The Dumas Public School District held a Special Called School Board Meeting Thursday, August 12, 2021 to establish a District Mask Resolution due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the new highly contagious Delta Variant.
I spoke with Dumas Public Schools Superintendent Kelvin Gragg about the Resolution and the start of the 2021 – 2021 school year.
“Rick, what I will tell you and what I told the school board when I made my proposal,” said Mr. Gragg. “I'm not a doctor, so I'm not going to debate ethics or the need for vaccinations, because I'm not a doctor. I'm not a politician. It seems as though this debate every time you turn around has gotten politics involved in it. What I told them is that I'm an educator.”
“My job is to make recommendations that is best for the students and the staff at the Dumas School District,” said Mr. Gragg. “It was my recommendation I believe that in order for us to successfully have onsite instruction we need to have kids and staff or as many kids and staff as possible in the classroom.”
“It's my belief that the best way, as an educator, we can try to assure that students are in the classroom is if we implement the masks,” said Mr. Gragg. “The vaccinations are important. I had them. But I do think that's a personal choice in terms of what parents do. Particularly with kids at Central and Reed that's not an option them.”
“We had to do something to protect those students to insure that we could successfully do onsite instruction,” said Mr. Gragg. “Because, virtual instruction did not work in Dumas last year. I think that we can do a better job of educating kids if they are on site. To me it's almost impossible to teach a kid to read on an iPad. Those students need to have that interaction and that was one of the reasons I recommended the board implement the Mask Mandate for all students and staff in the classroom, indoors and on school buses.”
Dumas School District Mask Resolution
August 12, 2021
Whereas, On August 6, 2021, Judge Tim Fox issued a temporary restraining order that prohibits the enforcement of Act 1002 of 2021 pending continuing court proceedings. Under the order, there can be no enforcement action taken against any school district or charter school that adopts or implements a requirement to use masks/face coverings.
Whereas, Arkansas and Desha County is experiencing a public-health emergency due to COVID-19 and is the epicenter of the highly contagious new Delta variant, and
Whereas, the new Delta variant has caused an increase in the number of children in Arkansas who have been hospitalized, placed on ventilators, and have lost their lives due to COVID-19, and
Whereas, the Centers for Disease Control, the Arkansas Department of Health and the American Academy of Pediatrics recommend that children return to in-person education where it is safe to do so, and the Dumas School Board recognizes the importance of in-person learning, and
Whereas, the Centers for Disease Control and the Arkansas Department of Health recommend that masks should be worn indoors by all individuals older than the age of two (2) who are not vaccinated, while the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that everyone older than the age of two (2) should wear a mask in school regardless of vaccination status, and
Whereas, masks have been proven to reduce the transmission of the COVID-19 virus and are a necessary tool for protecting those not yet eligible for vaccination, and
Whereas, the Dumas School Board believes that local communities should be empowered to implement common-sense public-health precautions, including requiring masks, in order to keep their students and employees safe and healthy, and
Whereas, Dumas School Board would immediately institute a mask mandate for employees and students in all K-12 schools within the district,
Whereas, This Mask mandate is subject for review by the Dumas School Board, and changes may be made accordingly.
Now therefore be it resolved that we, the Dumas School Board,
Will require masks to be worn only when indoors and/or when 6 feet social distance cannot be maintained and masks must be worn on buses.
Students or individuals with a medical condition or disabilities diagnosed by a physician will not be required to wear face coverings. Parents will need to send a doctor’s excuse to the principal.
The Dumas School Board will review pertinent data monthly and make changes accordingly.
