St. Mary School Board makes masks optional for students, employees

Masks are now optional for students and employees at St. Mary Parish public schools, at least for those who are not on school buses.

The St. Mary School board changed its policy Thursday, two days after a new state emergency proclamation from Gov. John Bel Edwards.

The proclamation, which Edwards announced Tuesday, lifts the mandate requiring masks in indoor public spaces and said K-12 schools can make masks optional as long as they adopt "an isolation and quarantine policy for students, faculty, and staff consistent with protocols set by the Louisiana Department of Health (based upon CDC guidance). ..."

Riders on schools buses will still be required to wear masks to comply with a federal mandate targeting public transportation.

The Roman Catholic dioceses of Houma-Thibodaux and Lafayette had already made masks optional for students at Central Catholic, Hanson Memorial and St. John.

On Thursday, the mask option issue was added to the agenda at a special School Board meeting originally scheduled to fill an open seat on the board.

Four people spoke at the board meeting in favor of making masks optional -- Lindsey Anslem, Brooke Falgout, Jesse Simoneaux and Parish President David Hanagriff.

Hanagriff said he issued a parish mask mandate when the state mandate was imposed during the first coronavirus wave, when facts about the pandemic were uncertain. But he hasn't issued mask orders since then, he said, because he believes the choice should be left to individuals.

"We have to get back to normal," Hanagriff said.

Simoneaux also made a personal choice argument.

Falgout said her daughter "struggles with masks every day. ... It takes away from a teacher's ability to teach."

Anslem argued that the size of the virus compared to the size of the openings in the N95 masks used in the health care industry shows that masks are ineffective.

Board member Marilyn LaSalle pushed back.

"What you're saying contradicts what the government says," LaSalle said.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommendation is that unvaccinated people 2 and over should wear masks in indoor public spaces. Vaccinated people should continue to wear masks indoors if they're in an area with a high risk of infection or if their immune system is compromised, the CDC says.

Anslem also said her child, who has a speech impediment, learns by watching teachers speak. Masks have added to the child's anxiety and difficult with stuttering, she said.

A mask mandate "affects me," Anslem said. "It affects my children. It affects other children in the parish."

Superintendent Dr. Teresa Bagwell said she had talked with faculty members and administrators and recommended adopting the masks-optional policy.

Board member Ginger Griffin moved to adopt the policy, and member Dwight Barbier seconded the motion. It passed without objection on a voice vote.

The audience in the board meeting room, and outside in the lobby, applauded when the motion passed.

"It shouldn't be up to the School Board to decide whether my child should have a medical device strapped on their face or have something put in their bodies," Anslem said after the meeting.

Edwards imposed the latest mask mandate Aug. 4, when the Delta variant of COVID-19 was pushing up positivity rates, deaths and the number of COVID hospitalizations, raising new concerns that the health care system would be overwhelmed.

In St. Mary, the fourth surge in coronavirus cases has resulted in about 2,600 COVID positives since July 1 and 74 COVID-related deaths since Aug. 1.

In October, COVID statistics have decreased steadily. Last week, for the first time since July, St. Mary had something other than a "highest risk" rating for coronavirus infection.

In July, St. Mary was one of the first two parishes to be rated as "highest risk" by the Louisiana Office of Public Health based on test positivity rates and the average daily number of new COVID cases per 100,000 members of the population. Last week, St. Mary was giving a rating of "high risk."

Fifty-seven parishes continue to have "highest risk" ratings this week.