An Open Letter to the Waterville School Board Regarding COVID-19 and Masking Policies
March 27, 2022
Dear Mr. Haley and School Board Members,
Abraham Lincoln was known to have written letters to express frustration, anger, or disappointment, write across them “never sent, never signed,” then tuck them away forever. He referred to these as “hot letters” and his practice has often been heralded as an example of self-control. I contemplated the benefit of Lincoln’s habit and decided not to follow his lead. While I’ve given myself just over a week to allow for a “cooling down” period, my anger and disappointment have only grown as the days have passed. Therefore, I’m sending you this letter because holding on to it no longer feels sensible.
As many of you know, my family and I have stayed almost entirely in isolation since the beginning of the pandemic. We have had two to three members in my household who are deemed high-risk for severe outcomes with COVID, one of whom is my 15-year-old. I’ve been a proponent of universal masking in schools since before the school year began, and I strongly encouraged our district to keep universal mandate despite US and Maine CDCs shifting their recommendations. I spoke to you at the school board meeting on 2/28/22 outlining how the new CDC metrics combine various data and result in a metric that presents a community’s ability to handle COVID hospitalizations (hospitalizations & hospitals capacities & transmissions) rather active community transmissions. I further explained that if anyone used the CDC website to examine COVID community transmissions, the metric the CDC used previously to determine recommendations for masking, they would see that Maine was still experiencing high or substantial COVID transmissions; therefore, we weren’t yet ready to lift the universal mask mandate.
On 3/8/22, Waterville public schools lifted the universal mask mandate and made masks optional.
My youngest son, a sophomore, continued to wear a mask at school but because of one of his medical conditions, he was forced to lift his mask and eat at school, sometimes in the middle of class. Though he lifts his mask ever so briefly to do this, it was and is unavoidable for him to be masked 100% of the time.
On 3/19/22 he tested positive for COVID.
He has not been in contact with anyone outside of school. He only goes to school and home. He does not interact with students outside of school. He does not go to movies, or friends’ houses or any places where he would interact with unmasked individuals. He has not seen relatives outside of Waterville in over two years. My son is the only person in our family who has been forced to interact with unmasked individuals — all at school. He was infected at school because you lifted the universal mask policy. And your decision to do so put his life at risk. COVID has not been “mild” for him. He has been very sick, and we are fortunate to have been able to get him monoclonal antibodies, but he is still symptomatic and until today hasn’t been able to do any schoolwork.
Kids bring COVID home to their families and spread it. How do we know this? Because, Friday night, our eldest son, who is a Waterville senior, tested positive for COVID. He remoted in during the last week for classes and has been quarantining with our family; we know that he has contracted COVID from his brother.
So, I am writing to you to once again explain why the policy of optional masks is a mistake and urge you to reconsider instituting a universal mask mandate.
As I’ve explained before, the new CDC metrics no longer represent community COVID transmissions (how many positive cases are reported in a community), but rather combine a number of things, hospitalizations, hospital capacity, and scaled transmissions. This metric now produces a map referred to by the CDC as “County-level COVID-19 Community Levels.” It shows most of the United States to be green, indicating “community levels” are low (Figure 1).
The CDC widely promotes this map and refers to this map publicly and advises people to refer to it to determine whether an area is safe. In fact, CDC Director Walensky pointed to this map on March 17th on social media saying that 99% of the population was at a low or medium COVID level (Figure 2), suggesting a different phase of the pandemic, one in which COVID appears not to be active throughout the country. It is the map that the CDC has advised states and school districts use to determine masking guidelines. Yet it’s important to recognize that this map doesn’t show actual COVID transmissions within communities. Rather, this map represents how prepared communities are to handle hospitalizations.
Figure 3 is a map of “Phased Prevention — Levels of Transmissions” — meaning positive cases recorded. This map is from the same day (March 17, 2022) as the map in Figure 1, and it was accessed on the CDC website. The map in Figure 3 is the metric the CDC used previously to determine recommendations for masking.
Why? Because this map shows actual COVID transmissions at the county level, within communities. (NB: This map still does not include hundreds of thousands positive at home tests.) It clearly demonstrates where there are high COVID transmissions and spread within a community, thus allowing communities and people to make informed decisions to protect public health. It can help us to make simple decisions about whether it’s safer to go over to a friend’s house for dinner, or out to a movie without a mask, or make more complicated decisions, like universal masking in schools. Comparing Figure 1 to Figure 3 we see a stark contrast. In Figure 1, while some parts of Maine show medium and high COVID levels, we also see a significant portion in the “Low” green zone. In fact, our county, Kennebec County is in the green. However, if we look at Figure 3, the map that indicates COVID spread within communities, the picture looks much more concerning. Most of Maine is red. March 17th is significant, because it was from two days before my son tested positive — possibly the day he was infected. In fact, we see that Maine is experiencing either high or substantial COVID transmissions. Two maps. Same date. Both from the CDC. Telling two different stories.
A simpler way to think of these maps would be like this: COVID Community Transmission (Figure 3) is like a picture of a fire in a house; telling us how big or small the fire is — is it just on the stovetop? Or is the entire house on fire? COVID Community Levels (Figure 1) tell us about the fire, how prepared we are to deal with it, are we bringing a hose or a bucket, and do we have the services and capacity to deal with it? And masks? Masks are like people in houses trying to contain the fire before firefighters can put it out — if they open doors and windows, the fire will spread. If they deplete the fire of oxygen and keep things closed, the fire is more contained. Right now, we know that the fire is big. Our job is to contain it. Masks help us to do that.
The US and Maine CDCs have always advised districts to be aware of community transmissions, not just hospitalizations and hospitals’ capacities. For students in school, community transmission rates are more relevant to their ability to stay healthy and learn than a hospital’s ability to handle critical COVID cases. And right now, almost all of Maine’s community transmissions continue to fall either into substantial or high categories, with Kennebec County falling into high. Furthermore, wastewater data provided recently by Maine’s CDC Director, Nirav Shah, indicate that Maine is among the states with the highest COVID concentration levels in wastewater (Figure 4). As Dr. Shah said months ago, wastewater will give us early warnings. If this isn’t our early warning, what else are we waiting for?
Moreover, the science of COVID hasn’t changed. We know that COVID is an aerosolized virus — transmitted through particles in the air, not droplets on desks or doorknobs. The White House has acknowledged this with their “Let’s Clear the Air on COVID” (3/23/22), put aside $122 billion in funding so schools could improve ventilation and filtration (have we done that?), and is holding a webinar to further discuss how important air quality is for the fight against COVID on March 29th (I hope you will attend).
We know that previous studies have demonstrated that even with a variety of masks in schools, universal masking helps to prevent COVID spread. So, when you are looking at a map to decide whether to drop universal masks, it makes most sense to base this decision on how much transmission is active within the community. In addition, we know, while individuals can continue to mask, their masks alone are not necessarily enough to protect them. In August of 2021, a teacher removed her mask to read to a classroom of masked students. Of the 24 students, 22 were later tested for COVID, and 12 tested positive, as did 6 students from another classroom and 8 relatives of students (parents and siblings). All students were masked, only one person removed a mask, but 26 people were infected as a result (27 including the teacher). In the case of my son, we know of at least one other classmate who has tested positive, whose sibling is positive, who has a parent who is positive, and whose other parent has thus far tested negative but is fighting cancer. This is the direct consequence of lifting universal masking.
Of particular concern to me, however, is that instituting an optional masking policy knowing that such a policy places high-risk students and staff at even more risk reveals an ableist stance that frankly horrifies me. This sends a message that the lives of some students or staff are of less value than others. My son’s life is worth the school making every possible effort to provide protection despite him having two medical disabilities. The onus shouldn’t fall on him or me to fight and beg for you to care. And I shouldn’t have to investigate whether he is protected by the Americans with Disabilities Act either. His value as a human being in our school and how you choose to protect him should never be measured in terms of his health disabilities. That your policy sends this message to young students, to their parents should alone be enough to cause you to reconsider the treatment of those with disabilities, but that this policy further promotes and emboldens ableist sentiments among teachers, students and parents is appalling. Please read the letter from US Secretary of Education, Dr. Miguel Cardona, sent to educators and parents emphasizing that the law requires that disabled students must be protected and given equal access to education during the pandemic and consider how you might reach out to all parents of such students who have 504 plans to discuss how you can protect them. Bear in mind 43% of all Americans fall into the high-risk population, like my son, or live with someone who does. That doesn’t even account for those who are yet to be diagnosed, let alone those who will acquire disabilities from complications related to Long-COVID.
We’ve heard from others that many students and teachers have tested positive for COVID; 35 of those cases were in my children’s school. Again, I’d note that unless these people get PCR tests, none of these positive cases will be factored into official state COVID counts, nor will they be factored into the new CDC map of “County-level COVID-19 Community Levels” in Figure 1. Remember this as you reflect on the steep rise of COVID cases in our school and whether lifting universal masking is still the right move.
Friday, I was on a Zoom call with Dr. Cameron Webb, member of the White House COVID-19 Response Team. He expressed deep concern that funding for COVID has run out and that failure for Congress to renew funding will result in things like lack of access to vaccines, testing, and therapeutics. But that reality is already here. Therapeutics do exist but are not widely available and accessible to all Americans. In fact, Paxlovid is in short supply and is priced out of reach for many Americans. If Americans need a fourth booster shot, we do not have enough vaccine for everyone, and because we haven’t ordered enough, would have to take supplies from other countries. I recognize this may seem as if it has no bearing on how schools act, but the reality is that the United States is neither prepared nor in a financial position for another surge. Acting now to prevent or, at least, limit COVID cases in addition to upholding basic ethical public health standards, is also wise for the health of the nation.
Finally, I had hoped to come and speak to you in person, but you have made this impossible. School board meetings have not allowed for remote participation. I have had several exchanges with my Ward representative and the excuse that it is complicated and expensive is just that — an excuse that is no longer acceptable. Most have successfully worked with Zoom or similar remote products for almost two years, so why stop now? People wishing to participate should not be forced to place themselves or their family members at risk to participate in the democratic process. This is unconscionable. If the Waterville City Council and Planning Board can figure this out, surely the Waterville School Board can too. Until then, I guess I’ll have to be satisfied with posting open letters to communicate.
Sincerely,
Hilary D. Koch
Cc: Eric Haley, Superintendent, Waterville Public Schools
Waterville Public School Board Members:
Patricia Helm, Ward 1 Representative
Greg Bazakas, Ward 2 Representative
Joan Phillips-Sandy, Ward 3 Representative
Maryanne Bernier, Ward 4 Representative
Spencer Krigbaum, Ward 5 Representative
Elizabeth Bickford, Ward 6 Representative
Pamela Trinward, Ward 7 Representative
