Beatrice School Superintendent releases statement on Covid strategy, masks

(Below is the full text of a statement issued by District 15 Beatrice School Superintendent, Jason Alexander.)

First, I would like to apologize to the Board of Education that this is something being brought to you as a board, and not resolved in the Supt. Office. And that you as a board are having to discuss and debate this issue, and possibly bring it to a resolution.

I understand that it’s a pain to wear masks, I really do. But there’s no denying that they’re working. Covid cases are going down through these efforts, and masks have been proven over and over again to be the cheapest, easiest way to continue that downward trend. They help keep kids in school. They help the economy get back on track. They are helping us get back to normal...and isn’t that what we all want?
 
I know the plan changed. I wish we could have seen more clearly from the beginning of this pandemic, but that’s not how life goes. A favorite quote of mine is from the book Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck “The best laid schemes o' mice an' men often go awry.  And similarly: “No plan of operations extends with any certainty beyond the first contact with the main hostile force.”  In this case, our “hostile force” was an unprecedented and unpredictable pandemic. And this year we were very much at war with it. Yes, the battle plan changed. It had to.
 
The Plan 
Keep in mind the word “plan” is critical here. Not “law”. We said from the beginning that our plan would have to be fluid, and that we would need to adapt and change with the dynamics of the situation. It was always designed to be a flexible path forward through uncharted waters in order to keep kids safely in school, but at no point was it meant to be carved in stone. We were using the best information available at any given time, and a Covid Task Force Team of experts was involved at every step. We also collaborated with schools in our area--including one right down the road that also gave an opt-out for masks, but has since rescinded it and now requires them. Just as we did. Though it should also be noted that they haven’t received any calls for reinstatement of the waivers. Quite frankly, every school within 200 miles of us is wearing masks, and most people have come to understand that it’s just what we have to do to get through this. Recent polls show that 75-90% of Americans agree masks are necessary, and the overwhelming majority of medical professionals and organizations in the entire world say the same. This is just what we have to do to protect everyone, especially those most susceptible to the virus. If we can help, why on earth would we choose not to?
 
We provided the opt-outs for masks at the beginning of the year based on incomplete information and a desire to please all sides. But as we know, you can please all the people some of the time, but never all the people all the time. I understand that not everyone agrees with our decision here, but we’ve had as many or more in the community respond with gratitude. This year we’ve had to balance the desires of individuals against the safety of every single student and staff member, and we are never going to win any popularity contests in that battle.
 
I don’t want masks to go on for any longer than they have to, but I also don’t want to see another spike in cases that brings us back to the potential for the loss of in-person learning. We’ve come this far, and we’re winning. We can’t stumble at the finish line because we’re tired. Once vaccines are fully distributed we will be able to reevaluate. The plan can change, as it has at other points this year. And I am hopeful that once our staff is completely vaccinated, we can look at other options for everyone. Hopefully this will occur by the end of February or first of March, but, as with everything this year, none of us are in control of that timeline. We can’t predict what will actually happen, we can only control our response to the circumstances.
 
Here are a few facts for us to remember. Whether we like them or not, these things are realities we have to face:
 
1.  Six feet of social distancing is not possible in classrooms with 20-25 students, hallways, libraries, and music rooms. But with face masks, experts agree--including the American Academy of Pediatrics--we can safely keep kids in school. And keeping kids and teachers safely in school has been and will remain our goal. Since last March, parents have expressed their full discontent and lack of desire to have kids learning remotely or sent home to quarantine due to exposure. We are doing everything we can to avoid those situations, but we need full participation in the safety measures to make it work.
 
2. Wearing masks is not a cure-all, we are aware of that. The only way to avoid getting the virus is to eliminate the 3C’s (Crowded places, Close Contacts and Confined Spaces). As pointed out by Governor Ricketts, to completely eradicate the 3c's and accomplish 6 feet of space in schools is impossible.  To do that, our only option would be remote learning, (which, again, parents have said they don’t prefer), or wearing masks. Governor Ricketts stated in his October 21, 2020 video announcing the 3C’s, “if you can’t distance yourself 6 feet, if you can't avoid crowded places, if you can't avoid confined spaces, then wear a mask”.
 
3. We are still under the CDC quarantine and isolation orders of 7 -10 or 14 days, (depending upon which option you pick). These orders are mandatory for positive/exposed cases, and enforced by Public Health Departments, not schools. We don’t have a say in those requirements, and they’re not optional. Example: Since the beginning of the 2nd Qrtr, our ACP I and II students who, due to serious health risks and under Dr. orders, have not worn masks. And because of this, they have had to quarantine an average of 20 days in the 2nd qrtr, and were just quarantined at the beginning of the 3rd qrtr again, because they had been exposed to non-mask-wearing students or tested positive for Covid. The students wearing masks however, are still at school. Simply stated, we are able to keep kids in school because masks make it much less likely for them to spread the virus among each other while in our buildings.

4. Although children are not statistically in as much danger from the virus, and may appear perfectly healthy, it is now widely accepted science that they are great conductors/carriers/spreaders of the virus, which can then easily expose or infect the many bus drivers, teachers, cooks, custodians, secretaries, administrators, and staff they come in contact with daily. And now there are emerging questions about the new variants of the virus that may cause a greater instance of complications in children, including heart damage that could follow them the rest of their lives. At the end of January alone, the American Academy of Pediatrics marked a 16% rise in child Covid-19 cases over two weeks. So we are not out of the woods yet and need to keep acting accordingly.
 
Additionally there are two other important facts:
1. Currently we operate under a Federal Building and Public Transportation mask mandate.
2. We have been asked by our President to honor 100 days of mask wearing.
 
All this being said, I like to think that we’re nearing something like an end of the battle with Covid, and it is unfortunate that we’ve had to spend this year so distracted by it. But it's also unfortunate that the issue itself has become so infected with politics and misinformation when the bottom line is that 2,000,000 people worldwide have died from this. And it pains me that instead of spending our time discussing ways to help one another, we spend it debating whether or not we should help at all.
 
Someday we will all look back on this time and marvel at how everything unfolded. But I know I’m not alone in the room when I say that I dearly hope to recall that no one--from our youngest student to our most experienced staff member--died due to complications with Covid because of our failure to act. I want to know that we did everything we could to keep them all safe. Then, when the emotions and debates are long forgotten, I will have no question in my mind or in my heart that it was worth it to ask everyone to just wear a simple mask.
 
Thanks,
Jason