After opening in August for remote learning, Mingus Union High School reopened for partial in-person learning on Sept. 17, allowing half of students to come to school on each day in order to attempt to lessen the spread of the novel coronavirus.
At a special meeting on Tuesday, Sept. 29, the board voted 4-1 to return to full in-person learning after fall break, with the first day of full in-person education set for Thursday, Oct. 22, with Wednesday the 21st as Freshman day, welcoming the new students to the school after not having had a chance to until now.
Board Member Chip Currie was the lone dissenting vote against coming back for in-person learning. He expressed concern about the adherence to the mask and social distancing guidelines by students, not ready to trust that they would follow the rules.
“Everybody wears a mask, but the social distancing component — 6 feet [of separation] is not there,” Currie said, expressing concern about the school’s ability to keep all the restrictions in place. “That’s the biggest challenge.”
Board Member Anthony Lozano, who was the lone vote against reopening for partial in-person instruction at the Sept. 10 meeting, changed his stance since and supported reopening based on faith in school administrators.
“All we can do is the best we can do,” Lozano said.
Families will still have the option of continuing to keep their children at home even after in-person education has begun, based on their own comfort with safety precautions.
The board made its decision after discussing COVID-19 spread in the Verde Valley with Yavapai County Community Health Services Director Leslie Horton, who stated that spread in the area had been low — not only is Yavapai County meeting its benchmarks for low spread necessary for reopening schools, but Cottonwood and the Verde Valley have lower spread than the parts of the county on the other side of the mountains. Horton told the board that if they continued to follow safety guidelines and monitor potential spread, reopening could be done safely.
“We can assist in immediate contact tracing if there is a case that pops up,” Horton said. “Most of the time, we’re just pulling one student out and their siblings, and making sure they get adequate testing.”
Under the planned reopening, numerous restrictions to prevent the spread of the disease would still be in place. Students would be required to wear masks, something that Principal Genie Gee assured the board would be mandatory to the point of requiring students who do not comply to return home.
“We have an online school where no one has to wear a mask, or an in-person school where everyone wears a mask,” Gee said. “If there’s a lack of compliance, you cannot be here, because there’s a requirement that you have a mask on.”
According to MUHSD Superintendent Mike Westcott, based on surveys the school district has done and comparisons with other school districts, they expect roughly 70% of students would return to school for in-person learning.
Since most scientific research on the coronavirus suggest it does not lead to strong symptoms for children, the board members discussed the risks of reopening mostly by focusing on the risk of students spreading the coronavirus to their parents and others in the community, as well as the risk to teachers.
“I don’t think there’s any doubt what’s best for the kids,” Board President Carol Ann Teague said. “I was very worried about the teachers. The kids aren’t the ones that are at so much danger of catching COVID. But we did a survey, and the majority of the teachers want to come back.”
Jon Hecht can be reached at 282-7795 or email jhecht@larsonnewspapers.com
