By Patrick Adrian
EAGLE TIMES STAFF
NEWPORT — Newport Middle-High School returned to its mask-optional policy on Friday after the Newport School Board spurned a proposal to make the district’s masking guidelines more stringent.
By a narrow 2-1 vote, the Newport School Board defeated a motion on Thursday that would have required masking inside Newport school buildings when Sullivan County has a substantial rate of community spread, meaning a rate of 100 or more cases per 100,000 people.
The proposal’s defeat means the school district will resume its current policy, which makes masking optional unless a school building has three or more active cases of the virus.
While Newport-Middle High School was able to return to optional mask-wearing on Friday, masking remained mandatory at Richards Elementary School because its active case number is still over the threshold.
Thursday’s board decision drew approximately 20 people, many of whom were parents voicing opposition to mandatory masking.
“These are our children,” said Newport parent Tim Beard. “We are not asking you. We are telling you. Do not mask our kid.”
Beard, like many parents who spoke against mandatory masking, conveyed concerns about the many unknown long term side effects of prolonged mask-wearing.
Steven Morris, another Newport parent, pointed to a research article titled, “Is a Mask That Covers the Mouth and Nose Free from Undesirable Side Effects in Everyday Use and Free of Potential Hazards?” published in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. The April 2021 article, which reviewed 109 previous studies and publications, reports a variety of potential physical and psychological health risks from prolonged mask-wearing, including fatigue, headaches, respiratory impairment, and heightened social-emotional stress in some cases.
“Every morning it is World War 3 at my house, especially for my son, because having his face covered is one of his triggers,” said parent Carrie Greenwood. “He can’t handle it.”
School officials pointed out that positive cases of the virus skyrocketed during the first three weeks of school when optional-masking was in effect. Between Sept. 7 and Sept. 25, the Newport School District reported 33 active cases — 23 students, one preschool child, and nine adults. The total exceeded the district’s reported positive cases during the entirety of the 2020-2021 school year.
In contrast, since Sept. 28, more than a week since district-wide mandatory masking went into effect, Newport’s case numbers have leveled off, according to school nurse Kassie Helie.
Helie acknowledged that mask-wearing is only one of multiple protective strategies used to prevent viral infections and that these strategies are only effective when combined in practice.
“If you take away one of those mitigating factors, you are supposed to tighten up on different ones,” Helie said.
But therein lies the problem, according to Helie. New Hampshire schools, including Newport, no longer have the strategies in place that were used last school year. There are more bodies in the school buildings now, less overall spacing, and schools are no longer performing contact tracing or daily screenings.
As a result schools are relying more heavily on masking and vaccinations, Helie explained. And in the case of elementary schools, children under the age of 12 still do not have an option to vaccinate.
School staff said they are particularly concerned about the amount of lost instructional time from COVID-related absences.
“It is our job to educate students,” said middle school teacher Melissa Mitchler. “And it’s very difficult to teach students when they are gone for three weeks. It is very difficult to get them caught up.”
Helie explained that the actual risk of spread occurs over a 20 day period, with 10 day attributed to the window for transmission and a 10 day incubation period. The problem that many area families have encountered is that one positive case within a family results in one or more family members testing positive 10 days later.
In other words, if one child in a family tests positive for the virus, any unvaccinated members of the household are also required to quarantine. And a sibling who contracts it will have to quarantine for an additional 10 days, which can lead up to a 20 day absence in some cases.
School Board Chair Jenna Darling, who cast the deciding vote against a more stringent masking guideline, struggled with the decision, calling the board’s situation an “impossible” dilemma.
“However we vote we will be wrong [in the eyes of one portion of the community],” Darling said.
Board member Linda Wadensten, who also voted against the motion said that while she supports preventative practices, she believes masking and vaccinations should be an individual’s choice. Wadensten also questioned the overall effectiveness of the masks in comparison to other existing strategies such as sanitizing.
Board member Russell Medberry cast the lone vote in support of the stronger masking guideline. Russell said that he understood the argument for personal decision-making, he felt the need of “greater public good” should take precedence.
“It seems that it’s the school’s responsibility to look after the public health not only of its students, but the families and employees,” Medberry said.
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