Charlotte parents say school mask exemptions are granted too easily
Unhappy with how school leaders are implementing the county-wide mask mandate, dozens of parents with children who attend Charlotte-area Catholic schools have launched complaints with the Mecklenburg Health Department.
County commissioners and Gibbie Harris, Mecklenburg County Public Health Director, said at a meeting last week they have received numerous emails from concerned parents. The most-recent local order requiring masks in indoor public places, aimed at slowing the spread of COVID-19, went into effect Aug. 31.
“(We’ve had) conversations with several of the different principals,” Harris told commissioners. “We continue to work with them. Some are more receptive than others — I’ll put it that way. But we do feel we have the support of the(Catholic) diocese at this point.
“But we have to stay focused on the particular schools and continue to work with them.”
The head of local Catholic schools says campuses are following the recently reinstated mask order but allowing exemptions in accordance with the county’s rule.
Harris reported that between Aug. 19 and Sept. 8, her department had received 168 total complaints about masks. Of those complaints, 93 pertained to private schools. Officials did not specify where all the complaints originated.
The county’s public school system and the largest private schools in Charlotte instituted or extended their own mask mandates in the summer when Gov. Roy Cooper and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued new guidance for schools amid the increase of Delta variant coronavirus cases. Mecklenburg Area Catholic Schools (MACS) went the other way, making masks optional and saying the local mask order didn’t apply to them.
Shortly after, Mecklenburg revised its mask mandate to expressly include all schools and MACS leaders say they are following it.
Nine Catholic schools totaling more than 4,500 students are in the Charlotte system. Like other local schools and districts, there have been COVID-19 cases reported in the Catholic schools.
Exemption to mask mandate
Some parents are upset their child’s school is permitting exemptions to the mask requirement without a doctor’s note or medical excuse. MACS leaders say the county hasn’t been clear enough about how to handle exemptions.
Exemptions to Mecklenburg’s mandate include children under age 5 and anyone with medical issues where wearing a mask could be harmful. People also can remove masks if they’re eating, drinking, or giving a speech where they’re maintaining a distance of at least 20 feet from the audience. County leaders recently voted to eliminate a broad religious exemption.
In issuing the public health rule, Mecklenburg officials passed a proclamation that says: “Anyone who declines to wear a face covering for these reasons should not be required to produce documentation or any other proof of a condition. Everyone is asked to tell the truth and if they are healthy and able to wear a face covering so that they do not put other people at risk of serious illness and death.”
Jessica Clarke-Pounder, a mother of three boys ages 3, 9 and 12, filed a complaint with the health department. Her older children attend MACS. She is a doctor of pediatrics and neonatology.
Clarke-Pounder said her son said at least half of students at Holy Trinity Catholic Middle School aren’t wearing masks. She says school leaders should be more outspoken about the need for masks and vaccines to protect children. Allowing parents to sign exemption forms, she said, equates to “barely following the minimum requirement for the mandate.”
MACS Superintendent Gregory Monroe told the Observer on Thursday: “All Mecklenburg Area Catholic Schools are observing the face-covering mandate, with exemptions permitted as prescribed by the city-county proclamation. It is up to parents to decide whether an exemption as spelled out in the proclamation is justified for their children, and we have asked that anyone claiming an exemption register with their school office.
“We all want our children to be safe and to experience as normal a learning environment as possible – and rest assured that our schools will act upon any indication of virus spread.”
Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools, in contrast, is requiring a doctor’s certification for exemptions due to medical, developmental or behavioral reasons — a new requirement for the 2021-22 school year.
Harris told commissioners that she has had several conversations with Monroe and the superintendent has “been very open, willing to listen.”
“He trusts parents are willing to be truthful and only ask for those exceptions if it’s appropriate for their child,” Harris said. “We’re really hoping people do the right thing for their children and the community at large and we’ll continue to work with the diocese to encourage that in their schools.”
But parents like Clarke-Pounder and Karen DeChant Ross are dubious.
“I have seen teachers and staff who wore masks all last year suddenly have exemptions this school year from some sort of medical or behavioral condition that prevents them from wearing masks this year,” said DeChant Ross, who has filed multiple complaints with the health department.
Each MACS schools has its own process for receiving parents’ exemption claims.
DeChant Ross said parents were happy with the measures MACS had in place for the 2020-21 school year — measures that kept COVID-19 numbers low.
“MACS was the star of the county, and the increasing enrollment in MACS is proof that other parents saw the Catholic Schools Office protocols as smart, appropriate, and focused on keeping loved ones safe,” DeChant Ross said.
But she said the 2021-2022 school year has been “a complete 180-degree turn from all the steps that made MACS an exemplary system of safety and health guidelines that protected all staff and students.”
MACS leaders disagree.
“Our first month of school has been a great success, with a low incidence of COVID and our schools closely monitoring the metrics we use to determine if and when we might need to shift remote learning,” Monroe said. “Although the city and county’s face covering mandate has raised some concerns, our performance this year and last demonstrates how our Christian community is coming together to safely deliver in-person learning.”
Cases in school
According to the Mecklenburg County Health Department, since school began in August, five parochial or private schools have reported outbreaks or exposures linked to students and/or staff, and that same group of schools has had 100 reported positive COVID-19 cases. In public schools, CMS reports nearly every school has had at least one case recently but the overwhelming majority did not lead to outbreaks.
“Everyone needs to be wearing a mask indoors right now,” Harris said, “if we’re going to continue to try to manage this and continue to keep our children in school.”
MACS officials say they’ve been able to keep cases and risks low in the schools.
This month, Christ the King Catholic High School, which enrolls about 340 students in grades 9-12 in Huntersville shifted to remote learning for about one week out of precaution.
Since school began Aug. 18, Saint Patrick Catholic School, serving K-5 in Charlotte, has had 11 positive cases with more than 256 students and staff back in the building. Saint Ann Catholic School’s pre-K to third grade classes also proactively went remote last Friday until Sept. 13, according to a letter Principal K. Michelle R. Kuhn sent to families Sept. 2.
“This decision was made in light of the trends we have tracked in both our first and second grade classes that shifted to remote learning,” Kuhn wrote. “Both classes were moved to remote learning when cases identified possible transmission, prior to clusters forming. We have since seen additional cases identifying a cluster in those two classes.”
At Saint Gabriel Catholic School (K-5), its COVID-19 dashboard reports as of Thursday, there were 15 positive student cases and 50 total students in quarantine.
