Swan River School Board votes to make masks optional in early April

The Swan River School Board of Trustees voted Monday to allow teachers to dictate whether or not masks are required in their classrooms up until April 5, when masks will no longer be mandated on campus. Of the nearly one dozen members of the public who addressed the board, the vast majority opposed a mask requirement. Parents were against the use of masks for varying reasons -- some said their children had anxiety or breathing issues, while others expressed doubt about their effectiveness and the seriousness of the virus itself. Advocates of continued mask use felt that teachers, who are eligible to be vaccinated next week, should be given the chance to get their shots before removing masks in the classroom.

After hearing public comments and sharing their own views on the issue, board members settled on a policy that leaves teachers in charge of mask use within their classroom beginning March 9 and ending Friday, April 2. All board members voted in favor of the new policy, with the exception of trustee Sherianne Schow who abstained. The policy sets the owness on teachers to enforce the use of masks in their rooms, should they decide to require them at all. Beginning Monday, April 5, students, staff and guests can choose to wear a mask or not.

Tricia Youngbull was the first to address the board and the dozens in attendance at Monday night’s board meeting. She was concerned that the current mask mandate wasn’t being enforced and that removing it altogether would increase the spread of the virus and put vulnerable families at risk.

“If you guys do lift the mask mandate, many families will choose to move their children as you’ve seen by the influx of new students into your classrooms from the Bigfork School District,” she said. “If our community can stick it out for three more months wearing masks and we save one human life, I think it’s worth the sacrifice.”

Carrie Wyatt, who was against the mask policy, alleged that masks weren’t effective and caused more harm than good.

“Everybody is unrecognizable ... when I see somebody holding my kid’s hand, walking down the hallway and I don’t know who they are, that freaks me out,” Wyatt said. “We should be concerned about things like that.”

Stephanie Tinney, was against masks but hoped the school’s cleaning protocols would continue.

“I see about 50% of the kids without masks … so they’re fairly meaningless anyways,” Tinney said.

She also noted that she thought there shouldn’t be any shame for those who do choose to mask up, but noted that “it should be absolutely personal choice.”

Student body president Kennady Garvin also addressed the crowd on behalf of Swan River students and cited anxiety, breathing issues and infections on the face as reasons why the student population opposed masks.

“We are, the majority of students, against the masks,” Garvin explained. “We don’t feel comfortable with them. It should be an option to wear them.”

Trustee Linda Stewart acknowledged the inconvenience of wearing a mask, but hoped the board could reach a compromise. She explained that she regularly masks up for the sake of those who are more susceptible to the virus. And she is personally familiar with the tool the virus can take, having lost two family members to COVID-19.

“It doesn’t bother me, I don’t feel like it is taking away my freedom,” Stewart said. “I choose to do it out of respect for the health of those [who are vulnerable].”

Trustee Sherianne Schow spoke in favor of continued masking on campus for the sake of the teachers, whom she said put themselves at risk for the sake of their students over the past year.

“We have done so well this year and we are so close. … I feel like we owe our teachers safety,” Schow said. “If we can give them a five week window to get vaccinated and come back then maybe we’ll still have their trust that they are in a community that values them and takes care of them.”

She also added that while she was happy to hear that most people who addressed the board hadn’t been impacted by the virus, not everyone was so lucky.

“I am so, so grateful to hear of the good fortune of people in this audience who haven’t lost family members,” she said. “My husband is the person who intubates people who are on ventilators. That hasn’t been the case for everyone in the valley.”

Mask use on campus was previously governed by two policies, the first of which was Policy 1905, an emergency COVID-19 policy adopted last year that stipulated that students and staff “may wear masks.” However, the school also took direction from their communicable disease policy which stated that the school would follow local public health advice in situations like the COVID-9 pandemic. The board had determined that said public health authority would be the Flathead City-County Health Department, which has since advised school districts to require masks on campus.

“We did have them wear masks,” Principal Marc Bunker told the Eagle.

However, the policy approved Monday evening will establish a new direction for Swan River School.

“I know it’s not going to make everybody happy, but I’d like to see things get back to somewhat normal as soon as possible,” Board Chair Luke Adamson told the crowd.