NCSD getting mixed messages from CDC, IDPH

Two of the health agencies Newton Community School District has been relying on for COVID-19 guidance this past year are giving mixed messages.

Newton Superintendent Tom Messinger told school board members during their meeting May 17 the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and Iowa Department of Public Health (IDPH) “are telling us different things,” which is putting the district in a difficult position.

Particularly when it comes to school policy regarding masks. The CDC announced last week that fully vaccinated people “can resume activities without wearing a mask or physically distancing,” unless required by specific governments or local businesses or workplaces.

Shortly after the CDC announced its new guidance, IDPH said it was revising its rules and recommended schools and childcare settings “approach COVID-19 like other child illnesses.” Children exposed to the virus are no longer required to stay home, too, regardless of mask usage.

“We have a significant difference of opinion between the IDPH and the CDC,” Messinger said. “The CDC’s mask guidance is for people who have been fully vaccinated. The CDC has also said they are recommending schools keep a mask requirement in place through the end of the school year.”

From what Messinger has seen in other schools, some have responded to the mask requirement by changing their policy language from “required” to “recommended.” Other schools have given students a choice or decided to maintain the guidance they already have in place, he added.

Since there are only two weeks left of school, the NCSD Board of Education would have to hold a special meeting to lift the district’s face mask policies.

School board members asked if graduation or other activities still warrant mask wearing from spectators or participants. Messinger suggested any outdoor activity would make mask wearing optional. However, indoor activities would require people to still follow school policy.

Newton High School Principal Bill Peters said he is hoping graduation — which is planned to be held outdoors — will not be stifled by bad weather.

“Things have changed and things have eased up,” he said. “There aren’t any specific requirements for seating or being seated at a graduation ceremony and/or a basketball game at this point in time. We have an incredibly small class graduating this year. Right now we only have 164 walking.

“And in a way that’s a good thing (we have a small graduating class) if we have to come indoors, because we wouldn’t be at capacity in the gym if everybody brought four, five, six people with them. It would still be OK.”

Contact Christopher Braunschweig at 641-792-3121 ext. 6560 or cbraunschweig@newtondailynews.com