Cecil County Public Schools meeting turns into debate on possibility of mask mandate

At the beginning of the meeting, a group of people came in through the Board of Education doors, saying “we have a right to be here,” when CCPS attempted to have them stay outside in the hallway. The Board of Education allowed the group to stay in the meeting.  The board said members of the group would have been allowed to speak, but were placed outside the doors because of limited capacity COVID protocols based around Cecil County being classified as High Risk for COVID spread. 

Cecil County Council member Jackie Gregory said that although many of the decisions around COVID were well intentioned, that they had negative impacts on children in schools.

“Putting that mask on a small child for eight hours, it's very difficult,” Gregory said. “And you know, it really is negligible as far as the actual benefits of that.”

Gregory said it is important for parents to have the choice if they want their child to wear a mask or not.

Attendee Mike Rosado said that people shouldn’t be mandated to wear masks, and that it should instead be up to an individual's discretion.

“If they want to wear a mask they should wear a mask,” Rosado said. “If they don’t want to wear a mask they shouldn’t wear a mask.”

Adriana Brown said the inability for students to see their peers' faces would have a negative psychological impact on children. 

“This is psychological warfare on our children,” Brown said. “They can't play with their friends, they can't touch their friends, see the expressions on any of their faces, or any of their teachers faces. And those expressions matter.”

Other attendees cited studies from organizations like the National Institutes of Health, the CDC and the Journal of the American Medical Association that said that the benefit of masking is negligible and that masking could even be detrimental to health, citing concerns about pathogens and carbon dioxide building up inside the mask. Other speakers, such as Daylene Cecil, said that the common masks people use, such as cloth masks, are not effective at preventing spread. 

Health Department Director Lauren Levy said she is not aware of any studies from a reputable organization such as the NIH that show masks are ineffective at preventing COVID spread.

Levy said a study published by JAMA Pediatrics claiming masks cause harmful levels of CO2 was retracted due to "fundamental concerns about the study methodology, uncertainty regarding the validity of the findings and conclusions, and the potential public health implications.” 

The CDC has said research does not show any significant adverse health effects from wearing a mask.  

"Masks have been worn without incident or controversy for many years in many places, including medical settings, and are commonly worn in public in other countries," Levy said. 

Levy said in her experience the majority of children have adjusted well to masking. Levy also said only 27.2% of people aged 12-17 have been vaccinated. 

"I think indoor mask mandates are the most effective way to reduce the risk of COVID-19 transmission in school settings and ensure that in-person instruction can be provided without significant disruption in the fall," Levy said.  

Brian Hampton, a Marine Corps veteran, spoke at the meeting in support of mask wearing, arguing that it was important to ensure that other people remain safe.

“This is not the face of an oppressed or scared person,” Hampton said. “It is a face, just like in the Marines, that will look left and right and say that you're not going to get sick because of me today.”

There is currently no mask mandate in Cecil County Public Schools.

Superintendent Jeffrey Lawson said that in the summer school program with around 1,100 students, only three positive student cases and three positive staff cases have occurred without mandated mask wearing. He said the CDC, the Maryland Department of Health, and the Cecil County Health Officer are encouraging a mask mandate and community spread rates must also be taken into account.

According to Lawson, CCPS is waiting to see where the data is trending before making a decision and the system plans to make an announcement on the masking policy before the end of next week.

“None of us here think masks are the preferred way to go,” Lawson said. “But at the same time, we have a responsibility to try to keep everybody safe the best way we can.”

County Executive Danielle Hornberger has said Cecil County will not institute any mask mandate. She said the government supports the choice to wear a mask and encourages residents to talk with their families and doctors to decide what is best for them.

“I strongly urge other Cecil County institutions, including the school system, to take a similar approach in allowing individuals to decide what precautions work best for them,” Hornberger said in a press release.

The County executive said that there has been a dramatic increase in the cases of the COVID-19 Delta variant in Cecil County, and the best way for residents to protect themselves is to get vaccinated along with other precautions such as social distancing, hand washing, and wearing an N95 mask.

As far as other county institutions, the Cecil County Circuit Courthouse and the District Courthouse have instituted mask mandates. The order was issued for the courthouse by Maryland Court of Appeals Chief Judge Mary Ellen Barbera in Annapolis.

Additional reporting by Cecil Whig Editor Jonathan Carter.