Business as usual for Lakeland/ Post Falls school districts
RATHDRUM - Public schools opened Tuesday in the Lakeland Joint and Post Falls school districts with no mask mandate or COVID-19 precautions deemed necessary.
Many parents are very comfortable with this approach.
Jennifer Brown, a parent of students in the Lakeland District, said, “we did an excellent job last year without all this nonsense in place, I feel confident that it won’t be a problem this year.”
The general consensus is a desire to get back to pre-COVID normalcy.
“This year we are trying to get back to what normal was. Not this new normal everyone keeps trying to push on us,” said Lakeland district parent Kat Beckstead. “Today us parents are just simply glad to have our kids be able to go to school and be kids and have a normal day.”
Though no formal return policy is in place as the district opened, the Lakeland Joint District School is in the process of composing a “District Safe Return to In-Person Instruction and Continuity of Services Plan.”
The proposal being considered by the Lakeland District school board is part of the American Rescue Plan Act, Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund or ARP ESSER, enacted on March 11, 2021.
If approved, the Lakeland district would receive some of the $122 billion in federal relief funds being made available to “help safely reopen and sustain the safe operation of schools and address the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on the nation’s students.”
Ramona Grissom, school board trustee for zone 2, said in an email that the ARP ESSER plan’s objective is to document “how the district will implement and adhere to each of the CDC’s current guidance items.” In order to remain compliant and receive funding, every six months the school district’s response to COVID would be re-evaluated against guidelines in place at that time, Grissom said.
“At the moment, with the information I have, the plan will be ever-changing as the CDC guidance changes,” Grissom said.
Grissom said that the “board hasn’t approved anything or done anything with it” and she “doesn’t know of any school in Idaho that has a plan.”
Guidelines most recently updated on Aug. 5 for preventing COVID-19 spread among students in kindergarten through 12th grade include universal wearing of masks while indoors for all students, staff, teachers and visitors regardless of vaccination status and an “offering of and promotion of COVID-19 vaccination,” Grissom said.
If the district receives ARP ESSER funding they must comply with these recommendations.
At an Aug. 23 board of trustees meeting, board chair Michelle Thompson requested that the district open at the “green level of operation.”
Superintendent for the Lakeland Joint School District, Dr. Becky Meyer, stated at that meeting that the levels of green and red being used in the operational plan have been used for parents' peace of mind.
“My opinion is that we’re not completely out of the woods yet,” said Rob Irons, Vice-chairman of the Board of Trustees.
The school board said they are hesitant to vote on something that may turn into a mask or vaccine mandate in order to obtain federal funding.
Though “it is difficult to fund a school district without every opportunity (for funding) we can get,” Irons said.
At the request of Myers, a group of about 15 parent volunteers was assembled to review the operational plan further before bringing the issue to a vote at the next district board meeting at 5 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 9. School board meetings can be viewed in real-time via Zoom link at sd272.org.
Meyer declined to comment on the issue when contacted by The Press.
Post Falls School District Superintendent Dena Nacarato did not comment on the Post Falls School District possibly applying for ARP ESSER funding, but referred to the district's “Safe return to in person instruction and continuity of services plan” that is available at www.pfsd.com.
The Post Falls School District is open with a full time, in-person learning schedule.