News | Masks A community member stands outside an August board meeting before going to sit in the Plains Junior cafeteria with 161 others to watch the board members on livestream.
MASKING CONTROVERSY After mandating masks for this fall, the Lakota district has been met with an even split of support and protests. story, infographic, and photography mary barone
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early 200 concerned parents and community members cram into the dimly-lit cafeteria of Plains Junior. A broadcast of the Lakota School Board meeting in a nearby classroom is projected over the stage. All eyes glued on the screen, the charged-up crowd replied with cheers or boos as the board discusses the recently-announced mask mandate. Following the announcement on that masks would be required for Lakota students and staff for the fall, debate surrounding mandated masking spread throughout the community.
THE DECISION On Aug. 16, 2021, Lakota Superintendent Matt Miller announced that the district would require masks for all in-person students and staff. The announcement was delivered by email two days before students returned to school on Aug. 18, 2021. “The information that we are receiving is changing, almost daily,” Miller told Spark. “The piece of information that pushed me over the edge in terms of mandating masks was the letter from 350 [Southwest Ohio] doctors and that came in two days before we announced our
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decision.” As superintendent, Miller has the authority to make emergency decisions on the daily operations of Lakota schools without seeking the board’s approval first. This authority includes his decision to require face masks instead of strongly recommending them prior to the start of school. On Aug. 5, the district issued a survey to Lakota staff, parents, and students via email enquiring whether they felt masks should be required in the upcoming school year. Of the 7,700 surveyed, 49% voted no and 45% voted yes, while 6% were indifferent. A third of those
