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MFISD Superintendent Chris Allen recommended to the board that a mandate be placed in elementary schools due to the lack of an approved vaccine for those under 12 years old. Contributed
UPDATE: A group of Marble Falls ISD parents has reached out to The Highlander to announce a public protest event against the district mask mandate at 8 a.m. Wednesday, Sept. 1 at the MFISD Administration Building, 1800 Colt Circle.
The Marble Falls Independent School District Board of Trustees voted 4-3 in favor of mandating the wearing of face coverings by students and staff at all district campuses, effective Sept. 1, after virus cases closed an elementary school last week.
MFISD Superintendent Chris Allen recommended to the board that a mandate be placed in elementary schools due to the lack of an approved vaccine for those under 12 years old. The mandate would go against Gov. Greg Abbott's executive order stating schools can not require the wearing of face coverings.
The order has been challenged by several school districts throughout the state with some lower courts upholding the order and some restraining it.
Highland Lakes Elementary School in Granite Shoals closed for two days last week due to a large number of cases within staff and students. Even with the opening of the school on Monday, Aug. 30, the attendance numbers were still lower than 80 percent.
Daily attendance is down across the district in the first two weeks compared to 2020, when mask mandates and social distancing were enforced by mandate.
Allen said his primary concern about such a measure is the use of authority under emergency situations that never gets revoked. He suggested the mandate be in effect until Oct. 1, with extension only possible by board action.
Trustee Alex Payson made the motion. Trustee Mandy McCary suggested an amended motion for the mandate to apply to all students and staff. Trustee Rick Edwards seconded the motion.
Trustee Gary Boshears – police chief for the Granite Shoals Police Department – said he would not be in favor of any such mandates until the governor's order is deemed unlawful by courts. Until then, he compared it to a driver ignoring a speed limit because “the police don't really enforce it in the area.”
Payson, McCary, Edwards and Board President Kevin Naumann voted in favor of the measure. Naumann called the district's situation a “crisis” and acknowledged that the community is divided on the issue. He asked everyone to be respectful to each other when debating the topic.
Boshears, Trustee Larry Berkman and Board Vice President Kevin Virdell voted against the motion.
Students and staff can receive a medical exemption from their primary care physician with a doctor's note, although Allen said receiving such a document and subsequent approval by the district before the Sept. 1 start date is unlikely.