September 16, 2021 Vol. 22, No. 18
In This Issue FOUR SEASONS
Parents voice concern over EPS mask mandate
Four Seasons, by Kevin Box, in real life is located in front of the Center for Transformative Learning on the UCO campus, but this week is hidden somewhere in our paper. Email contest@edmondpaper.com with the correct location to be entered in the weekly drawing. For more information, see page 4.
Scenes from North-Santa Fe football game See Page 13
FRIDAY, September 17 Sunny High 93° Low 69°
SATURDAY, September 18 Sunny High 96° Low 72°
SUNDAY, September 19 Sunny High 97° Low 72°
By Patty Miller Edmond Public Schools School Board members were met by parents, teachers and friends holding signs and American flags as board members approached the Sept. 9 school board meeting. Fourteen attendees had signed up to speak during the meeting and each was given two minutes to air their views regarding mask mandates and quarantine rules during the public comment section of the school board meeting. At a special meeting called Aug. 27, board members voted to delegate Covid-19 decision making to Superintendent Angela Grunewald. Grunewald said the vote was done so that decisions could be made for the district quickly if necessary. As Covid cases among students continued to rise in the district, the mask mandate that had been encouraged but not required had become required within the week. Parents showed up in force for the board meeting, full of enthusiasm but displaying a much calmer atmosphere than had been displayed in the earlier meeting Aug. 27. President Jamie Underwood told attendees, “Civility is the expectation” and those in the audience adhered to it. Posters and placards remained
outside the meeting as well as the loud voices during the former board meeting. Public Participation During public participation parent Micah James thanked board members for stepping up and helping keep the students safe while listening to community members and medical officials before making decisions. She added a quarter of the new cases are children. “I applaud the board for their hard work and study as they continue to listen to experts,” James said. “We have forgotten we are neighbors. “This is a collective response not a private one. Masking for students is stepping up for our kids who cannot speak for themselves.” She added some have just lost their ways. “We have forgotten we are neighbors,” James told board members. “What we do affects others. In making decisions you are the helpers.” Stephanie Brady, mother of five children, had a different viewpoint of mandates put into place last Friday. “What board members are doing is medical segregation,” Brady said. “Quarantine means isolation.” She added that quarantine affects not only children but also teachers. “We know students need to be in
school five days a week,” Brady said, “We need medical equality.” Freedom and equality battles have already been fought and won, Brady added, and Brady also said she believed quarantining is not about medicine but it is about money. “No matter what happens I refuse to subject my five children to a medical experiment,” Brady said. Educator and mother of a child with disabilities, Sarah Jackson said, “Students with disabilities are best served in classrooms.” Jackson added, “Teachers and staff should be masked and the quarantine should not be based on vaccine status. I urge you to continue to put safety first.” Cooper Bortmess asked board members to go back to their original ruling of masks being worn by choice not mandate. “We should be treated equally,” Bortmess said. “We are fighting radical discrimination.” One parent stated science proves masking does not keep students safe. Another, Shelly Levy said she believes that the mandatory quarantine of healthy students should be ended. “CDC says students are encouraged to quarantine, but what about continued on Page 3