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Thursday, March 28, 2024
March 28, 2024

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Richland superintendent explains why schools closed

By Cameron Probert, Tri-City Herald
Published: February 18, 2022, 7:36am

RICHLAND — Richland schools remained closed for a second day Thursday while administrators work through the tricky legal and operational issues after the school board voted to defy a state mask mandate and declare masks optional in classrooms.

Superintendent Shelley Redinger issued a lengthy public letter Thursday explaining why schools needed to be closed.

“As a parent of a student that has been sorely impacted by the pandemic, a career-long educator and someone who loves the Richland community, it tears me apart hat we are in our current situation,” she said in a letter posted on the district’s website.

The state “mask mandate has the force of law and cannot be disregarded by any school district in the state. As a result, bringing children and staff back to schools, while knowingly violating the current mask mandate, would be unlawful, jeopardize district funding and insurance coverage and would be asking all RSD staff members to potentially risk their jobs,” she wrote.

“While it might seem like a quick and easy change, there are a lot of moving parts to consider,” Redinger said in her letter. “Also, we need time to properly inform all stakeholders of significant changes in operational direction so that everyone is on the same page.”

“While I, personally, would love nothing better than to see our kids’ smiling faces in schools, the unfortunate reality is that I am unable to make that happen,” she wrote.

The Richland School Board called for a second, closed-door emergency meeting at 5 p.m. Thursday over Zoom to discuss legal issues.

It’s unclear if the board will make a decision in open session.

However, it will follow a 2 p.m. news conference by Gov. Jay Inslee who is expected to talk about the indoor mask requirement.

“This announcement will hopefully provide more clarity and I look forward to updating our community on next steps,” said Redinger in her letter.

School Board President Jill Oldson previously told the Herald that the school board’s 3-2 decision that she opposed puts school administrators in potential conflict with the Washington Department of Labor & Industries and also may impact the district’s contract with the teacher’s union, the Richland Education Association.

On Wednesday, the school board met for three hours in an emergency closed-door session to discuss the mask mandate and the state’s open meetings law but did not take any public action.

Parents and students on both sides of the issue took to the streets again Wednesday and Thursday to voice their positions.

Supporting administrators

About 300 gathered at John Dam Plaza in Richland on Thursday morning to support Richland school administrators, teachers and students who have been put in a difficult position by the board’s decision this week.

“Because of the decisions of three school board members, we’ve had two days of education that have been interrupted,” said Elizabeth Lugo, one of the organizers of Wednesday’s rally.

After Tuesday night’s surprise decision, Lugo said a Facebook group formed to talk about it. The group started with five people and has grown to 1,200.

Their main focus was on the sudden decision to defy the governor’s mandate and not whether students and staff should wear masks.

Lugo questioned why the school board chose to make this decision now. With Inslee expected to make a decision about indoor masks soon it appears to be political posturing.

“My reaction is why are you doing this now and what is going to be the next action they are going to take illegally,” Lugo said.

She was not the only person to question the board’s action.

Former school board candidate Elizabeth Vann-Clark pointed out that both board members Audra Byrd and Semi Bird promised during the campaign that they weren’t going to violate the state mandates.

At the Feb. 8 board meeting a similar motion died without support and then they passed it during a special emergency meeting when it wasn’t listed on the agenda, Vann-Clark said.

“This decision is telling our district to break the law,” she said. “We can’t trust that they are going to follow any other laws.”

Another former school board candidate Danica Garcia expressed similar concerns. She said the issue was the process that the board members used and the fact that they were picking and choosing what laws to follow.

“Which other laws will be arbitrarily discarded? Which other decisions will be made behind closed doors?” she said. “Additionally, this decision throws our district into unnecessary chaos by not allowing adequate planning time to accommodate development of a procedure for these changes.”

Supporting the board

Thursday’s rally followed three rallies on Wednesday from supporters of the school board’s decision. At one of those, about 300 students and parents celebrated the board’s decision at a rally in John Dam Plaza in Richland.

“We were so excited, we were basically in tears,” Fran Warner, 31, told the Herald. “Within five minutes they said school was canceled, and we were instantly heartbroken.”

Warner saw parents and children angry about the school closure and wanted to make sure their voices were heard and that children learned about their right to express their opinion in the democratic process.

“If your masks work, why do I need one? If your vaccines work, why do I need one? What I do with my children and my body is none of your business,” she said.

She believes the new school board members were voted in for a reason, and their say needs to be respected.

Kearston Pulliam, 20, Richland, lost out on a graduation ceremony and a prom because COVID struck during her senior year.

She said the masks have made her breathing worse and she needed frequent breaks to avoid passing out.

“It’s brought down my mental health,” she said. “It’s brought down my cousins’ grades.”

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