Miller Grove board, parents debate mask liability

Miller Grove ISD is completing its plan to return to school on August 13, although the administration will continue to tweak COVID-19 preparedness plans in response to Texas Education Agency (TEA) mandates, according to the board and principals. 

High school principal Gary Billingsley and elementary principal Jaime Fox reviewed their COVID-19 plan for the board, which also saw parent feedback. 

“We’ve been talking about this a lot and it goes with the term fluid situation,” Billingsley said. “We’ve been wanting to wait as long as possible, because I hate putting one thing out there and then changing it.” 

“Since we made our plan, it’s changed threefold,” Fox agreed. 

Of 340 students who attend the school, 126 have returned an online survey about fall school preferences, Billingsley said. Twenty indicated they would prefer online instruction, while 106 said they would attend school in-person. 

Only two teachers indicated they are uncomfortable with face-to-face instruction, Billingsley said. 

“Any teacher I’ve talked to said ‘Oh my gosh I just want to get back to class,’” Fox said. 

Lessons will therefore be available in three methods, which is beyond the TEA guidelines, Billingsley said. They are: face-to-face, self-paced online and teacher-guided online. 

“Elementary teachers are worried about starting online because those first few weeks are where you build your relationships and get the buy-in,” Fox said. “It’s hard to start online with a six-year-old you don’t know.” 

The school plans on disinfecting classrooms, common spaces and buses daily, and has bought “foggers” for this purpose, Billingsley said. The school also plans to take childrens’ temperatures as they enter the building. 

“The state is saying ‘don’t let anybody get COVID, but also don’t take any time off,’” Fox noted. 

Billingsley said educators will be “applying social distancing as much as possible.” 

“It’s unreasonable to put 15 six-year-olds in a classroom and expect them to social distance,” he said. “In elementary especially, they do a lot of group work. They hit blended learning hard, they put them in groups and that helps them own their education and be in control… but the teachers are working on the exercises, maybe putting them in groups on the computers instead of face-to-face.” 

The group then debated the efficacy of having students wear masks. As of July 7, the wearing of face masks for students was required for counties with more than 20 active cases. As of July 17, a public health guidance document by TEA states that mask-wearing must be in compliance with the governor’s mask mandate GA-29, however, the document also states “schools may require masks” while also stating “it may be impractical for students to wear masks or face shields.” 

Fox pointed out that GA-29 requires masks for those under the age of ten, but “in fourth grade you turn ten, so half of them would have to wear it and half of them wouldn’t.” 

“If we’re trying to make our kids wear masks, why aren’t we wearing masks now?” asked Miller Grove citizen Jenny Thornton. 

“It’s not about that, it’s about liability,” Billingsley told Thornton. 

“We don’t like masks either,” Fox said. 

“Can we sign something, liability-wise?” Thornton asked. “We’re talking about a little kid for seven or eight hours a day.” 

“If one of yours got sick and got put in ICU (intensive care unit), what would you say?” Billinsley asked. 

“I don’t feel like it’s y’all’s responsibility, and I will sign something that says that,” Thornton stated. “I know they say it’s worse than the flu, but I would feel the same about my kid getting the flu and going to ICU. It’s just life. How do you know he got it here?” 

“We are in a no-win,” Fox said. 

Miller Grove principals plan for children ten and under to wear what Billingsley referred to as “Gilligan hats” or “bucket hats,” which the school will purchase and the principals feel will help protect children's faces from coughs and sneezes and “the kids would actually like them.”  

“We have to do everything we can to try to prevent, everything in our power,” school board member Doug Hall stated. “It may not do a thing, but we have to try, because it affects everybody. This is not a place where there’s just a few people, this is just like an incubator.” 

“I feel that if you want your kid to wear a mask, it’s your responsibility to have them wear a mask,” school board member Ray Sparks stated. “They keep saying they don’t think kids are transmitting this virus.” 

“We didn’t want to shut down in March because of that,” Fox agreed. 

“I don’t have to like it, and I don’t like the situation where we’ve been told what we’re going to do,” Billingsley said. “But I do understand.” 

“It’s going to be super hard for our teachers… but we’ll figure it out,” Fox noted. 

Other measures Miller Grove school will implement include staggering lunch times, recess, bathroom breaks and passing periods, forgoing use of lockers, and erecting plexiglass protector shields for cafeteria workers. 

Miller Grove ISD’s full COVID-19 plan will be available closer to the August 13 start date, the administration said.