By Austin Williams
Several members of the public attended the regular meeting of the Centralia City Schools Board of Education on Tuesday to voice their opinions and ask questions about the district’s ongoing mask policy.
Despite a controversial ruling from a circuit court judge last Friday that the statewide school mask mandate issued via executive order was not legally valid, grade schools in Centralia continue to ask those in attendance to wear masks indoors. The state has appealed the decision, so it currently waits to be ruled on by an appellate court.
This state of uncertain legality has prompted questions and challenges from members of the community. Among other concerns, they pointed out the inconsistency between Centralia schools: while the city schools still ask students to wear masks, Centralia High School has responded to the ruling by stating masks to be optional. Many other districts throughout the state have also dropped mask rules in response to the court ruling.
According to superintendent Craig Clark, as the board expects a final ruling from the appellate court within nine days, it is reasonable to wait until then to make any official changes regarding the use of masks.
“When the appellate court does make their determination, it will be statewide, (applying to) every school district, and it will be done… what we did not want to do was put the kids in a position where they were yo-yoing day-to-day between whatever the appellate court would decide… Our thought was that we’ve come this far. If we could go the eight-to-nine days and get the decision from the appellate court, the consistency we would have in our classrooms for our students and teachers would be important to the educational process.”
On the issue of inconsistency between the grade schools and the high school, Craig Clark said that although the board tries to coordinate with the high school board, they were unable to do so in this case. Clark noted the difference in maturity between school levels, saying that high school students were better prepared to handle a potential sudden reversal than younger students.
One community member asked if students would face disciplinary action such as detention if they were to refuse to wear a mask, Clark responded that students were “highly recommended” to wear masks and would be provided with one to wear if they did not have one. When further pressed on whether a student would be punished for continuing to refuse masks, Clark responded that, to his knowledge, there would be no punishment.
Once the public comment portion was concluded, the board moved on with scheduled items. The board officially adopted PRESS policy updates, containing clarified and refined wording in many sections. The board also approved Lunsford Architects to proceed with project planning and bid specs for HVAC at both Jordan School and Centralia Junior High School, and roof replacement, sidewalk, awning, and mansard projects at CJHS.
In personnel action, the board approved the hiring of Lindsey Miller as home to school liaison, Anika Tyson, girls 7th-grade track coach, and Shanna Worlds, as a cook. The board accepted the resignation of Andrew Acobo as Special Education Teacher The board also approved two transfers. Kyle Kohlmeier from instructional support Teacher at Schiller School to instructional support teacher at Jordan School and Kristen Stedelin from secretary to administrative assistant.
