The Mid-Prairie High School gym was divided during the Sept. 28 regular meeting of the school board. For the most part, those wearing masks sat on one side of the bleachers and those without masks sat on the other, with a large gap between them.

The agenda was altered to move the consent items — minutes from previous meetings, financial reports, payment of bills, etc. — until after the public forum. It was clear what everyone wanted to talk about: Masks.

The public forum lasted about an hour, with thirteen speakers stepping up to the microphone to address the school board, either advocating for masks or against them. Speakers included Mark Robe and Joe Schmidt, the mayor and a city councilman from Kalona, who encouraged the board to continue Mid-Prairie’s current mask mandate; teachers; students and parents.

The school board members also acknowledged that they received hundreds of emails in the week leading up to the meeting; people on both sides of the debate wanted to make sure to be heard.

The decisive information, however, came in an email from Danielle Pettit-Majewski, the director of Washington County Public Health, read aloud by Superintendent Mark Schneider prior to the public forum. The email announced forthcoming new guidance from the Iowa Department of Public Health, effective Sept. 29, and was received by the school board at about 1 p.m. that day.

“Essentially, if both the [positive] case and the close contacts are wearing face coverings (at this time face shields are not included), then the close-contact will not have to quarantine. However, if only one person or neither person is wearing a face covering, we quarantine as we do now.”

It was this guidance, and the fact that it would not be official or finalized until the following day, that swayed the board to postpone a decision about the mask mandate until the next school board meeting on Oct. 12. In the meantime, all students and staff will be required to continue wearing face coverings in school.

“I’m OK just pressing pause on this right now because I want to know what the guidance will be that comes out tomorrow,” board member Jeremy Pickard said. “Believe me, I do not want this to drag on one more day… but as of 1 o’clock today things have changed that we need to consider.”

Board member Gabrielle Frederick, who made the original mask mandate motion on Aug. 3, made another motion to continue the requirement for face coverings until public health officials no longer recommend their use. The motion did not receive a second and died on the floor.

Board members Frederick, Marianne Schlabach, Jeremy Gugel, and Denise Chittick all expressed favor for continuing the mask mandate while Pickard and Mary Allred expressed opposition. (Jodi Meader was absent.)

Pickard said he sees the current mandate as too broad and believes considerations must be made for younger elementary students, Pre-K through second grade, and other students with preexisting conditions like asthma or migraines.

“I am an optional person. I have been from the beginning and will continue to [vote for] optional,” Allred said.

While the decision regarding a possible mask mandate has been postponed, school board members wanted the Mid-Prairie community to know that their voices were heard, and their opinions have been and will continue to be considered in the coming weeks.

“I’ve heard a lot of people say, ‘Hey, don’t just go with the people who are the loudest,’ and I want everyone to know that I think I got loud from both sides,” Frederick said. “People are passionate about what they believe.”