Orange City, Iowa — A private Sioux County grade school will not be requiring their students and teachers to wear masks to prevent the spread of COVID-19, despite requests from that county’s hospitals that mask wearing be mandatory.
In a letter to parents, the School Board of the Orange City Christian School says that they heard from members of their task force, reviewed information from parents and staff, and discussed different research as they deliberated how to best protect students and teachers from the coronavirus. The Board called reaction to the virus and how to mitigate it, “varied at best, and divisive at worst.” The Board said in the letter that their goal is to make a decision that is best for their students, and all aspects of their students physical, mental, emotional, and social health, knowing they will have some who agree and some who disagree with that decision.
As a result of their deliberations, the Orange City Christian School Board says that, although wearing masks is encouraged throughout their building, masks will not be required at the school, though per Unity Christian’s policy, they will be required on buses. The letter says that the School Board believes there are positives and negatives to requiring masks, and at the elementary and middle school level, their position is that the negatives outweigh the positives. The letter went on to say that there is little evidence that school age children are major contributors to the spread of COVID and are at very low risk of struggling with the disease. The Board says the mental, social and even health down-sides are real when requiring masks on children. They say those down-sides are definitely lessened when masks are worn voluntarily. The letter says adults are highly encouraged to wear masks where appropriate, but they will not be required to do so.
According to the School Board, Orange City Christian School will continue to use distancing and pods during the school day to minimize exposure, along with continuing hand washing to cleaning of the building, as had been previously planned.
