By Jared Putnam
Staff Writer
Face masks will not be required in Clay County Schools when faculty and students return to campus next month for the 2021-22 school year.
The Clay County Board of Education unanimously voted to make face masks optional during the July meeting on Monday in Hayesville, following a recommendation by Superintendent Dale Cole.
Cole pointed out that a current executive order by Gov. Roy Cooper expires at the end of July and starting Aug. 1, all school guidance related to COVID-19 will become a local board of education decision.
The board also had options to either require masks indoors for grades kindergarten through 12 or require masks indoors for all staff and students in grades Pre-K through eighth grade, as well as all unvaccinated staff and students in grades nine through 12.
"I feel that we must balance the dangers of COVID spread against the educational needs for our students and use this delegated freedom from the state to choose
wisely," Cole said. "I recommend that we do not require masks in order to attend school, however, we will allow mask wearing by parent choice."
Cole acknowledged that his recommendation and the board's ensuing decision go against the recommendations of state health officials, the Clay County Health Department and school nurses. According to Cole, data from local health officials indicates that only 35 percent of Clay County residents have received the COVID-19 vaccine and only one percent of local 12-17-year-olds are vaccinated.
"Their recommendation was to continue following North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidance by requiring masks in kindergarten through eighth grades; for staff and students as the data shows it has served us well in the last year and a half," Cole said.
Gov. Cooper recently announced that schools are strongly recommended to require face masks for most students and teachers as COVID-19 numbers continue to rise across the state.
"The guidance in the toolkit strongly states that schools should require masks indoors for everyone, students and teachers in kindergarten through eighth grade," Gov. Cooper said. "It also directs schools to ensure unvaccinated high school students and teachers wear masks indoors."
The board's decision does, however, align with the wishes of the vast majority of Clay County teachers, according to a survey conducted by the school system. Cole said out of 118 responses, 83.9 percent of teachers do not feel face masks should be required indoors, with only 16.1 percent in favor of such a requirement.
The superintendent said he further considered current local case numbers, citing only 10 known active cases of COVID-19 within Clay County as of Friday, July 23. He also left the door open for the board to alter the policy in the future if the local impact of the virus becomes more severe.
"The board can and should elect at any time to change its decision to make the schools safer in reaction to COVID spread as needed," Cole said.
Clay County Schools will once again provide a remote instruction option, but that feature will look noticeably different for students this year. Remote instruction will now be conducted through a third-party company — not through Clay County Schools.
"I honestly don't think our teachers can do that for another year, providing it both ways," Cole said. "We called on them to meet a specific need and I am extremely proud of our staff and the work they put in to provide instruction in multiple different ways for face-to-face students, fully-online students with internet, fully-remote students who did not have internet."
Cole said parents who wish to use the remote instruction option should inform their child's principal by Wednesday, Aug. 18 in order to have enough time to arrange classes. Clay County students return to class on Monday, Aug. 23.
During the public comment portion of the meeting, a young student named Alice Moore requested time and asked the board to not implement a mask mandate. She said she felt like her mask held her back much of the time last year and even made it difficult for her to see, which led to a fall down stairs on one occasion.
"It still felt terrible to wear a mask all day," Moore said. "You can barely breathe in a mask and it can make it hard to talk sometimes. Of course, I support kids my age getting the vaccine when it is safe. I may not believe in masks but I do believe in vaccines."
Other notes from the July meeting:
• The board honored three recent graduates for their performances during spring sports. Allison Thomas was named to the 2021 All-Smoky Mountain Conference team for girls soccer. Paul White won the track and field conference championship in the 400-meter dash. Ryelan Snowden won the track and field conference championship in the 300-meter hurdles and high jump.
• The board honored the Hayesville High School baseball team for winning the Smoky Mountain Conference championship and reaching the third round of the state playoffs.
• The board voted to allow the school system to apply for a grant to provide on-site COVID testing. Individual testing would be subject to parent approval.
• The board approved a student code of conduct that categorizes inappropriate behaviors in five levels of seriousness.
• The board approved $600 retention stipends for three district directors.
• The board approved a proposed Aviation Fund Agreement with WNC Youth Aviation Foundation.
• The board approved Mayfield Dairy Farms as dairy vendor for the school system during the 2021-2022 school year. Mayfield submitted a winning bid of $64,296.04. The school system has the right to roll over the contract for up to four years.