As Lynden students protest, Whatcom schools await guidance on universal masking mandates
On the day Gov. Jay Inslee announced outdoor mask mandates would be lifted and indoor requirements would be looked at, approximately 300 students in the Lynden School District staged a protest over being required to wear masks in classes.
Lynden school administrators became aware of plans for the protest late Tuesday through a parent Facebook protest group, Interim Superintendent Mike Stromme told The Bellingham Herald Wednesday, Feb. 9.
“There really wasn’t much activity at the elementary schools, but we did have some students participate at the middle school and high school,” Stromme told The Herald, estimating 100 students were involved at the high school and between 150 and 200 students at the middle school.
The protest was at least partially organized by parents, and involved students trying to enter the schools without wearing masks, Stromme said.
At the middle school, Stromme said students were escorted into the cafeteria, where the school’s principal addressed the students and told them they had a choice to go to class wearing a mask or to return home. Some of the students chose to leave for the day.
The high school protest was similar with students gathering outside, Stromme said, but students without masks were not permitted to enter the building. A small group of high school students were brought in to discuss with district administrators the reasons behind their protest.
“They were given a chance to share their concerns, and the administrators listened to what they had to say,” Stromme said, “but they were told they were going to have to wear a mask or go home.”
To mask or not to mask
While Stromme said he understands some students’ and parents’ frustrations over being required to wear masks in schools, especially as mask mandates in other parts of the country are being dropped, he said he can’t speculate when those school requirements will be dropped here.
“Parents keep wondering and asking the same questions about masks, but that is not something I can answer,” Stromme said. “Only the governor and the Department of Health can answer, and it would be wrong for me to speculate.”
State Superintendent Chris Reykdal said it is safe and timely to eliminate state masking requirements in schools in Washington state, in a statement Wednesday, as he called on Inslee and the Department of Health to change guidance in the coming weeks.
“The combination of widespread vaccinations and much higher infection acquired immunity due to the pervasive Omicron variant has changed the landscape of the pandemic once again,” Reykdal’s statement read. “I believe it is time to carefully plan our move from a pandemic response to an endemic system of readiness.
“With high immunity rates and our ability to carry out rapid antigen tests with nearly every school district participating in our state’s COVID-19 testing program, the time is now to rebalance the health and educational benefits of masking in our schools.”
Reykdal went on to say that universal masking in schools worked and was “an essential part of the larger community mitigation strategy,” but he also noted it impacted the learning environment.
He said his recommendation includes a plan to have schools continue to provide rapid, on-site testing and called on local health officials to assess health and safety risks and determine strategies at the local level.
But Washington Education Association President Larry Delaney said his organization would continue to advocate for the safety of students and staff, citing that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky said the CDC would continue to endorse universal masking in schools.
“Educators need other protections in place, including readily accessible high-quality masks, adequate leave pools and policies, and a metric of at what case levels a new mask mandate would be announced,” Delaney’s statement said. “At a time when schools, particularly those in communities of color and low-income communities, are facing staffing shortages we must anticipate that lifting the mask mandate will exacerbate the shortages and could interrupt learning.”
Whatcom County cases still high
Whatcom County cases are still high, especially in our school-age population, according to Dr. Greg Thompson, Whatcom County co-health officer. The case rate per 100,000 among 5- to 17-year-olds is 1,156 as of Feb. 5, and is currently the highest of all age groups in Whatcom County.
“We have considerable evidence that wearing masks, especially well-fitting, high-quality ones, reduces the spread of COVID-19 within schools and in the greater community. We urge people to continue to help protect themselves, their classmates, and their neighbors so we can continue to drive down rates of infection,” Thompson said in remarks emailed to The Herald Friday, Feb. 11.
“We expect a plan to be announced soon regarding when statewide mask requirements will expire, and urge patience as we continue to work together using the tools we have to keep our communities and schools as safe and healthy as possible,” he wrote.
Students’ freedom to protest
The Lynden School District has reported 337 COVID cases since returning to classes after winter break, or about 93 cases per 1,000 students. But weekly case counts have been heading down the past two weeks, with 57 cases reported between Jan. 31 and Feb. 4 after 74 were reported Jan. 24 to 28 and 110 reported Jan. 17 to 21.
The other six school districts in Whatcom County have shown similar downward trends in cases in recent weeks, The Herald’s analysis of district-reported data shows.
No repercussions for students who participated in Wednesday’s protest in Lynden were planned, Stromme said.
“The principal (at Lynden Middle School) told students that they had the freedom to protest and share their opinions,” Stromme told The Herald. “That being said, we still have an obligation to follow the rules set by the state. We understand that there are students that disagree with that, and we certainly look forward to hearing more from the Department of Health and the governor.”
Stromme also acknowledged that some miscommunication at the middle school resulted in some students being sent home without parents being contacted.
“We had students who had parents waiting outside, some calling home to be picked up and some said they had permission to walk home, and there was miscommunication there,” Stromme said. “It was challenging in the moment, but that is something we will review and correct.”
This story was originally published February 10, 2022 at 12:19 PM.
