Lone Tree Voice 090221

Page 1

September 2, 2021

FREE

DOUGLAS COUNTY, COLORADO

A publication of

LoneTreeVoice.net

INSIDE: VOICES: PAGE 12 | LIFE: PAGE 14 | CALENDAR: PAGE 17 | SPORTS: PAGE 24

Mask debate dominates Douglas County School Board meeting Superintendent: ‘I hear and I understand and I can empathize’

SEE MASKS, P2

BY ELLIOTT WENZLER EWENZLER@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM

all the individuals working or interacting with those children — in all indoor school and childcare settings in the three counties. That order took effect Aug. 13. Then, on Aug. 30, it expanded that order to cover everyone age 2 and over. Some school districts had implemented mask requirements before Tri-County’s orders were issued. All of the listed outbreaks started

For the third time this year, Douglas County has lost one of its representatives on the board of the Tri-County Health Department. The early resignation of Zach Nannestad means Douglas County no longer has any of the Tri-County board members it had before the COVID-19 pandemic. Nannestad sent in his resignation Aug. 25, about a week after he abstained from board votes related to requiring the wearing of masks inside schools as a COVID safety measure. Nannestad cited a conflict of interest regarding his employment with the Douglas County School District as his reason for resigning, according to his letter notifying the county and health department. “I do not wish to leave this role,” he wrote in the letter, “However, I have recently found myself in a clear conflict of interest when asked to vote on matters specifically impacting my primary employer.” The Douglas County School District lists Nannestad as the operations manager for environmental health. Nannestad went on to write that the commissioners had “asked for my assurance” that he wouldn’t abstain from future votes because

SEE SCHOOLS, P4

SEE BOARD, P18

The Aug. 24 school board meeting was at full capacity. Security let more people in PHOTO BY JESSICA GIBBS throughout the night as others left, making seats available.

Douglas, Arapahoe, Adams counties see school virus outbreaks Health chief: ‘What we feared could happen is beginning to happen’ BY ELLIS ARNOLD EARNOLD@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM

School settings in Douglas, Arapahoe and Adams counties saw 15 confirmed coronavirus outbreaks

County loses another Tri-County Health rep Former board member cites conflict of interest

BY JESSICA GIBBS JGIBBS@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM

A line formed at the door. People waited for more than an hour to get inside the meeting. There was not enough capacity for everyone congregating, so security let people in incrementally. That was the scene Aug. 24 as the Douglas County School District’s board met amid a firestorm of controversy over the district’s COVIDsafety policies. The board had not scheduled a vote or specific agenda item regarding the wearing of masks, but the district’s recently announced mask-wearing requirement dominated the meeting.

VOLUME 20 | ISSUE 28

starting in August, according to the local public health agency that serves those counties. “What we feared could happen is beginning to happen,” said John Douglas, executive director of Tri-County Health Department, during an Aug. 26 telephone town hall event. In August, Tri-County Health Department issued an order Aug. 17 that required masks for all children ages 2 through 11 — and

CONQUERING KILIMANJARO Saga spotlights body-positive movement

P10

PAGING READERS Book clubs a fine way to get literary

P14


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