Masks will be “strongly encouraged” for students and staff in the Mahomet-Seymour School District in the 2021-22 school year.
Hall released a draft plan early Thursday afternoon that states the district will provide an in-person learning environment for Mahomet-Seymour students five days a week. Students who have received medical advice to not attend school in person during the upcoming year will be provided an alternative by the district. Hall has said that may include homebound instruction, meaning a student will see an instructor for five hours a week.
The board approved a few changes to Hall’s plan including:
Mitigation Level 2-Moderate will kick in when “Local metrics indicate moderate transmission and/or Champaign County moderate or lower;”
Mitigation Level 3-Substantial will kick in when “Local metrics indicate moderate transmission and/or Champaign County moderate or lower;”
“School staff are to model support for and encourage students to be supportive of people who choose a different mask decision than their own;”
And in mitigation level 3, “Universal masking for students and staff.”
Board member Jeremy Henrichs made a motion to pass contact tracing to CUPHD while board member Meghan Hennesy made a motion to put data points with the movement of the phases. Both motions failed.
Board member Colleen Schultz wanted to find a compromise for parents who want their child to be without a mask and those who want their child to be masked and with others who are also masked. She suggested that the district poll parents, and place students in masked and mask-optional classes in grade K-5.
Students under the age of 12 cannot be vaccinated at this time.
The Centers for Disease Control recommends “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.”
Vaccines will not be required for school, nor will not be asked if they are vaccinated, Hall said.
Hall thanked Schultz and Hennesy for their ideas, but said that having classes as such, with 10-12 sections per grade, it would be difficult to balance genders, students with IEP, 504, behavior interventions, medical issues, classroom size and honoring teacher requests in each classroom with the mask option.
She said at this point, the class lists are “largely done.”
Schultz said that the board had heard from so many people in the community who are concerned about sending their children to school without a mask. She added that when students come to school believing that they are in an unsafe environment, they will not be able to focus on learning.
Schultz’s motion failed.
Hennesy made a motion to follow American Association of Pediatrics guidance which is to universally mask ages 2 and up in the school setting, regardless of vaccination.
No one made a second to that motion, and so it did not go for a vote.
Henrichs said that the district is in a different situation than it was in 2020. He encouraged the Mahomet community to get vaccinated. He said it is safe, and something that he did as soon as he could.
Passengers on the school bus are all required to wear a mask, regardless of vaccination status.
The board met with the Mahomet-Seymour Education Association in closed session prior to the open session.
