- April 16, 2024
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The Volusia County School Board will have an emergency meeting at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, Aug. 31, to discuss whether to implement a mandatory mask mandate for all students in light of the current COVID-19 surge of cases in the community.
The decision was made at the end of the board meeting on Tuesday, Aug. 24, during which many members of the public asked the district to reconsider its optional mask policy. During the first week of school, Aug. 16-20, Volusia County Schools reported 276 students and 82 staff members tested positive for the virus, and 211 students and 31 staff members were quarantined. With other school districts around the state reporting more and more positive cases, School Board members feared that VCS, though only on its second week of classes, would follow the same trend.
“We just can’t look the other way," District 4 School Board member Carl Persis said. "We’ve got to just put a clamp on it right where it is now.... I think it’s a war that we are losing, and when you’re in a war, I think everyone has to make sacrifices.”
Superintendent Scott Fritz, who has encouraged all students to wear masks and get vaccinated if possible, expressed apprehension for a mandatory mask policy, as it would be violating the Parents' Bill of Rights law, which was signed by the governor in late June. However, the law is now being challenged in court.
Their COVID-19 and quarantine numbers look "OK" so far, but the district is starting to see a steady increase, the superintendent reported. If the School Board enacts a mask mandate, Fritz cautioned that they would be breaking the law.
“This should not be made lightly," Fritz said. "This is a big deal. This is a really big deal. Not one that will be forgotten."
But, if a mandatory mask mandate is the direction the School Board chooses to go with, he will stand by them.
School Board attorney Ted Doran said he stands by his opinion that Gov. Ron DeSantis' order banning districts from implementing mask mandates is unconstitutional.
“I think it’s completely illegal," he said. "I think to suggest you all could be denied your paychecks is preposterous. I mean, deprivation of property rights without any due process? Violations of federal laws, the National Labor Relations Act, I mean, you could go on and on and on. It’s a joke, in my opinion.”
District 1 School Board member Jamie Haynes remains steadfast in her belief that masks should remain optional. She asked the board to stop and think about what they're doing. If a mask mandate is passed, that could mean disciplinary action for students who refuse to wear them, which would take away time from classroom instruction in a year where many students are already struggling with some degree of learning loss due to the pandemic.
“Yes we have a job to provide safe environments," Haynes said. "We also have a job to educate our children and not have them fall further behind.”
She said she would be willing to hear everyone's opinion on the subject at the emergency meeting, but that she was not "going to break the law."
District 5 School Board member Ruben Colon, who is also a clinical informatics specialist at AdventHealth Fish Memorial, said this surge is nothing like what the community saw last year. Due to staff shortages, he's back to treating patients bedside and is getting a close look at what is happening in health care.
“What we’re seeing in the community, I couldn’t even begin to talk about," he said. "I can’t unsee it. The homes are being destroyed because the parents are dying. They’re dying, OK? COVID numbers go down because patients die.”
