By Beacon Staff
The
Burlington School Board passed the first reading of a modified version
of its existing mask policy that could ease the current masking
restrictions.
School
board president Joel Sieren, Deb Hatteberg (who put forth the motion),
Darven Kendell, and Scott Mason voted for the measure, while Anika McVay
and Nancy Hoelzen voted against it. Christi Burghoffer abstained.
Before
the vote, Mason, McVay, and Burghoffer said they were for the idea of
eliminating masks entirely. Sieren, Hatteberg, Kendell, and Hoelzen
favored a more cautious approach.
Since it was
the first reading of the policy, the modifications won’t be approved
until the next school board meeting if the votes remain the same.
School board member Joel Sieren indicated that could be a special board
meeting.
The new policy is modified from the
one passed October of last year, which created a tier system using
county COVID-19 positivity rates to determine when students and staff in
the Burlington school district should wear masks.
The original tier system broke down as follows:
Tier One — No masks required if the county positivity rate is between 0 and 5 percent.
Tier
Two — Masks required during regular school hours when students are
present if the county positivity rate is between 5.1 percent and 12
percent.
Tier Three — Masks required at all times when inside district buildings if the county positivity rate is 12 percent or greater.
The
new tier system uses a higher percentage rate of positivity to
determine mask usage for students and staff, and would be as follows:
Tier One — No masks required if the county positivity rate is between 0 and 12 percent.
Tier
Two — Masks required during regular school hours when students are
present if the county positivity rate is between 12.1 percent and 20
percent.
Tier Three — Masks required at all times when inside district buildings if the county positivity rate 20.1 percent or over.
The numbers were negotiated by the school board after two hours of discussion, using Hatteberg’s motion as a starting point. The
meeting room was packed by local residents, many who spoke out against
any kind of mask policy. No one in the crowd spoke in favor of a mask
policy.
During the discussion, Sieren pounded
his gavel several times after hearing outbursts from the audience. He
also condemned the hateful tone of some of the emails sent by the public
to the school board, calling some of them “borderline threats.”
“We are all up here trying to do the best we can,” Sieren said.
Superintendent Pat Coen was not available for Monday night's meeting. Though the school board had planned on hearing from the school district's attorney regarding the employment status of the current but inactive Burlington High School Principal David Keane, that agenda item was pushed back to the next regular meeting due to Coen's absence. Monica Meyers is the acting interim principal for Burlington High School.