Gov. Whitmer needs to step up, mandate masks in Michigan schools | Opinion

What is Gov. Gretchen Whitmer waiting for? 

There is consensus across the medical community in favor of universal masking in k-12 schools — particularly schools that serve children under 12, too young to be vaccinated. No credible medical expert has suggested otherwise.

Over the course of the pandemic, much of what we know about COVID-19 has changed, but evidence that masks prevent transmission of the virus has been settled since spring of last year.

The National Education Association, the nation's largest teachers' union, supports masking. So does the second-largest, the American Federation of Teachers. 

The state's top doctor, chief medical executive Joneigh Khaldun, says she's advised Whitmer to implement a k-12 a mask mandate. 

And there is ample evidence from southern states like Mississippi and Alabama (where school is already in session) that when districts act like there's no pandemic, it's a disaster. In Mississippi, about 20,000 students are in quarantine, and the state board of education hastily approved a return to hybrid learning; this week, Alabama edged out Florida for the highest rate of hospitalized kids with COVID-19. 

Yet weeks from the start of another school year, Michigan schools are in chaos.

And every superintendent I've spoken to wants Whitmer to fix this. 

It's true that children are at less risk from COVID-19. It's also true that schools have not been centers of disease spread, as many feared.

But none of last year's data accounts for the more-contagious, maybe-more-dangerous-to-kids delta variant, or the precautions —  like masks — we've adopted to keep kids safe thus far.  

Let's be absolutely clear: I believe — along with Dr. Anthony Fauci and the American Association of Pediatrics — that school employees should be vaccinated. The AFT and the NEA support vaccine mandates, and there is no question that such mandates are legal. 

But since we're not doing that, mask mandates are our best bet, and it is bonkers that any district could start the year without one.

Authority isn't the issue

The 1945 state law Whitmer had used for many of her pandemic orders was overturned by the Michigan Supreme Court last year, but there is currently no bar to implementing such orders through the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services. 

But so far, DHHS hasn't acted.

"The evidence says masks should be worn, but no one who has ability to make a mandate is coming out saying it’s mandated," said Steve Matthews, superintendent of Novi Public Schools. "The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Oakland County Health Department, are all using the language 'strongly recommended.' That language communicates to parents that it’s an option. And if it’s an option, I can make my own choice."

Just 60 of the state's 537 public school districts have adopted a mask mandate for the looming school year; that's about 11%. (Thankfully, my own district is one of them.) 

That doesn't mean most parents won't support a mask mandate; they just haven't been as visible or vehement as opponents.

Across Michigan, superintendents and school board members are being confronted by vocal anti-maskers wielding increasingly abusive rhetoric. At a school board meeting in Birmingham this week, one attendee performed a Nazi salute after a parent spoke in support of the district's mask mandate. Board members and superintendents are not prepared for this. Parents in districts without mask mandates are quietly panicking, weighing the risks of COVID-19 against another year of remote school. 

I get it: Anti-masker rhetoric is nuts. Folks who call mask-wearing "child abuse" are so far removed from reality that I don't even know how to talk to them. And they're dominating the conversation, showing up in droves for school board meetings. I cannot blame any parent with more moderate or science-based views who prefers to stay well out of this. 

I also sympathize with superintendents, some of whom must answer to elected boards that don't understand or support the science. 

"It’s a surprisingly controversial issue, and superintendents are put right in the middle of it. If it is something we all should do, somebody should say this is a mandate," Matthews said.

This is not a unique sentiment among school administrators.

One education insider told me that in their estimation, "There isn't a superintendent south of Clare without a mask mandate that doesn't wish the governor would step in."

"From federal to state to county to school districts, they’re tired of being beaten up. I get that," said David Mustonen, a spokesman for the Dearborn Public schools. "They’re elected to be leaders and make decisions, and this has been pushed down onto school districts."

Local control, this time

But this hands-off tactic is consistent with Whitmer's approach schools. The governor acted swiftly last spring to enact public health provisions intended to slow the spread the virus: a shelter-in-place order, business closures and capacity restrictions, a statewide mask mandate. 

But while Whitmer closed schools last year, and again this winter, she's been reluctant to wield a finer brush. 

Last year, her administration offered a set of loose guidelines that allowed districts to largely call the shots about school re-opening, frustrating superintendents who'd hoped for clearer direction. As a result, Michigan schools were a patchwork of face-to-face, full virtual and hybrid learning; Michigan kids experienced wildly disparate educational outcomes, a situation everyone understands will be worse for the kids who were already furthest behind.

And here we are again. If the Delta variant overwhelms our schools, it'll be another year of remote learning, and the disastrous educational, physical and emotional consequences for our kids cannot be overstated. 

But this time, it's not just education that's on the line; it's also lives, and health.

I'm the mother of a child too young to be vaccinated, and I've seen firsthand how grueling the last 18 months have been. My child needs to be in school. My child needs to be in a safe school. That's what all children need. 

Governor?

Nancy Kaffer is a columnist and member of the Free Press editorial board. She has covered local, state and national politics for two decades. Contact: nkaffer@freepress.com. Become a subscriber at Freep.com.