Page 6/The Sun and News, Saturday, August 7, 2021to be very intentional as
administrators, teachers and
staff members at TK, that if
someone wants to wear a
mask, they have a right to
wear a mask,” he said. “They
have a right to wear a mask
without comments from their
peers. They have a right to
wear a mask without
comments from their
teachers. They have a right to
wear a mask without
comments from the bus
drivers. They have a right to
wear a mask, and that should
be supported.”
The TK district recently
conducted a survey tied to
COVID-19 measures and
funding the district will
receive under the federal
Elementary and Secondary
School Emergency Relief
Fund. More than 1,
people responded to the
survey. On the question of
masking, 73 percent ofrespondents said it should be
a decision left to parents,
Remenap said.
Remenap went on to
share some of the responses
received in the survey, to
illustrate the diversity of
opinions on issues such as
masks.
“It would be irresponsible
for our school district not to
follow recommendations
from these highly regarded
organizations [referring to
the U.S. Centers for Disease
Control and the Michigan
Department of Health and
Human Services].”
“MDHHS does not know
what is best for our children.”
“There is no real research
that shows wearing masks
keeps you safe.”
“Masks are a minor
inconvenience, in
comparison to the protection
they provide.”
“If masks, vaccines, orcohorting is mandated, then I
will be pulling my kids out
of TK and homeschooling
[them].”
“I won’t send my child
back without a full mask
mandate. Moreover, once the
vaccine becomes available
for all students and staff, it
should be required to get the
vaccine.”
“No masks, no vaccines,
no testing, no quarantines
and no segregating.”
“I expect the district will
follow expert opinion based
on science, not emotional
pleas from parents with no
expertise in epidemiology,
virology or disease
transmission.”
“We don’t have the
luxury of choosing a side,”
Remenap said after sharing
the comments. “Public
schools should be apolitical.
That’s our goal for this year.
It should be a given, frankly.I hope you understand the
juxtaposition we’re in, when
we have to try to find
something that works for
everyone, and one size does
not fit all when it comes to
the mitigation of this
pandemic.
“I’m asking for
understanding. Just
understand, we take these
things seriously. We pow-
wow, we talk ‘til we’re blue
in the face. We try to come
up with good decisions and
the best decisions to keep as
many people as possible
happy.”
In that same survey, the
top three issues respondents
would like to see ESSER
funds spent on were smaller
class sizes, increased mental
health services and increased
co-curricular activities.
Remenap said that while
students and staff who test
positive for COVID-19 will
be quarantined, there will not
be any required quarantining
for those who have close
contact with individuals who
test positive. He noted that
during the previous school
year, nearly everyone who
was ordered into quarantine
as a close contact did not test
positive for COVID
themselves.
“There was one [case],
and it was in a self-contained
class with a special-needsstudent in a room where a
number of students can’t
wear masks, and they were
pretty close to each other,”
Remenap said. “Given the
thousands of instructional
hours that was missed, we
thought it was logical and
prudent to discontinue the
contact tracing.”
The district will contact
parents of those believed to
be in close contact with a
positive COVID-19 case, but
will let parents decide
whether to keep kids at home
to them.
“That’s your call. You’re
the parents. I believe parents
know best what’s best for
their kids. You make that
call,” Remenap said. “We’ll
support that and we’ll work
together.”
As far as online options,
Remenap said it is looking
unlikely that an online
platform will be offered for
students in kindergarten
through fifth grades, based
on the number of parents
who have expressed interest
to the district in that option.
About 650 students in the
TK district took classes
virtually in the 2020-
school year, he said.In closing, Remenap read
a short essay by author and
journalist Malcolm Gladwell,
depicting his father joining a
barn raising by an Old Order
Mennonite community in
Ontario as a youth, even
though his father had nothing
in common with the people
of the Mennonite community.
Remenap then compared the
barn raising to the school
district.
“We have a barn to build
in TK, and that barn is our
students, your kids, your
grandkids. We have a barn to
build, folks. We have to
come together. That does not
mean that one side accepts
the beliefs of the other side ...
It means we all have to give
a little to get a little, here, for
the importance of our kids.
So, I’m begging for
cooperation, grace, patience
and understanding, because
understanding there isn’t one
decision that our board could
make, that I could make, an
administrator or teacher
could make, that everyone is
going to agree with. We have
a barn to build, and it’s up to
us to keep our singular focus
on our kids. They’re
watching.”New COVID guidance
for Barry, Eaton counties
The Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention
issued a July 27 update to its
recommendation for mask
wearing.
To maximize protection
from the Delta variant and
prevent the spread of
COVID-19 to others, the
CDC recommends everyone- including those who are
fully vaccinated – wear a
mask indoors in public in
areas of substantial or high
risk of transmission.
In addition, given new evi-
dence, the CDC also recom-
mends indoor face masks for
all teachers, staff, students,
and visitors to K-12 schools,
regardless of their vaccina-
tion status, indicating that
children should return to full-
time in-person learning in the
fall with layered prevention
strategies.
With the number of
COVID-19 cases climbing
statewide and the return to
classes less than a month
away, Gov. Gretchen
Whitmer issued guidance
Wednesday urging — but not
mandating — that Michigan
schools require masks for
students and staff.
The new guidance follows
CDC recommendations.
This guidance also urges
schools to maintain at least 3
feet of distance between stu-
dents.
The Michigan Department
of Health and Human
Services and Barry-Eaton
District Health Department
support the new CDC recom-
mendations and are encour-
aging residents to adopt strat-
egies to reduce their risk of
getting – or spreading –
COVID-19.
Both Eaton and Barry
counties are now classified at
the “Substantial” community
transmission level.
Eaton County has a case
rate of 52.6 per 100,000 per-
sons, and a test positivity rate
of 5.78 percent over the last
seven-day average, and was
classified as “Substantial” as
of this week.
Barry County rose to the
“Substantial” classification
earlier this week, with a case
rate of 73.11 per 100,
persons and a test positivity
rate of 9.59 percent over the
most recent seven-day aver-
age.
As of Monday, Eaton
County had 42 active cases,
and Barry County had 45.
Most counties neighboring
the district also have met the
“Substantial” transmission
threshold.
BEDHD recommends
face-mask wearing for all
individuals – fully vaccinat-
ed and unvaccinated – while
indoors in public.
Given the community
transmission status change,
the health department also
encourages schools and busi-
nesses to consider the latest
public health recommenda-
tions when determining
risk-mitigation strategies foremployees and clients within
buildings.
BEDHD also highly
encourages vaccinations
against COVID-19. All three
available vaccines prevent
serious illness, hospitaliza-
tion, and death from COVID-
19, even the Delta variant,
health department officials
said. Vaccines are in high
supply and are easy and free
to receive on a walk-in basis.
The health department
endorses a layered protec-
tion strategy to ensure a
healthy environment, allow-
ing all Barry and Eaton resi-
dents the best chance to
remain healthy and physical-
ly present at work and in the
classroom setting.
This strategy includes the
following risk-mitigation
measures:
· Receive the COVID-
vaccine, if eligible.
· Get tested for COVID-
within three to five days if
exposed to someone with
COVID-19.
· Wear a face mask indoors.
· Wash hands frequently.
· Maintain a distance of 6
feet from others.
· Enhance ventilation sys-
tems within buildings.
· Stay home when sick and
get tested for COVID-19.
· Adhere to isolation prac-
tices upon testing positive for
COVID-19, or quarantine if
considered a close contact.
For more information
about COVID-19, visit barr-
yeatonhealth.org.
To see the CDC’s COVID-
19 data, visit covid.cdc.gov/
covid-data-tracker/#coun-
ty-view.... The CDC also
recommends indoor
face masks for all
teachers, staff, stu-
dents, and
visitors to K-12 schools,
regardless of their
vaccination statusKISD superintendents ask
parents to follow CDC guidelines
To the editor:
As the beginning of the
school year approaches,
superintendents of the
districts throughout Kent
ISD are in constant contact
with local and state health
agencies to monitor the
spread and conditions
associated with the COVID-
19 virus.
Student and staff safety are
our top priority.
All school leaders believe
in-person learning is most
effective for all students’
academic success and social-
emotional well-being, and
are planning for face-to-face
instruction when school
opens.
According to health
experts, the safe and effective
vaccines available to all
individuals, 12 years of age
and older, provide the
greatest protection from
COVID-19. At this time, allhealth authorities are
recommending vaccination
for those who are eligible and
following the guidance of the
U.S. Centers for Disease
Control for face masks.
The CDC recommends
universal masking for all
students and staff in schools,
regardless of vaccination
status, to prevent the spread
of COVID-19. This
recommendation was
recently instituted in response
to the Delta variant, which is
significantly more contagious
than prior coronavirus
variants.
CDC guidance mirrors the
guidance of the American
Academy of Pediatrics.
The Kent County Health
Department recently met
with superintendents to
encourage the use of masks
within schools at all grade
levels. Please understand
these are recommendations,which ask all to take
appropriate precautions to
protect the safety of students
and staff within our schools.
They are not public health
orders, which we would be
required to enforce.
While districts strongly
encourage following the
recommendations, parents
may choose what they feel is
best for their child. Please
know the CDC still mandates
masks for all school bus
drivers and passengers.
We will continue to work
with public health officials
and make necessary
adjustments based on CDC,
Michigan Department of
Health and Human Services
and KCHD guidance to keep
students, staff and families
safe.Kent Intermediate
Superintendents Association,
Grand RapidsLETTER TO THE EDITOR
CIVILITY, continued from page 1 The district will contact parents of those
believed to be in close contact with a positive
COVID-19 case, but will let parents decide
whether to keep kids at home to them.