Mask mandates continued to be a concern for the parents who addressed the Union County Board of Education at the September 9 meeting.
The closure of the system within a month of the opening apparently rekindled the fear of a mandatory mask mandate. Mask wearing has been and remains to be optional. But Dr. Jimmy Carter, Director of Schools, did alert the board to the fact that the policies regarding the pandemic were under review.
He noted that the recent closure occurred due to the absence of teachers, substitutes and bus drivers. For the future, every effort is being made to only close the school that is affected by the issues. However, the issues causing the recent closure were system-wide.
As far as a mask mandate, Carter used the school messenger parent communication system to do a survey of parental opinion at each school. About 50 percent of the parents at each school responded to the survey. Of those responding, more than half at each school thought masks should be required.
However, five parents who addressed the BOE in September were very much opposed to a mask mandate but did not want another school closure either.
Carter said that he and his staff would continue to review the number of cases at each school and take the best and most appropriate measures under the guidelines the board has established to keep the students and staff safe and provide quality instruction.
He also commented that he hoped the parents and the community would trust in him as well as the staff to make good decisions.
Lastly, he commented that the system would reopen, that masks are not required but that wearing masks are strongly encouraged to be worn by anyone in school.
The board swiftly completed the business items. The board re-elected David Coppock as the chairman and Marty Gibbs as the vice chairman. Then the members approved a multitude of policy changes except for Policy 6.402 that were recommended by the Tennessee School Board Association (TSBA).
Policy 6.402 had some very confusing language regarding immunizations, as pointed out by Gibbs. So Dr. Ronnie Mincey, Federal Programs Supervisor, will seek clarification on that policy and report the findings in October.
Another change in the school calendar was approved to make April 18 an instructional day instead of a professional development day. This action would maintain five inclement weather days to be used in case of an emergency closure.
Alternate pathways to make up the instructional day have already been pursued. All of the other business items including the employee code of conduct passed with little to no comment.
As for the progress toward building a new middle school, Carter is formulating a search committee to seek an architectural firm for the project. Board members, county commissioners, community members, parents, business leaders, and other stakeholders will be asked to serve. Carter indicated that he would like to have Marty Gibbs on the committee due to his engineering and construction expertise.
The board moved the next meeting to October 7 at 6:30 pm. because the regular date of the meeting would occur during fall break. The meeting date was also changed to meet some state and federal report deadlines.