ELY – A small but determined group of Ely school district residents pushed the school board here Monday night to immediately lift the COVID-19 protective face-mask mandate that has been in place on the school campus since the beginning of the school year.
Three people spoke to the board during the open forum portion of the meeting. Temporary board chair Rochelle Sjoberg said the meeting agenda referenced an update on the Ely Safe Schools Learning Plan and allowed the speakers to address the board on the face mask mandate issue.
Parent Frank Udovich stated that he “is still solving some of the problems created by some of the people in power almost 10 years ago.” He also apparently referenced recently-retired superintendent Erik Erie when he said, “It does not make me feel any better that the last guy is gone either, but if you don’t have child-first policies, you are not going to be long for this school. He is gone and now we are picking up the pieces.”
Udovich said he “never understood the fear” of COVID, and indicated that those who do fear the coronavirus pandemic are “emotionally fragile.” He said he tries to understand where those people are coming from.
“I could never live like this. There is a vaccine. There are great therapeutics. We’ve had two years to get healthy and prepare for this. There is no excuse, other than power, fear, (and) I’ll leave the last word out, to still be masking children,” he said.
Udovich continued, “The Ely Safe Learning Plan Advisory Council (ESLPAC) was a big waste of time. COVID policies have clearly been political from the very start, but it is gone beyond political. From what I’ve seen it’s become cult-like and religious.”
Parent Devon Luthens urged the school board to make a motion to revise the mask mandate on the agenda.
“It is time to end the mandate and move toward mask optional,” she said, and asserted that the approved ESLPAC metrics are now outdated as they were developed during the surge of the Delta variant of the coronavirus and before vaccine availability for 5-11 year olds.
“There have been roughly 210-plus COVID cases in our school so far this year (compared to 48 cases for the entire 2020-21 school year) with 85 percent of students and staff vaccinated in the Memorial building, and another 40.9 percent in the (Washington building) elementary,” Luthens said.
“We are not seeing studies proving that masking children in a school setting has stopped the transmission of Omicron,” she continued. “Why do we continue to subject our children to masking when we do not have the data to provide that it is working?” she asked. “What is the reasoning? Where is the science? We need a reasonable end date. Waiting until the March 14 meeting is unacceptable. We’ve been waiting since Sept. 7 for this mask mandate to be lifted. Asking us for more time is just a slap in the face.”
Anthony Bermel, who home-schools his three daughters, noted, “A lot has changed over the months, yet Ely schools are stuck in the status quo at the expense of students and families.”
He referenced studies that indicate face masks harm children developmentally, physically and psychologically.
“Yet those are either ignored or you don’t care and are dismissive of them,” he told school board members. “In my opinion (kids) are being treated like second-class citizens.”
New ISD 696 superintendent John Klarich, who started his duties at Ely schools at the beginning of the month, referenced the Feb. 7 ELPSPAC meeting when he told members he retired from a previous school leadership position prior to the coronavirus pandemic.
“Being new, I don’t have all the data. I received a lot of emails from several people in this room and followed up on it all,” he said. “I’ve got to sort it all out. I’m too new to this district, to Ely, to make a recommendation, this is only my seventh day working here, to try to change all the protocols that are in place. I’m not saying they’re right or wrong. I’m not judging anything. It is too soon for me to make a commitment.”
Klarich said he asked the school board “if they would hold off a little bit” to make any COVID-19 public health decisions. “I need time to catch up on this,” he said. “I want to be able to help the school board make decisions. I told ESLPAC I would like to wait until March 7 to have a very robust discussion on where we are going to go on masking and to consider making a recommendation to change the protocols that are in place.”
He continued, “I realize some of you are at wit’s end. You want to see this change. You have some of the science behind you, but there is science that goes the opposite way. I’m in the middle. I’m trying to make the judgment on that. If you are looking for a scapegoat tonight and for the next couple of weeks, it is me. I want to get all the information. After just seven days I can’t come in here and tell the school board what to do, let alone tell the public what to do.”
Sjoberg said she looks forward to adding the discussion of the school district’s public health protocols to the March 14 meeting agenda.
Other business
In other business, the school board took the following action,
• Accepted the resignation of Darren Visser from the school board because he is moving out of the district. The position’s term expires at the end of the year.
• Approved the appointment process to fill the school board vacancy and set an application deadline of Thursday, Feb. 24. Interviews for the top two candidates, as scored by the school board, will be held on Monday, Feb. 28. More information and applications can be found at www.ely.k12.mn.us.
• Heard from ISD 696 Indian Education Liaison Jessica Anderson who presented an annual report from the American Indian Parent Advisory Committee.
• Accepted the resignation of Autumn Boedeker as Student Council Advisor at the end of the 2021-22 school year.
• Renewed the following coaches for spring sports, Frank Ivancich, boys baseball coach, Cory Lassi, girls softball coach, Will Helms, boys track coach, Eliza Vistic, girls track coach, Rob Simonich, golf coach.
• Approved an agreement with the Costin Group for consultant and lobbying services for the year at $2,000 per month.