boundaries; Live Courageously.”
For once, this is a school that puts that tagline into practice.
A little information about Timothy Christian Schools, according to its website:
*Pre-12 grades located in west suburban DuPage County Elmhurst, IL
*It has five schools, pre/kindergarten/elementary/middle/high with separate campuses. The school is located on 24 acres.
*2021-22 enrollment of 1,255 students
*Tuition fees range from $1,670-$11,750
*A renovation project for the high school campus is ongoing. The school has invested $50M in overall campus improvements over the past decade.
Amy Bode, the school’s communications director, politely declined an interview request from The Kerr Report. But she did include a comment about the school’s enrollment.
“Most of our grades are full. We have a waitpool of families,” Bode said.
After Wednesday’s announcement, TCS may consider expanding the seating capacity in its grades. They aren’t going to struggle to fill - extra - seats this school year.
Back to Davidson’s video. I’m going to break out a bunch of things he said because they are tiered in reasoned thought, and, uncommon in August 2021, against the averages. No other head of school in Chicagoland has spoken publicly with such rational bravado since March 2020.
(Before the Pritzker’s mandate announcement, we started to hear prudent comments from superintendents and school board members throughout Chicagoland. There was bold thought put into re-opening plans. But once the Lord of Lockdowns yanked up the drawbridge, all fell in line behind The Code.)
Another notable section spoken by Davidson:
It’s worth pointing out, it’s worth noting, that the issue of masks is still categorically a recommendation and not a requirement from the CDC. We are fully committed to the health of our students. That includes the whole child—spiritual, mental. We are one of the very few large K-12 schools in call of Chicagoland to be fully in person last year. And there were doubters every step of the way. We want to find out legally, definitively, if we can keep our health plan in place.
Folks, we’ve worked too hard and achieved too much success to just roll over. I’ve heard of some sneaky workarounds being proposed all over Illinois. Desperation will always give birth to change good or bad. I’m not judging or evaluating any plan by any school or parent but I hope you can respect we are addressing this head on.
Wow.
Can anyone reading this article picture the superintendent in your district saying the same thing? And in a video no less, where viewers can see facial expressions and hand gestures?
Contrast the optics of Davidson’s video to that of a public school principal posted the day before.
Wednesday, John Hersey High School in northwest suburban Arlington Heights, IL, had its first day of school.
The principal of JHHS, Keir Rogers, posted a welcome back video on August 10.
This video is about three minutes long, and filled with conventional public relations boilerplate imagery and scripting.
For most of the video, Rogers muzzles his face with a mask. Yet he’s imploring Huskie students to “Do Your Best!!”
It’s all sanctimonious cosmetic theater.
Compare this with Davidson, maskless, speaking frankly and unapologetically, explaining why he has come to the conclusion he has.
Whom would you rather have greeting your son or daughter the first day of school?
(Nothing personal with Mr. Rogers, who I’m sure is a fine administrator. He just got the job, yet to be approved by the school board. But the whole charade is so farcical, it could be made into a Monty Python sketch.)
Another piece from Davidson’s talk:
At the end of our research and exploration, if we find that a mask optional policy is a dead end, then we’ll adjust and pivot. For now our current health plan will be our manual, which allows for choice in this issue of face coverings.
At this time, on this matter, I would not support an outright defiance of a rule that we’ve discovered to be valid, applicable and enforceable to our school and upheld to be legal. But in the meantime we are curious enough to find out. We’ll keep our health plan in place, as is, while we think we can do so.
Davidson’s words are sensible, astute and unclouded by the noise and constant virtue signaling coming from our nation’s capital, our state capital and I’m sure, the surrounding community around TCS.
The health plan Davidson speaks of is concise and an easily navigable document referred to as a “Decision Tree.”
Below the “Decision Tree” PDF are a series of FAQ’s spelling out in more detail the school’s health plan.
What’s revelatory about the FAQ’s…there isn’t much superfluous detail. It’s not necessary when a school practices generous vs fear-based leadership.
An example from the FAQ’s:
Will Timothy contact trace?
We will not uniquely contact trace every student who was within 6’ or 3’ of a positive case during the day. Please do not ask our health team or teachers for this information. Rather we will generally contact trace
Here’s data to back up that position:
TCS saw more than 450 students in quarantine during the 2020-2021 school year, and only 8 of them reported symptoms (1.8%) -- several of which noted close contacts/exposure in places other than school, too. To state this differently, more than 98% of all close contacts by definition never got sick during the 2020-2021 school year.
FAQ on vaccinations:
Will Timothy require or track Covid vaccination status?
No. Timothy will not require or track this. However, at this time, you will see some shortcuts in the health plan for families who volunteer this information.
The Health Task Force would also like to note that vaccines have shown effectiveness. Consider talking with your personal physician about whether this vaccine is right for your children
More facts to explain position:
The pediatric Covid survival rate for ages 19 and younger in all of DuPage County is 100%. And for ages 20 and younger in the entire state of Illinois it is 99.998%. This assumes all positive cases have been captured in the last 16 months, which seems illogical and improbable. In other words, the percentages statewide are likely even more favorable. Although in DuPage, it’s impossible to improve upon 100%. We frequently hear that the approach to Covid must be purely scientific, which of course has strong merit...and yet has also drawn different scientific interpretations across the country. Others insist that all of this has become far too political. But here at Timothy, this deep into the pandemic (16 months later), we can look at data. So we believe we can actually use mathematics -- simple arithmetic -- to assist in our decision-making.
We finished the 2020-2021 school year with 113 total positive cases (51 ES, 22 MS, 29 HS, and 11 Staff) -- all fully and quickly recovered -- and 825 negative tests recorded. We consistently had more than 1,200 people on our campus every weekday, collectively frequenting our campus more than 200,000 times! We had 6 entire grades with 5 positive cases or less, 9 entire elementary classrooms with only 1 positive case, and 2 elementary classrooms with 0 cases. We did not have a single full time staff member test positive during the entire second semester
One line I have to pull out for emphasis:
“...here at Timothy, this deep into the pandemic (16 months later), we can look at data. So we believe we can actually use mathematics -- simple arithmetic -- to assist in our decision-making.”
Simple arithmetic = mathematics = decision making
Man oh man is that good.
Compare that with the customary, run-of-the-mill, anxiety-riddled mass emails sent out by almost every other school district after the Aug. 4 emergency order.
We’ve all read something similar to this:
This afternoon, Governor JB Pritzker announced an Executive Order today that requires that masks be worn indoors by all teachers, staff, students, and visitors to PK-12 schools, regardless of vaccination status. The Governor’s order goes into effect immediately. Students and staff members who participate in learning opportunities, camps and activities prior to the beginning of school must wear a mask while indoors regardless of vaccination status. While participating in outdoor activities, masks are not required.
Together, we have worked through the challenges of the numerous changes that have occurred over the last 18 months and we will continue to do so. Keeping students at school for in-person learning remains our top priority as we transition into the 2021-22 School Year. We understand and recognize that there are varying opinions within our community regarding mitigation strategies for the coming school year. As we shared earlier today, everyone in our community has a common goal: we want our students to have a high-quality educational experience in an environment that is safe for our students and staff. Please know that we are committed to that goal.
We appreciate your ongoing support and look forward to welcoming our students and staff back soon
Notice the word usage and tone when reviewing TCS messaging vs other schools.
Strength (TCS) vs Capitulation (almost everyone else).
Benevolence over abdication.
The alibis from the forced maskers read like a graduate school thesis on state constitutional law:
The Illinois Constitution vests the Governor with “supreme executive power,” enabling the office of the Governor to effectively implement the laws of the State. Throughout the pandemic, this power has been challenged with regard to the Governor’s various decisions to impose COVID mitigations and, in all cases, the Governor has been successful in defending his mitigations before the Courts.
The School Code vests the State Board of Education with a number of powers, including the power to manage the operations of school districts. 105 ILCS 5/2-3.25. Both the School Code and ISBE’s implementing regulations allow ISBE to remove recognition from a school district that fails to correct a safety hazard.
Finally, the School Code vests the Board of Education with the authority to manage infectious diseases in accordance with the direction of the Illinois Department of Public Health and the Illinois State Board of Education. 105 ILCS 5/20-21.11. Our actions in following the recommendations of the Centers for Disease Control and the Illinois Department of Public Health, as well as the mandate issued from the Governor, are within the authority granted to us under the School Code. Moreover, the School District stands in loco parentis while children are at school and can make most decisions that parents can make while children are in the School District’s custody. The principle of in loco parentis is a common law principal that is supported by a number of Court cases.
Loco parentis? WTF?
Who wants to read that gobbledygook?
(There is no legitimate scientific study that supports the idea that kids should be wearing masks while in school. None. No admissible data that shows how Covid spread is restricted by wearing masks. Monday’s editorial in the Wall Street Journal refers to a North Carolina study that found “not a single case of student-to-teacher transmission when 90,000 students were in school.” Forced masking pacifies the Cultists and makes the uncomfortable more comfortable. But when have we ever in this country accommodated individual anxieties to this degree? How much do we alter our rules and the rest of societies behavior to accommodate singular phobia? It’s madness.)
The opposite of madness; lucid words from Davidson, the TCS superintendent:
At this time, on this matter, I would not support an outright defiance of a rule that we’ve discovered to be valid, applicable and enforceable to our school and upheld to be legal. But in the meantime we are curious enough to find out. We’ll keep our health plan in place, as is, while we think we can do so…
Give me that. Every. Damn. Time.
Strength. Backbone. Choice.
Davidson did admit how, “at the end of our research and exploration, if we find that a mask optional policy is a dead end, then we’ll adjust and pivot.”
Late Wednesday, a letter was sent to Davidson and TCS from the Illinois State Board of Education. The letter threatens to remove TCS’s status “as a recognized non-public school, effective immediately.”
It’s possible they may ask students and staff to mask up. But I hope its based on the outcome of their own research and exploration not from a letter of intimidation by one of Pritzker’s hatchet men.
But regardless of that potential finding, the leaders at TCS chose wisely.
Rather than be controlled by a tyrannous decree, they set their own path with courageous fortitude.
And that should be celebrated.
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