Wendy Slaton
I wish to commend our Clay County Board of Education for its unanimous vote to make mask
wearing mandatory for the students and staff of our schools. This is the right and responsible decision to protect the entire health of our community as the Delta variant of the COVID virus is currently surging here. Their common sense and flexibility to changing conditions
demonstrates their good leadership qualities.
Having taught students both online and in-person, I experienced firsthand that in-class,
person-to-person teaching and class participation is truly irreplaceable. Our students need the
best possible education not only for their future, but for the future of our nation. Yes,
computers are absolutely marvelous and great tools for research and learning, but the nuance and subtly of the teacher-student give-and-take can not yet be replicated, nor replaced.
As long as we allow the spread of COVID by not using the few means, social distancing, masks and vaccinations , that we know will at least curtail the spread and worse hallmarks of this virus, we shall never return to the normalcy all of us desire. How can a nation ever be "normal" if large numbers of individuals are sick, hospitalized, dying, or disabled with the effects of COVID as our health care systems are pushed to the point of collapse, our economic production and supply chains are crippled and our economy languishes?
With the COVID virus, Mother Nature has created a contagiously virulent and lethal cocktail.
Recent research reveals that COVID is more transmittable than chickenpox, smallpox, measles and the 1918 flu pandemic, which killed 675,000 Americans from spring 1918 to summer 1919.
Closure of entire school systems, such as occurred with the Towns County Elementary School, is disruptive to the students, their parents and the community. In education where students are best supported by everyday structure and contact with teachers and peers, closure is detrimental and counter-productive. School closure also strangles the economy — ask any business person.
Thank you members of the Clay County Board of Education for your measured and rational
approach as we all fight to end the spread of COVID.