MVCEAB Talks About Coming CCSD Mask Policies

By VERNON ROBISON

The Progress

As the upcoming school year approaches, the Moapa Valley Community Education Advisory Board (MVCEAB) is already advocating for the adaptation of broad Clark County School District (CCSD) policies to the unique realities in outlying rural schools.

The first example of this, which came up in a MVCEAB meeting held on Friday, July 23, was on the subject of mask mandates for students and staff in Moapa Valley schools.

In the meeting, MVCEAB members insisted that district-wide mask mandates for children and teachers should have enough flexibility to reflect COVID transmission rates actually on the ground in outlying communities, rather than being fixed to the overall rates all across urban Clark County.

“I think that we need to focus on the point we have been making all along,” said MVCEAB member Teresa Holzer. “That is our rural exception. That we are not facing the same challenges as is going on in Las Vegas. And we need to support that by the data of the low rates of infection that we are seeing out here. We should use that data to support the fact that we shouldn’t have these mandates for our children.”

Last week, the CCSD took an initial step toward resuming mask mandates, announcing that employees are required to wear face masks while working in school district facilities, regardless of vaccination status.

There was no mention in the announcement about what would be required of children when the school year begins. The details of that are yet to be determined.

The district has not revised its mask policy for students since June 1 when masks were made mandatory only for students in grades 4-5. Masks are optional for students in pre-K through third grade and for those in grades 6-12 who have been fully vaccinated. This policy still stands in CCSD.

The logic behind this position was that CDC guidelines indicate kids ages 10 and up can be carriers and spreaders of the disease. But only the age group of 12 and up are allowed to be vaccinated at this time.

“They don’t vaccinate anyone between age 9 and 12,” explained Grant Bowler Elementary Principal Kelby Robison in the meeting. “So those kids we know have to wear a mask because they can’t be vaccinated.”

“All the other grades 6 through 12 are also supposed to wear a mask unless they have been vaccinated,” Robison added. “But by law, we can’t ask if they have gotten the vaccine. So basically those grades are kind of on the honor system.”

MVCEAB Chairwoman Wendy Mulcock pointed out that the policies in the Washoe County School District, as they currently exist, do not require school children to wear masks in the classroom at all.
Moapa Valley High School Principal Hal Mortensen explained that the transmission rates currently being seen in Washoe County are significantly lower than those being recorded in Clark County.

“I saw numbers floating around that were like 4 percent transmission in Washoe County, where Clark County is like 26 percent,” Mortensen said. “That is why there is such a big difference.”

MVCEAB member Grant Hanevold said that this discrepancy could be used as evidence on why Moapa Valley should be allowed some flexibility on the mask mandate.

“If we can show that Washoe County is under 5 percent and they are not requiring masks, and Moapa Valley zip codes are also 5 percent or less, that would seem to be our best argument as there is already a precedent set,” Hanevold said.

Mack Lyon Middle School principal Ken Paul agreed with this. “I am looking at the Southern Nevada Health District site and the rates of infection in our community just don’t align with the three indicators that they are using,” he said. “I have put that plea out there to the central office that we are different out here.”

Paul said he was specifically requesting some special consideration in respect to mandates for teachers and other staff members in the school building. But that would easily extend to students as well, he said.
Paul added that he had received a response from his supervisor at CCSD informing that conversations are ongoing on this subject.

“He let me know that they are trying to decide whether the rurals should be different because our infection rate is different,” Paul said. “There is certainly not any kind of decision at this point. But I know that it is at least circulating about the masks right now.”

In the end, the MVCEAB determined to send a letter to CCSD officials emphasizing the unique status in rural areas of the district and advocating for a consideration of that in the formation of mask mandate policy.