Carroll ISD allows students, adults to choose whether to wear masks when outside
Students and adults in the Carroll school district will now have the option to decide whether they will wear masks when they are outside.
The school board voted Monday night to change the district’s mask mandate, giving students and adults the option to wear masks when they are outside while social distancing or moving around the school grounds.
But masks are still required inside buildings and classrooms. The changes will take effect Tuesday.
Karen Flexer, lead nurse for Carroll schools, said she feels comfortable giving students a choice to wear masks when they are outdoors.
She said it is still important to emphasize hand washing and social distancing while starting to bring back normal routines for the children.
The number of positive COVID cases is coming down, and the district can easily trace cases if needed, Flexer said. Students are on the playground for a short time, and they are constantly moving around, she said.
Carroll is also planning for end of year activities, such as senior prom, the senior picnic and graduation. The school district COVID-19 response team is looking at recommendations for those events.
Trustee Matt Bryant told Flexer that he is glad that she favors loosening up on some of the restrictions.
He said that the district also needs to look at the “flipside” of this issue by considering students who are staying at home because they don’t want to wear masks.
“There is a mental health component here. It’s awful,” he said.
“If we are at a point where the risk is mitigated, let’s take the masks off. Let’s see the kids’ smiles,” he said to applause from the audience.
Flexer said that while she wants to restore a sense of “normalcy” for students, she also cares for children who are medically fragile and who want to be in school.
“I see a lot of sick kids. I think about everybody. It may not be popular. That’s why I say let’s let the kids take the masks off at recess and have fun,” Flexer said.
However, she said students still must wear masks when inside.
Janet McDade, assistant superintendent for student services, said the COVID-19 response team will meet again in early May to review policies and may bring other recommendations to trustees for their consideration.
She also said that the district had a vaccination day for teachers on Friday, and some students who are 16 and older also got their first dose of the Moderna vaccine.
Several parents in the audience also spoke in favor of ending the mask mandate.
Mary Tamargo showed pictures of board members and staff members who weren’t wearing masks at various functions, criticizing them for keeping the mask requirements in place.
“No one in these photos seems afraid of catching COVID. It’s ridiculous and you know it. Remove the COVID restrictions and masks,” she said.