KNOX — Knox Public Health strongly urges universal masking, regardless of vaccination status, in the county’s schools for the 2021-22 school year, KPH public information officer Pam Palm wrote to Knox Pages on Thursday.
“KPH strongly believes that masks are the non-negotiable prevention strategy school leaders must require now,” according to a 3-page document from KPH Palm shared with Knox Pages. “Masks are a proven method to limit transmission of COVID and, besides vaccine, are the best tools to keep everyone in school as much as possible.
“Until vaccine becomes available to all school-age students, the need to protect our most vulnerable population has never been greater.”
However, as of Thursday, none of the school districts in the county have issued mandatory masking requirements in classrooms.
The Knox Public Health document detailing their recommendation.
The KPH guidance aligns with the agency’s general recommendation for all people, regardless of vaccination status, to wear masks indoors when physical distancing is not possible.
“If you are in an indoor location and unable to social distance from your group, i.e. your family or friends or co-workers – regardless if you have been vaccinated – we recommend wearing a facial covering,” KPH Deputy Health Commissioner Zach Green wrote in an Aug. 4 statement.
KPH cannot mandate schools to enforce mask wearing in classrooms. However, masks will be required on school buses, as federal mandates require everyone to wear a mask on public transportation, which includes school buses.
KPH recommends districts adopt all of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, American Academy of Pediatrics, and the Ohio Department of Health recommendations for schools, which all urge mask wearing regardless of vaccination status.
There is no local or statewide mask mandate at this time, but for the week of July 29 to Aug. 4, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention labeled the level of community transmission in Knox County as “high,” based on a 233.33% increase in positive cases compared to the previous 7-day total.
The CDC recommends people wear masks in public indoor settings in areas of “substantial” or “high transmission,” regardless of vaccination status.
The Ohio Department of Health released updated recommendations for K-12 schools on July 27, which align with the recommendations of KPH.
“Because children 11 and younger cannot be vaccinated and less than a third of children 12 to 17 are fully vaccinated, it is strongly recommended that schools implement masking for students layered with other prevention strategies to protect people who are not fully vaccinated,” the guidance reads.
Ohio Department of Health Chief Medical Officer Bruce Vanderhoff said during a press conference the day prior, “while there are no mandates associated with this guidance, we believe that the recommendations we are issuing are essential to the health of Ohio’s youth and the success of the coming school year.”
In Knox County, less than 31% of eligible school-aged children are vaccinated (12-19 years of age), according to KPH.
“When vaccine becomes available to those age 11 and younger, KPH will offer to conduct vaccine clinics at the schools in addition to our operations at our office,” the KPH document reads.
“Masks reduced transmission and helped keep students in school last year. Masks, combined with distancing of at least three feet, permit students who are exposed to someone who tests positive for COVID to continue to attend school (to ‘break quarantine’).”
In recent days, some districts in Knox County have issued statements with COVID-19 policy stances specific to their district, including Fredericktown, Centerburg and East Knox.
No districts plan to mandate masks in classrooms at this time.
Centerburg Local Schools superintendent Mike Hebenthal wrote in a letter to the district, posted on the district website Aug. 3, that masks would not be mandated in the classroom.
“Masks are a personal choice,” Hebenthal wrote. “I’m assuming there will be some that will wear masks and some that won’t.”
Regarding the federal mandate requiring mask wearing on school buses, Hebenthal wrote, “this is a federal mandate in which we have no control.”
Centerburg’s quarantine procedures have changed since Hebenthal’s letter, which originally stated “there is no requirement to quarantine if you have been exposed to COVID.”
People are required to quarantine if they are exposed to the COVID-19 virus as well as if they are diagnosed with COVID-19, Hebenthal said to Knox Pages Thursday, which is in accordance with Ohio Revised Code, Section 3707.08.
East Knox Local Schools superintendent Steve Larcomb also released a statement about COVID-19 policies at the end of July, explaining it is the parents’ choice whether a student wears a mask inside the school building for the 2021-2022 school year.
Larcomb told Knox Pages Thursday that he, too, would be updating his statement to include the quarantine rules under the Ohio Revised Code.
“While masks may be optional and a parent’s choice, they need to understand that that choice may include their child being quarantined in the case of a close contact, because their choice was to not have their student wear a mask,” Larcomb said.
Neither East Knox nor Centerburg will offer online instruction for the 2021-22 school year.
“Online learning takes away from all students due to the extra workload,” Hebenthal wrote in his letter to the district. “If you feel you do not want your child to attend in person classes there are many online schools in Ohio that can offer you this option.”
Ohio’s 2022-2023 biennial budget allows school districts to request to use an online learning model through the creation of a separate online learning school, meaning the online school will have a separate information retrieval number and students must be assigned to the online school for purposes of reporting and school funding.
Larcomb expressed disapproval of the state’s decision to separate out online schools in his July statement.
“Unfortunately, there is no option for online education sponsored by East Knox this year due to problematic changes to online education put into law by the Ohio Legislature,” Larcomb wrote. “Legislators would have us believe they did a favor in allowing school districts to create their own online school separate from the traditional school. They did not.”
Following the same trend, Fredericktown Local Schools will not be offering online learning either, Supt. Susan Hayward wrote to Knox Pages Thursday.
Fredericktown Local Schools will also not be mandating masks, Hayward wrote, but will will continue to encourage hand-washing, hand sanitizing and physical distancing.
Knox County has recently seen a sharp increase in positive COVID-19 cases, as previously reported by Knox Pages.
The county recorded more than 100 new cases in the past two weeks, including two outbreaks.
There are 87 known active cases and eight current hospitalizations, as of Aug. 5, however KPH officials estimate the actual number of positive cases is higher than the reported number.
Other Knox County districts (Mount Vernon City Schools, Knox County Career Center Schools, Danville Local Schools) have yet to issue district-specific statements on masking for the upcoming school year.
Knox area superintendents met with KPH officials Thursday afternoon to discuss COVID-19 protocols for the upcoming school year, multiple superintendents confirmed.
“We hope to carefully review the information shared (during the meeting) and come to a decision to share with our boards in the coming days,” Mount Vernon City Schools Supt. Bill Seder wrote to Knox Pages Thursday.
