West Cleveland News

Avon Lake City Schools Superintendent Robert Scott has reinstituted the face mask requirement for all students, faculty and staff effective Jan. 3.

Scott notified the Avon Lake City Schools community of his decision in a memo Thursday.

“After consultation with numerous stakeholders and healthcare professionals, we are temporarily reinstituting a face mask requirement for all staff and students PK-12. Beginning on Monday, January 3, 2022 face masks must be worn inside all school buildings both during the day and at after school activities. Face masks may be removed during lunch time while eating or drinking, or while actively competing in an athletic event or practice,” said Scott, who noted that all students will return to in-person classes Jan. 4.

Scott noted the masks would also be required for those at sporting competitions, including student-athletes themselves.

The mask mandate will be in effect through Jan. 28.

Scott said the district is dealing with “staffing challenges due to absences.”

“We realize that there are many strong opinions on the issue of face masks. We are making this decision in an effort to reduce the spread of COVID-19 at school, to help protect our students and staff, and to be able to keep our schools open in-person,” Scott said.

He also noted the school is prepared to go remote if need be.

“Although we hope we do not need to move any building or the district to remote status for a short period of time, we will be prepared to do so if staffing issues require it. Please be prepared in case any changes need to be made on a short notice,” he said.

Up until Thursday's decision, the district had been mask optional since mid-November.

“It’s the right time for us, but we know that we've still got a ways to go before we can actually take a deep breath and be back to normal,” Scott told Spectrum News 1 at the time.

Mask usage, particularly in school children, have been panned by some academics.

A University of Illinois at Chicago study found that "cloth masks and face coverings are likely to have limited impact on lowering COVID-19 transmission, because they have minimal ability to prevent the emission of small particles.. and offer limited personal protection with respect to small particle inhalation."

Similarly other academics have questioned the effectiveness of wearing masks.

“Does that Face Mask Really Protect You,” a 2010 research article by Dr. Larry E. Bowen of the Southern Research Institute in Birmingham, Ala., fit various types of masks on a mannequin to study their effectiveness, found that wearing surgical, bandana and dust masks offer “very little protection” and concluded that "wearing these face masks may produce a false sense of protection.”

Scott's full memo:

December 30, 2021

Dear Avon Lake Community,

We hope you are enjoying the holidays and are doing well. As a reminder, we made a change to the school calendar for Monday, January 3, 2022 as a Professional Development Day for Staff. We will be returning to in-person instruction for all students PK-12 on Tuesday, January 4, 2022.

Our goal has been, and still is to provide in-person instruction for all students in as safe of an environment as possible. After consultation with numerous stakeholders and healthcare professionals, we are temporarily reinstituting a face mask requirement for all staff and students PK-12. Beginning on Monday, January 3, 2022 face masks must be worn inside all school buildings both during the day and at after school activities. Face masks may be removed during lunch time while eating or drinking, or while actively competing in an athletic event or practice. 

Face masks will also be required for anyone attending any after school event, performance or competition. This requirement will be in effect through Friday, January 28, 2022 at which time the face mask requirement will be re-evaluated. Current approved face mask exemptions will be honored.

We realize that there are many strong opinions on the issue of face masks. We are making this decision in an effort to reduce the spread of COVID-19 at school, to help protect our students and staff, and to be able to keep our schools open in-person. We continue to deal with staffing challenges due to absences and limited substitute availability.

Although we hope we do not need to move any building or the district to remote status for a short period of time, we will be prepared to do so if staffing issues require it. Please be prepared in case any changes need to be made on a short notice.

We are also adding additional guidelines to help our buildings operate in as optimal a way as possible to reduce transmission. A link to these guidelines is located here.

Thank you for your continued support as we continue to navigate the COVID-19 pandemic and its challenges.

Please stay safe and well.

Sincerely,

Bob Scott, Superintendent

Dr. Jack Dibee, Assistant Superintendent