The Matanuska-Susitna Borough has one of the lowest COVID-19 vaccination rates in the state, but when school starts there on Wednesday, masks will be optional. While a poll conducted by the school district was heavily against a mask requirement, some parents and teachers are speaking out against the current policy.
Last year, the Mat-Su Borough School District had a host of COVID-19 mitigation measures in place, including a mask requirement. On Wednesday, when students return to class, masks will be encouraged, but optional. If individual schools start to show signs of COVID-19 spreading, then rules for those specific campuses may change.
Last school year, individual campuses closed at various times due to the spread of COVID-19, but the district as a whole remained open, with the exception of a short shutdown just before Thanksgiving.
According to Mat-Su Superintendent Dr. Randy Trani, a survey of teachers and parents came back overwhelmingly against a blanket mask mandate for Mat-Su Schools. He says while the risk of a student becoming seriously ill is not zero, there are also risks associated with students not coming to school. Trani believes the policy amounts to a balancing act between what is recommended by experts and what the community will bear.
“The chances of a student dying under eighteen from COVID are only slightly worse in the United States from…playing football. So yes, there’s a risk. And there’s also a risk of not having kids in school, so we’re doing a weird balancing act, here. We’re trying to work with the community that we live in.”
In an email to a Susitna Valley parent, which Trani acknowledges writing, he says the current situation is QUOTE “not completely “governed” by logic and scientific understanding of the natural world.” END QUOTE He hopes that treating schools individually, and changing mitigation strategies based on case levels at specific campuses will allow the district to react with additional restrictions where needed without as much backlash.
“When cases go up at a school, we’re going to use masks. I think people will be ok with that. At least we hope.”
Decisions on when to implement further mitigation will be influenced by a health advisory team, which Trani says will meet daily to start the school year. That team is made up of district administration as well as healthcare professionals, and it’s the same method that was used to guide individual school measures last year.
The balancing act Superintendent Trani and the district have struck does not sit well with everyone, however. Some parents, like Ashley Kaso of Talkeetna, are concerned about sending their children back to school, particularly those too young to be vaccinated against COVID-19. Kaso believes the district’s policies last year were largely effective.
“I’m just hoping that these measures can stay in place until the school-aged children who would like to be vaccinated can do that. And if we can just keep these safety measures that we know work in, that would be great.”
Kaso says that, ideally, the school district would start off with the same rules as last year, including masks, and that public opinion should not outweigh the experts. Current guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the American Academy of Pediatrics recommend masking in schools.
“No one’s opinion, publicly, should matter, mine included. So what is the CDC saying? What is the Alaska Department of Public Health saying?”
Some teachers are also critical of the current COVID-19 mitigation policy. Tim Walters teaches science at Redington Junior-Senior High School in the Mat-Su. He calls the current plan a farce, and says he doesn’t feel safe returning to school this week. He says he has been vaccinated and has already had COVID-19.
“So, of the people that could get infected, I have a lesser chance of it, but there are still people who have had repeat infections. And it did a number on me last year. I got pneumonia afterwards, and I’m still suffering some of the effects.”
Walters says he’s not alone among teachers who are concerned, but that he, as someone who has been in the district for awhile, feels more comfortable speaking up.
“I know of new teachers–new to the profession–who aren’t as secure, and they’re afraid to say anything. They’re going to mask up and hope for the best.”
Individual school COVID-19 mitigation policies were posted on the district’s website over the weekend. As Superintendent Trani laid out in the initial plan, all forty-six Valley schools are currently listed as “Low Risk.”
