Area schools, in Great Bend and Larned at least, are starting the new school year with a policy that masks are optional but recommended.
At Great Bend USD 428’s August 9 board of education, the administration didn’t have a specific recommendation for the board. Instead, Superintendent Khris Thexton he wanted the board’s input.
Assistant Superintendent John Popp told the board, “We discussed long and hard about whether or not we should bring to you some specific recommendations about what we want to do. We really feel like this is a conversation we need to have rather than us telling you what we think because, honestly, there’s experts all the way around this who have different opinions.”
Thexton added, the decision “is difficult because you can find out any information you want.”
Actually, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s current recommendation is:
• If you are not fully vaccinated and aged 2 or older, you should wear a mask in indoor public places.
• In general, you do not need to wear a mask in outdoor settings.
• In areas with high numbers of COVID-19 cases, consider wearing a mask in crowded outdoor settings and for activities with close contact with others who are not fully vaccinated.
• People who have a condition or are taking medications that weaken their immune system may not be fully protected even if they are fully vaccinated. They should continue to take all precautions recommended for unvaccinated people, including wearing a well-fitted mask, until advised otherwise by their health-care provider.
• If you are fully vaccinated, to maximize protection from the Delta variant and prevent possibly spreading it to others, wear a mask indoors in public if you are in an area of substantial or high transmission.
And, in updated guidance for the 2021-22 school year, the American Academy of Pediatrics strongly recommends in-person learning and urges all who are eligible to be vaccinated to protect against COVID-19. The AAP’s recommendations include a recommendation that everyone older than age 2 wear masks, regardless of vaccination status.
But, sure, you can find someone who says otherwise. Sen. Roger Marshall reportedly said in an interview with Newsmax, “No one has convinced me that masks really work, especially for people that have already had the vaccine or natural immunity. The masks might give a little bit of protection to my parents, but I just think that we’re kidding ourselves if we think kids wearing masks helps. It probably even makes it worse.”
The senator also said, “We know that no child in America has died from COVID unless they had a serious underlying condition.”
We don’t know that, Dr. Marshall.
We do know that in Great Bend USD 428, everyone has a recommendation to wear masks but doesn’t have to, except in school buses or public transportation with two or more people. Everyone 12 and older is eligible for the COVID-19 vaccine, but we don’t know what percentage of the staff has been vaccinated. Eligible students have the extra incentive that if they’re vaccinated and someone in their group tests positive, they won’t have to face a long quarantine.
We’ll learn soon enough if we’ve followed bad medical advice. The good news is, the school district is prepared to respond quickly if more stringent measures are needed. That is, if they are obviously needed, because people start to test positive.
Susan Thacker
