Members of the Griswold School Board met during a special session Monday evening and approved separate mask mandates for inside the school and during activities. Superintendent Dave Henrichs said there have been two positive cases of COVID-19 in the Griswold School District. One case the district was notified of came in at around Noon on Friday that affected a student in quarantine, and one notification after school about an affected staff member. 35 students and two staff were essentially affected by the results, or a total of 37.

Henrichs said some of the students were previously exposed due to outside exposure. “If we had the mask mandate,” Henrichs said, “In theory, if it’s worn consistently and properly, our number of people impacted would potentially be zero.” He said the question is, “Do we want to keep our school open, and do we want to provide our kids as many opportunities as possible?”

After considerable discussion, Board Member Ryan Askeland made a motion to “Require all students, staff, and visitors to wear CDC approved face coverings while inside school facilities during the hours of 7:45 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. during school days, when social distancing is not possible, extending to school transportation,

Griswold School Board mtg. 10/5/20 (Ric Hanson, photos)

regardless of the time of day or if school is in session including required mask breaks for a minimum of 5 minutes not to exceed 10 minutes each hour, while also allowing students one week or until October 14, to determine their virtual learning status.” The mandate goes into effect this Wednesday, October 7th, 2020 and continues through the end of the semester to be revisited at the December Board meeting.

The motion was seconded and approved by a vote of 6-to 1, with Scott Peterson the lone “nay” vote. The Board then continued with discussion on a mask mandate with regard to school-related activities for PARTICIPATING students and staff. Board member Scott Hansen motioned to require masks for activities, “Including both practices and competitions, when social distancing is not possible.” There is an exception however for football, due to mouth guard requirements.

That portion of the mask mandate is also effective as of Wednesday, October 7, 2020, and continuing through the end of the semester. It will be revisited at the December Board meeting. It was agreed also, “The district will follow the conference activity guidelines for spectators.” The motion passed unanimously.

In other business, the Griswold School Board approved a virtual format for Parent-Teacher Conferences, via Google Meet during the same time as previously scheduled, but the meetings will be booked so that sessions do not overlap or multiple parents are not conferencing at the same time. Parents who absolutely must have a face-to-face conference with a teacher, should contact the district and work out a time to do so.