Monday’s meeting said they felt ….

Monday’s meeting said they felt like the board abdicated its authority by giving the superintendent the final say over the mask requirements. They were also unhappy that Kolden made the decision after receiving a petition from high school students and taking input from seniors.

Cody Gumz said she was pleased with the decision to make masks optional but was “absolutely appalled” by how the decision was arrived at. She criticized district officials for allowing high school seniors to have more say than parents over a decision affecting other kids’ health.

“I call on the school board to take back the power they were elected to have and don’t give it away so frivolously,” she said. “It’s in place for a reason.”

Parent Kim Meier spent most of her time in front of the board accusing the CDC and other health authorities for spreading falsehoods about COVID-19 and questioning why the board would rely on them for guidance. She also cited information claiming that masks are actually more deadly than the virus itself.

“When it comes to the health of our children, it must be parents’ choice,” she said. “I would also like to see something written into school policy so we don’t have to go through this again.”

Another parent, Casey Smith, questioned if a mask mandate would return in the fall during the cold and flu season, when respiratory illnesses normally increase. Last fall, she said the “expectation of illness was at zero” because of fear of the COVID virus and requirements for testing and contact tracing.

“For whatever reason, every sniffly nose had to be tested, which of course led to, in November, a seemingly high number of quarantines,” she said.

Smith noted that COVID cases were dropping even before teachers were vaccinated, and the number of Wisconsin children who died from coronavirus this past year was less than the number who died from the flu in 2018.

“We want to see the school board get back to doing its job,” she said. “We never want to see the opinions of high school seniors holding more weight than the parents of the kids in the school.”

Sue Hubing, who works with four-yearold kindergarteners at Colby Elementary, said she feels very strongly about making masks a personal choice after what she has seen among the students.

“When you put a mask on a kid that age, first of all, they’re having trouble learning how to talk already,” she said. “You can’t hear what they’re saying. Their personalities become subdued.”

Josey Lueth, the parent of a 4K student, asked the board about how the district spending its COVID relief money to help its staff cope with street, and echoed calls for parental choice over mask wearing.

“I want the board to stop with any future mandates,” she said. “I want the liberty to choose for my child what is best for my child so they can do the learning they’re supposed to be doing.”

Jessica Ertl also called for a policy mandating parental control over health decisions and chided elected officials for not being more willing to listen and respond to their constituents’ concerns.

“If those of you on the board are not willing to stand up for what you believe in, then you need to step down from the board,” she said.

Parent Tanya Geiger noted that parents must provide consent for everything from vision and hearing screenings to participation in sports and fourth-grade lessons on puberty. She said “masks and vaccinations” should be no different.

Geiger listed a number of supposed side effects caused by the build-up of CO2 and bacteria in masks.

“After hearing just some of these negative impacts masking has on our health, it’s absolutely mindblowing that our consent wasn’t required for placing masks on the faces of our children, and was indeed forced by our school board and superintendent, who have no authority over the health decisions of our children,” she said. Matt Oehmichen, the first to speak at Monday’s meeting, cited statistics about falling infection rates and rising vaccination rates in Wisconsin as a reason for masks to be left optional. He noted that the CDC guidelines are not laws, and it’s up to the school board to listen to their constituents when making decisions.

Oehmichen also mentioned a comment he heard from an alumni who was disappointed by a “ruthless and very bigoted” conversation on social media regarding the mask debate in Colby. He said this made her wonder why she should consider moving back here.

“If we’re going to be stuck in these ruts where we’re just going to listen to the one person who’s screaming the loudest and we’re not going to look at the rationale or reasoning — or have community engagement in decisions — then what is this all for and why do we have a school board?” he wondered.

At the start of Monday’s meeting, Kolden recalled how the board voted last July to give him the power to decide on mask requirements because it allowed him to act quickly during a rapidly changing situation. However, he acknowledged having second thoughts about having that sole authority.

“Looking back to November and December, do I wish that decision was not mine? Absolutely,” he said.

When it came time for the board to discuss Kolden’s decision, board member Cheryl Ploeckelman said any further deliberation seemed liked a “moot point” now that masks are optional.

Board member Todd Schmidt made the motion to make masks optional for grades 4K through 12th, with the policy committee discussing the topic further before the board revisits the issue at its Aug. 16 meeting.

Board member Joan Schmidt wondered how this decision would affect teachers who have health risks or spouses with medical issues.

Board member Dave Decker said he supported the mask mandate for a long time, citing a survey of teachers earlier in the year that showed 60 percent support for requiring face coverings. However, now that they’ve been given the opportunity to be vaccinated, he said the onus is on them.

“I think the teachers can protect themselves at this point if they need to,” he said, drawing applause from the audience.

Other business

_ The board accepted the resignations of athletic director Jerry Smith, custodian DeAnna Kloth and special education teacher Sarah Hauge. Student council co-advisors Michael Sazama and Karen Tyznik also resigned those positions.

_ The board approved the hiring of Kristine Lindberg as a third-grade teacher, Jacob Pearce as a custodian, Joshua Ognenoff as high school drama advisor and Bridget Donahue as assistant high school drama advisor.

_ The board accepted a $285 donation from AbbyBank.

_ The board approved a change to the wage schedule for instructional aide, allowing those with a bachelor’s degree and a valid teaching license to earn an additional $5 per hour.

_ The board approved a raise in pay for teachers who accept an overload schedule (no prep time), from $1,050 to $1,500 per semester.

_ The board approved the second reading of a pay raise for substitute teachers that was first approved at the April meeting.

_ The board approved several new requirements for foreign exchange students, starting in the 2021-2022 school year. Under the new policy, they must be fully vaccinated for COVID-19, show a negative COVID test no more than three days prior to departing their home country, and take another test three to five days after arrival. The students must also commit to a period of isolation if they develop symptoms and promise to follow all state and local COVID-19 protocols.

A local exchange student coordinator told the board that all of her students expect to follow these requirements, which are the same in their home countries.

_ The board voted to hire CESA 10 to do lead testing of the district’s water pipes, at a cost of $7,656, before next fall. Board members originally talked about having the testing done as part of a high school science lesson, but they eventually decided to pay more to get it done as soon as possible.