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Whether the Bartlesville Public Schools Board of Education will vote to issue a mask mandate to further mitigate Covid-19 spread will wait for another day. Monday night's meeting featured a very lengthy public comment segment from concerned teachers--both pro and con face masking  students and staff-- to doctors, parents and others who wanted their voiced heared on the matter.

 

Proir to the Bartlesville Public School Board of Education meeting on Monday at the Batlesville High School Fine Arts Auditorium, PEAK: Public Education Advocates for Kids posted this call to action on their Facebook page:

 

 

"PEAK: Public Education Advocates for Kids

 

Concerned about the lack of masking requirements within our schools?

 

Monday, Sept. 20 - 5:30 pm (TOMORROW)

BHS Fine Arts Center Auditorium

Medical Personnel, PEAK & Others

To Address School Board on Masking Needs

 

 

Make plans to attend the Bartlesville Public School District board meeting next Monday to hear recommendations from physicians, nurses and other members of the local medical community who face the challenges of COVID every day. The PEAK board, as well as parents, also will be urging the board to implement more rigorous masking requirements. These remarks will come early in the meeting during the "public comment" portion, prior to the board's regular consideration of business.

 

At last month's meeting, the board heard from only one viewpoint regarding masks in schools -- the anti-masking position. This is your opportunity to hear the other side of the story from those who must deal with the heart-breaking as well as exasperating consequences of haphazard mask requirements and poor vaccination rates. Help support the school board in making decisions that best benefit students and teachers, and in turn, our community.

 

Plan to be there and please keep these guidelines in mind:

 

1) The purpose of being there is not to "beat up" on the board or the school administration. They face a tough situation for many reasons -- including resistance from some segments of the community and a state law on school masking that was passed at a time when it appeared the virus was waning. That's not the case today.]

 

2) Please wear a mask. Do not bring signs. Your mask is your sign of support. And if you sign up to speak, try to avoid what others have already said and don't attack the "anti's."

 

3) Encourage other education advocates -- parents, grandparents and concerned citizens -- to join you at the meeting."

 

Word of this post quickly spread on social media compelling those wishing the board to continues as it has since the begining of the school year to attend and present their views. 

 

The arguments for and against were compelling, for the most part but in the end, all the board could do was simply listen.

 

Superintendent Chuck McCauley told Bartlesville Radio after the meeting, "We're just going to contiue to monitor the data. No changes wer made tonight. We obviously want to keep listening  to all of our stakeholders, but we are going to continue on doing the best we can with serving our students, staff and community."

 

 

VIDEO FROM  SOME OF THE SPEAKERS