[UPDATE: Communication from Superintendent Julie Helber dated June 25 said that due to no cases of COVID-19 internally within the school system and a minimal number of cases within the district zip codes, the district has made masks optional for all staff, students, and visitors inside buildings effective June 28. If community transmission increases or if there is an outbreak in the schools, the mask requirement may be reinstated.]
By Crystal Hayduk
Chelsea students who attend extended school year, summer programming, credit recovery, and Camp Gabika are now enjoying mask-free time outdoors.
Chelsea School District (CSD) Superintendent Julie Helber emailed families on June 24 to inform them of adjustments to COVID-19 mitigation policies that were effective immediately.
Following the removal of the state masking requirement that took effect on June 22, and after conversations with other key informants and stakeholders, CSD eliminated the outdoor mask requirement and daily screenings.
Masks are optional indoors for students who are 12 years and older, unless students who are under 12 years of age are present. CSD is awaiting further guidance from the state and local health departments this week. Until such guidance is received, students under 12 are still required to wear masks indoors.
All students, regardless of age, who use district transportation to attend programming are still required to wear a mask.
Masks are optional for staff and other adults if they don’t have direct contact with students indoors.
Cohorting and social distancing continue at this time.
Anyone who is ill should remain at home. Any positive COVID-19 tests should be reported to the school nurse or the Washtenaw County Health Department.
At the CSD Board of Education meeting on June 28, nine individuals spoke during the opportunity for public input about COVID-19.
Seven mothers of children in the district addressed their concerns regarding plans for the fall. They urged the district to reject any recommendation from the state or local health department concerning masking and COVID-19 testing; several included opinions on quarantines and vaccines. They expressed concerns that the COVID-19 mitigation policies would segregate students.
Jennifer Bollinger appealed to the district to “cease the continued overreach in the medical needs of our children, and that you leave their health and safety up to us, their parents.”
One parent was concerned about the problem and unknowns of long COVID in children.
Public health professional and Chelsea resident Susan Morrel-Samuels credited the worldwide eradication of smallpox and the eradication of polio in the United States to immunizations. She said schools need to be concerned about the health of all children, which relates directly to the health of the whole community. She urged the district to follow the recommendations of public health professionals who work at health departments in order to keep the pandemic under control.
During the superintendent’s information and discussion, Helber continued the COVID-19 mitigation conversation. “We hope we can keep it this way,” she said. “I think everyone’s feeling a sense of normalcy in terms of not having to have the masks on.”
Understanding the community’s desire to have detailed information about the 2021-22 school year, Helber said she wishes she had all the answers now. The intention is to reinstate full-time face-to-face learning, recesses, lunches, and busing the way it was prior to COVID-19.
The district has had no new cases of COVID-19 among students, staff, or faculty in the last four weeks. “But none of us can tell what’s going to happen in the future in terms of perhaps the Delta variant [of COVID-19] that may come,” she said, adding the continued need to be mindful and careful.
District survey results currently indicate few families desire the option for fully virtual learning, but Helber said the district will provide it for those who do. She said the timing of surveys may affect the results, so the plan is to survey again closer to the fall when more information is available regarding community transmission at that time.
Board trustee Tammy Lehman asked about plans for quarantine and masking in the fall, to which Helber replied, in part, “… I think it depends on all of those factors [community cases and transmission] as we move into the year. We want to be safe and make sure we’re not contributing to a larger problem.”
A link to view the board of education meeting livestream will be available for one month at https://meetings.boardbook.org/Public/Agenda/911?meeting=449081.
