8 16 21 IHEVSD Board of Education Meeting August 16, 2021

001talking for two hours. >> That's fantastic. I'll put my phone on silent. >> Isn't that a great picture of the shot over the weekend? It's just kind of fun. >> Not yet. church countdown. We're about to go live streaming at church. [Music] Oh, I see warm water all the time. Another minute. [Music] All my kids are here. [Music] >> And Dawson got engaged last week while we were having our meeting. >> Congratulations. Congratulations. >> Real great. >> Yes. Yeah. Great. We love her. >> Dr. Oh, I've met her. >> I actually knew her before he did. She's kind of funny. Oh, really? >> Yeah. I feel like >> All right. I believe that is >> a mom vibes. >> Yeah. Sometimes you see it and you can see it, right? >> Probably next summer. He

002has a fellowship from uh it is 8:30. Uh and so I would uh let me do my thing. Call the meeting to order. Roll call, please. >> Mrs. Eiffel, >> here. >> Dr. Hooker, >> here. >> Mrs. Johnston. >> Mrs. Lewis, >> here. >> Mrs. Singh, >> here. >> Uh, I entertain a motion to adopt the agenda. >> Second. >> All those in favor? >> I I also entertain a motion to go into executive session under OC uh 121.22. 22G in accordance with OC121 22G3 and OC121.22 G5 [Music] >> second. All those in favor >> I if anybody is here already we're going to executive session. We will be back where I am. I can't see anything. [Music] water. [Music] Give a second to get seated. >> All right. >> I had it on ready

003to go. So >> there you go. and then IH board. >> All right. Uh we are returning from executive session and we're going to start a work session where the board members can dialogue between themselves uh on this issue of school reopening plan. Uh I therefore would yield to Mrs. Lewis. Would you like to start us? >> Um yes. Thank you. Dr. Hucker. Um, >> can you move your mic closer to you if you don't mind and get closer to it? Just it's not caring. >> I guess I'm kind of in between two mics, so that's a problem. Um, I just wanted to start this morning and just talk a little bit before I get into some um, questions and ideas I have for the board is I I just wanted to address some of

004the concerns that have been raised um, about um, experiences that affect children's mental health. And uh there are lots of experiences that affect children's mental health whether they be um you know they get broke a boyfriend or girlfriend breaks up with them or whether nobody sits with them at the lunch table or there's a parents divorce or they get a bad grade in school they don't get into the right college um they have to quarantine for COVID and yes masks affect um may affect u children's mental health um but I everything that I've read um that mental health doesn't equate to mental illness and mental illness is can come in many forms mild, moderate, severe or terminal. And for those people to equate >> Kim, could you pull your mic down a little a little

005bit closer? Nikki's having trouble hearing you down here. Thank you. Sorry. for people in public commentary or discussions at a board to equate some experience whether it be wearing masks or otherwise that might affect a child's mental health to terminal mental illness is denigrating and trivializing the suffering and ultimate death of that child and the children's family of what they're suffering and I just wanted to say that because um I do believe that there are many experiences that affect a child's mental health, but it's very different than mental illness. With that, Dr. Hooker, I'd just like to talk a little bit about some of the things that we've talked about as a a board and and um just kind of open up some discussion about a number of things. Uh, as we all know from

006a scientific standpoint, the best um the best defense to to the Delta variant is vaccinations. Um, so with that in mind, I mean, obviously children 12 and under aren't allowed to be vaccinated now, but the children that are over 12 um well, I'm sorry, 12 and over can be vaccinated. And so I I do think that, you know, as we think through this over the next few weeks, um that we ought to think about, you know, whether or not there are possibilities for those populationations that have the ability to get a vaccination, whether there could be exemptions and administratively how you would be able to deal with that. Um I don't have the answers. I just think that it's something that, you know, as we continue to discuss various options um on a go forward

007basis because this is really just um what we're going to start with. I I really think that we ought to consider things like that as vaccinations become available, as vaccination clinics um happen and whether or not there is any ability to do any type of exemption despite the fact that we all know that House Bill um what is it? uh >> 244 uh will go into effect on October 13th, but that doesn't mean that prior to October 13th, we couldn't think about those uh options. >> Yeah. That's uh Thank you. Uh Miss Lewis, is there anything else that you wanted to say on that? >> I'm not right now. Just >> Okay. Um can we go all the way down to the other end, Nikki? So I did like last time I >> Nikki I'm

008going really ask you to get as close as you can just because this is being recorded and I really want people that are at home to be able to hear what you have to say. >> Sure. So I did write some of my uh opinion and based on what we heard last time and previously through emails and texts and you know phones that we all have received. So based on that I just wrote few things just so that I don't miss out on anything. So first thing that we heard that we haven't done our homework. So I just want to say is the decision that we made on August 3rd was a very difficult decision for all of us. But we all did our homework. We all did look into lot of uh data and

009we very carefully considered after spending lot of time looking into the advice that America American Academy of Pediatrics Hamilton County Health Department Ohio Department of Health Cincinnati Children's Center of Disease Control and some of our professional experts and adi are advising to us. So the decision that we made were based on lot of data which based on which we made a decision. So and honestly my decision does not reflect my personal feelings as I'm not an expert. I'm a parent but I'm following the experts advice. I appreciate that you all came forward to share your concerns with us which are very valuable to us. I have read your emails. I have talked to many of you over the phone and I understand your frustration and concerns. I hear that you don't want to wear a

010mask and I'm with you on sometimes. I don't want to be wearing a mask either, especially with my glasses when you know it just foggs up and it becomes difficult sometime. But I still wear it because it is important for the safety of myself and people around me. I got vaccinated. I feel privileged but I have to be mindful of people around me that they are safe too. I could always carry it. So we have to be careful. I admire so many of our healthcare providers who work hard to treat patient while wearing a mask all day to protect themselves and their patients. So again, as I said before, I'm not an expert with the ability to question the concerns many of you have voiced to us. I know you are here for your kids

011and I'm here for the same reason. I do care for your kids. My primary goal is to keep the kids in person in school for as long as possible. As we have learned that kids learn best in the school in-person learning with their teachers and with their peers, it is really important for them to be here. We cannot do so if students and teachers and start they start getting sick getting sick. So that's why I deeply care about our students mental health. Mental health is definitely an issue we need to collectively address. However, this will be much harder to do with children's being pulled out of the classes and back into isolation which is worse for them. Something that has happened with many of our childrens in this past year that we all have witnessed.

012We have to be concentrate for all the children as most are vac are not vaccinated. For an example, Blake, she's a student of a district who has a muscular distrophe and I'm sure many of you must have seen her video sharing her story. If you haven't, I highly recommend that you see her story. Even with her breathing issues and weaker lungs, she believes in wearing a mask as she knows it protects her and allow her to attend school in person which is very important to her and all of us. She is a student of a district and we have to consider again we have proposed the mass policy only for the initial first four weeks. We are not saying that it is going to be for the whole school year. It is for the beginning

013of the school year and this is because of the surge in the delta variant we are seeing throughout the country which is making some kids very sick and in some cases requiring hospitalization. According to the data from US Department of Health and Human Services, the number of childrens hospitalized with COVID 19 in United States hit record high just over 1,900 this Saturday and schools are just about opening. The number of newly hospitalized COVID 19 patients aged between 18 to 29, 30 to 39 and 40 to 49 has also hit record high this week according to the data from US center of disease control and prevention. According to Sally Ghoul, uh she is a former president of American Academics of Pediatrics told a major news channel on Saturday, this is not last year co This one

014is worse and our children are the one that are going to be affected by it the most. Last week our local our local hospital partners Try Health had seen last week they had 30 patient and now that number has gone up to 55 positive COVID cases. Mercy Health, which is another local organization, has 194 COVID positive cases right now, which has gone up significantly. Cincinnati Children has seen an increased number in outpatient. The number of positive outpatient has increased three times compared to mid June. I have one more uh that I would like to share and So sorry and the numbers are increasing everywhere. Now about the mask that we are all talking based on study done on 1 million children at the Duke School of Medicine found that vaccine is the most effective way

015to prevent COVID or its spread. The second most effective way till our kids can get vaccinated is masking. Cincinnati children, if you go on their website, they will tell you that 85 wearing a mask can prevent 85% of time. It's 85% effective. Sorry, I should say that wearing a mask is as effective as you can think of anything here. And I understand that many of you are concerned about how kids will wear it. Again, if you go on their website, Cincinnati Children has done a great job explaining how you can try different masks. It's like one mask does not have to fit everybody. You can if your kids don't like it, try different mask and see if they will like that. I don't want our students to be pulled out of the school to quarantine

016when they can get exposed to the virus. Again, this happened quite a lot this past year and was destructive to students learning. Maring wearing a mask for 4 weeks while we are still being in school is better than being forced to quarantine in isolation after COVID exposure. This will also allow our athletes who have worked so hard during the summer to get to play during their tournament. Once I think we have ensured that there isn't a large initial spike in cases, I'm all for re-evaluating a mass mandate and allowing more freedom to our students. Every decision I make, we do listen to medical professionals. We do look it into the data. We do get a lot of data from ODH, health department, from Mr. Kennedy every week. So we are keeping a close eye on

017what is happening as we are listening others. I just want to tell the parents and people who are listening, we are all as we are listening others, we are also listening to you and we are committed to the safety of your children. Your children's safety and well-being is our biggest priority. So please, please, please bear with us. Understand the situations we are in. It is not easy for any of us. We're just trying our best to keep schools open as most of you all have asked all the time and that is the most important thing for all of us here on the board do. >> Thank you Nikki. Appreciate it. Um I should say Elizabeth is not here. >> Um okay so um I'll be a little bit brief I think. Um, I still ve

018feel very strongly that parents have options here and should have options, especially because right now our local data in my mind does not support um a mass mandate. Um, we were super concerned about all of our children all the time, but we only have them what, eight hours a day, 6 hours, whatever the day is. um and then as soon as they leave they take their masks off. So I I don't think that we can necessarily equate having masks in school with children being exposed and therefore needing to be quarantined. So I think we all just need to be kind of clear about that and know that we're going to be dealing with those kind of outside influences no matter what we do internally. Um I think you know we've spent now three meetings talking

019about one issue about COVID and this the as we all know from last year the CO issue is huge and it's much greater than just the masks. So I'd like to see the board get to talking about actually how we'll handle children coming back to school in all situations just like how we did last year. We had kind of a sliding scale. Um and we had uh reporting dates, you know, on a regular basis. We had um we're required to um message out when students do or teachers test positive. So our parents can see what's happening. if we get back to school and we have, you know, 10 cases in the first week and we're reporting that out, parents know um what's going on and they can determine for their own child what needs to

020be happening. Um the issue that we as a school board need to deal with is the quarantining. We're not a health board. Um it's unfortunate that our state and our and our county have kind of put us in the position of thinking we need to be a health board. Um but we're not. And what we need to really focus on is how do we keep our kids in school and um how do we manage that quarantining situation given that it's not nearly as straightforward as it was last year. It's very it's confusing. Um it's, you know, masked versus not masked, unvaccinated versus vaccinated. Um they're still trying to recommend three feet. Um I think we know with our current situation, we're down one whole school building, so it isn't really possible um to keep the

0213 ft and I think our children are ready to be back together. Um, I have always been very impressed with how this district handles and um manages the the school life of all of our special needs children. And I have no doubt that with care and compassion and focus on the individual student that our staff will fully protect all of our vulnerable children. Um, because this isn't the only thing that they will be vulnerable with. Um, and I think you all have done an amazing job with that and I'm have no doubt you'll continue. Um, what I would like to see is actual metrics about how we will measure right now as it stands we have a mask mandate. later in and rules of order. I'd like to amend at some point the two week

022four week because what I would like to see is not four weeks but two weeks um if we're going to start with masks then I'd like to see in two weeks where we are and I think the parents would like to see where we are in two weeks. Um, but what I'd like to see us do today is talk about what is that number? You know, what are we looking for in two weeks and what will change one one direction or the other? And the other question is if we start the school year in masks and we have very low numbers right now. That's what I was looking for. M is that XL. >> Do you have your Can you pull your email up, Mr. >> Yeah, I can do that. >> I'm sorry. Sorry,

023I didn't understand what >> I was I'm looking for the Excel spreadsheet. I thought it was going to be on here. >> Um I'll just pull up my email. Um but I don't where I was going with that. Sorry. >> Take your time. >> Um so, um okay, so right now have a mass mandate. Our numbers are super low. Looking at local data because that's the only thing we can really look at. We can't, you know, we can't decide from some other state somewhere else what to do here in Indian Hill. Um, but if we're where we are right now, what is the number two weeks from now that would either go looser on the mask mandate or where do we go from the mask mandate? What happens if we're all in mass and we

024have half the students quarantined? Uh, what do we do? And can we really haven't talked with the administration yet about how will we manage that? you know, how how many children can you manage on BBA and is that the is that the plan? So, I think those are the things we need to be talking about. You know, let's assume for the conversation today that we have a mass mandate at least for two weeks and then let's figure out from there all the other things we need to talk about. Are we good with that? >> I think that I think that that makes sense. Um, I think we probably all have some ideas, but you know, I think that we'll be looking >> Can you hear me? >> Yeah. >> Um, but I think we'll be

025looking at our administrators for further information. I mean, some of the things I I I don't know that we can actually set a specific metric, but I think things we'll find out in the next few weeks are, you know, hopefully positivity rates and what happens to positivity rates in the county. And I think there are a number of schools that have opened up um and actually large school districts that have opened up mask optional. And I think we'll probably have a lot more information about that by the end of next week um because Mason and Lakota both opened this past week in mask optional. So I think that we'll know what type of quarantine data we'll have with that. Um and we'll certainly know whether or not our masks are effective. I don't know that

026I can say what the parameters but I think all of those things we can look at and make reasoned decisions based on those and I agree with you Nancy and it's kind of why I raised the other point is you know are there some other ideas as you know like our middle school and high school students if they if they are vaccinated are there ways to handle that from an administrative standpoint that protects also the imunocmpromised children that are you know able able to um and again I just think that that something we ought to look at. I uh unfortunately I don't think it's just yellow, red, orange like we did last year which as you know we didn't really stick to because >> but we used as a guideline and it it led to

027discussion >> right but we but we >> we don't have that this year. We used it as a guideline, but at the end of the day, it was really what was happening. And we realized last year that even though we said when it's going to be red or purple, we're going to probably go to BVA all the way, we realized that masks worked. So, we didn't have to do that. We were able to stay in school 5 days a week. And I do think that's the most important thing is to try to keep these kids in school 5 days a week. Um, but I do agree that we've got to address this as we get more information. and I'm hopeful that we will have a lot more information in a week or two >> because

028of other schools coming back in different in different ways. >> I think that's a really good point both of you are making is that we need to look at the the local surrounding schools. I think that's part of what we're looking at. Uh I think last year we did a an amazing job of looking at everything everything from CDC guidelines to APA guidelines, local data. Um and you know personally I want to see the things falling off. If we look at England, England had the Delta surge and within a month it had started dropping. We may have that. I hope we do. Uh I do think your point on BVA is really important Nancy that maybe some dialogue right now from Kirk uh some comments from Kirk because I'm concerned we really don't have BVA

029as an option right now. And how quickly could we get BVA up if we have to? And I really pray we don't. Uh what is what is the the district's plan for that? Because right now it's not really what we're doing. >> Um if this is a good time >> and if you don't mind, Mike, close to you because it's really hard. >> If this is a good time to start to kind of go through some of the resources we shared with you board members, I think we can address that along with some of the other points that I've heard. Um I just didn't want to um interrupt your statement, Dr. if you were wanting to. >> No, I I think I've made my statement and I my repeating everything I said the other day,

030I don't think it's going to add very much. Um but uh so I really would rather hear from you of what what we can do on this um and move forward. So um we'll go through uh the resources here and and I will come back to the notion of a virtual learning option. It is not called BBA this year. Uh that was what we did last year and we will we will talk a little bit about that as we go through. And um I'm going to go through the resource I shared with all of you. If you would like to move, it's behind you, but you also have it on your computers. Um >> I'm actually just going to look at it on it's also a print out here >> in your folders. >> So

031again, um we talked about this at both of our previous meetings. We're making some assumptions here that we want to share. Um we're going to continue to offer both an in-person option and for those who are interested, a virtual learning opportunity. Those would be available for students with extenduating circumstances or by request. We'll deal with those on a case-byase basis and we'll get more into that in in a few moments. Um, all of our typical annual school calendar of activities commenced on August 1st. That is different from last year. We've had several questions from parents about the reopening of schools. All of our activities are back in place. All of our curriculum, programming, uh, gifted would be one example. um performances obviously um activities, clubs, athletics at all levels, field trips, those are just some

032examples. Um and so we will work to mitigate uh with not only masks, but our all of the other general safety protocols we've put in place uh moving forward, but we plan to offer all of those things. >> Can I ask a quick question? Does that mean that the in the lower schools that the children will still have the plexiglass in between them and their tables and desks or is that >> no physical barriers on tables and desks in the primary and elementary are not in place and we'll come back to that in a moment if that's okay as we get to the mitigation strategies. >> Okay. Because I had the same question related to lunchtime. >> Yeah. And if you have questions anytime while I'm presenting this lunchtime is a big difference because the

033mask is coming off. So we need to talk about that. We're going to continue to mitigate the spread of uh of COVID through cleaning and safety protocols. We'll talk some more about that. And again, we're going to continue to monitor and receive local, regional, state, and national data and input from area health partners and government officials to make informed decisions as we've done for the past year and a half now or or more. Um, and many of you have referenced. Uh, these are things we look at weekly. I want to thank everyone in the public who has sent us articles, data, and resources. And I would just reiterate that we are already looking at them. There were a number of developments in the summer we went over last time uh that have been referenced here.

034House Bill 244. Again, for people who are not aware, uh this was signed by the governor in July. It goes into effect October 13. Um that language prohibits public schools from mandating vaccines, but not from asking about vaccination, which we'll talk about soon. It prohibits public schools from requirements that discriminate against classifications of students vaccinated. I just want to clarify one thing. It prohibits any vaccines that are still under EUA, which may change dramatically here in the next week or so with multiple vaccines from getting full approval. So, just something that I think the audience needs to know and the board needs to know. >> If the FDA were to fully approve the three vaccines that are out there uh for emergency authorized use now, that would change the effect of this law. >> Yep.

035Senate Bill 209 uh has been introduced prior to the break. the legislature comes back uh after September 7th. This is a bill that would prohibit public schools from requiring masks. Again, all of that is up for conjecture at this time. There is no bill uh there's no law that says you cannot require masks. Uh CDC guidance of course recommends universal indoor masking by all students age two and older, staff, teachers, and visitors to K12 schools regardless of vaccination status in their latest opening guidance. ODH guidance is aligned. Uh Hamilton County guidance is aligned to both CDC and ODH language. Um the pediatric association recommends universal masking. Uh children's locally has also recommended that along with our tri health partners. Uh contact tracing is a legal requirement through ODH through Hamilton County. It's a class A

036level reporting requirement which has the effect of law for us whenever we have suspected contact tracing or cases. And there is a federal order still in effect through the CDC requiring masks for all public transportation passengers on school buses through September 13. That could either be amended, extended, repealed, but we don't know. So, it has the effect of law through September 13th for anybody who rides a school bus. We amended the face covering policy uh in dialogue on August 3rd. And just to review again, masks would be required inside all school buildings at all times for students, staff, and visitors until September 14th, unless that is amended. Uh masks could be removed for lunch in the cafeteria while students and staff are eating. Masks could be removed by students and/or staff and already approved school

037activities or events indoors related to the practice or competition times during performing arts and/or physical activities such as physical education, choir, gym, dance, and sporting contests. All visitors would be required to comply with the same masking requirements. Uh federal transportation order again as I stated would require masks for all passengers through September 13th. This was the language that the board discussed uh on August 13th for amending the face covering policy that was in place and updating the guidelines. Questions about that before I move? I just I I do have some concerns uh that we're masking except for now we're going to have no mask in the gym and we could get a big spread just from that. I I really um I have some concerns. the football team is one thing where they're out there

038on the field in the open that that our policy does not have anything to do with being in the open, you know, outside and all that, but I have some concerns where we uh have kind of changed our policy to say we're not going to we're not going to require you to wear it in the gym and as I already mentioned in the cafeteria, we need plexiglass because we're taking a mask off. Mrs. Lewis, you had a comment. >> I think the language is I think what we quiet please. I think what we tried to do to make make the language specific and related to the practice or competition time where you're participating which is also how we finished second semester last school year and is consistent with that. >> That's what I was going

039to ask is I understand this is the consistent language that we used at school last school year >> in the winter >> and you know during that period of time we did not have >> Yeah. But that that wasn't that was not with the Delta variant. Um, as I recall that when we did it during second semester, we, you know, we still followed the quarantine rules that were in place and did at that point in time when we moved from first semester to second semester permitting this type of involvement. Did our numbers go way up? Do you recall? >> No, they did not. In effect, uh, the contact tracing and quarantine is still going to continue. And um if you look back at our performing arts and athletic activities throughout the school year last year,

040um we actually had very low contact tracing quarantine numbers amongst our teams throughout the school year. >> I think this is something uh and I I you know I don't I I respect your your view on it. I just think that this is something that you know as part of our monitoring on a bi-weekly basis. you know, to the extent that we have something that breaks out in a physical education class or a choir class that we would know know that and I >> and we did take Dr. Hooker, if you remember, we did take a pause last year in the winter uh because we felt like we had to at a certain point in time and we've reviewed it weekly and I think we could do that again. >> Okay. Do we but in

041those classrooms as I understand it I again apologize but as I understand it in those classrooms we do seek to maintain at least three feet of indoor distancing. So we're doing other things in those classrooms um when we're when we're when when they're masking when the unmasked for active participation. >> Yes. And I I'll again I'll continue to go into that, but the idea here is unlike last year where we had three feet or more or six feet whenever and wherever possible and we had students in static positions, our teachers are preparing for a school year this year where students will be wearing masks but will be uh much more physically active than they were last year at all levels. Um I think if if you all recall when we reopened last year, that was

042something we really emphasized. So again, to fall back to the contact tracing protocols that we'll talk about, the duration with which somebody is in the proximity of less than three feet matters and and that's something we'll all monitor on a daily basis and and that's going to help us to mitigate um and pay attention to who should be contact traced and who shouldn't. So um one of the things that came up I think I heard Nancy talk about was a rationale for a bi-weekly review period for the mask requirement return to school. This is that rationale. We kind of went over some of this on August 3rd. Again, I think it's come up several times. This would be the rationale for why the board may look at this requirement on a bi-weekly basis. It would

043allow us to offer consistent inperson learning opportunities. We know, of course, we don't have children under 12 vaccinated. We want to monitor COVID and delta v case load trends. Uh we want to get input from stakeholders. We want to make sure uh again that everybody understands we do not have six feet of social distance or physical distance across campus. Part of that's due to facilities. Part of that's due to enrollment. We have a lot of people last year who chose not to return to school in August and we stood up BBA. This year we expect over 96% of our student population back on campus to start the school year. Um so we just need to make that very clear. This is a difference in terms of physical distancing and that expectation which is why we

044will again fall back to following the ODH guidelines. If somebody was within less than 3 ft for a duration of more than 15 minutes they could be included in a contact trace situation. >> Um not >> they may not be quarantined. We'll go through some of those scenarios. >> Okay. I'm sorry about that. I was that's what I was going to say is I it depends on whether they're masked or not. >> There's a lot of slides. So, no, it's all right. We'll come back to it. Um, and we all know that we have the ability to look at these data reports that I send the board weekly and to review this on a bi-weekly basis. I think what we heard from stakeholders uh in feedback over the last two weeks was the perception of

0456 weeks or four weeks was a long time. So, we need to clear that up. So, some people have wondered about our partners again um whether they were paying attention over the last year and a half or not. So, I thought we'd go back over some of the factors we use to review information. First and foremost, Greg Ktorerman, who is the commissioner of the Hamilton County Public Health. He reports directly to ODH. He gets us information directly from the governor's office. We're on a call with him every single week on Friday mornings. The biggest piece of information that would be available and critical for decision-making for school boards would be your own district attendance and quarantine levels. That's his quote about how he thought boards should look at factors for review moving forward. our tri

046health partnership. We have a number of doctors who meet and convene weekly and our point of contact is Dr. Robert Dunham who talks with us and typically talks about looking at the 7-day moving average of COVID cases among the demographic groups that make up the 0 to 19 age groups um by onset date of COVID per 100,000 cases. So, let's talk a little more about that. Ideally, if the number were three per 100,000 for each of those demographic groups that are broken down, whether it's 5 to 8, um, 9 to 11, um, that's what he would suggest you're looking at. And then you could come up with a total every week. He said that would be ideal. Um, those are the factors that they would recommend you maybe take into account. And again, that has

047to do with average case load per 100,000. We get that data every week and we share that. We can share that. >> Just a question. I think it's that's regional data. Is that right? >> We get that regional data here. We also have a state um average case load rate that we can see on the ODH website and we can look at the national data on the Mayo Clinic website. >> And Nancy, I think you've looked at the same data I have with the Excel spreadsheet. >> Is it eight right now? Is that right in the region? >> I'm having trouble pulling it up. >> I believe it's eight right now. Um for pediatric Uh overall, yes, an overall 16 across the state, but but 0 to 19 age group. We can break that down

048demographically. We've also asked the Ohio Department of Health and and Commissioner Ktorman has asked ODH to start to put on their dashboard the vaccine status for those same demographic age groups so that we can see that and monitor that weekly. Um that's going through a hippo legal review with the government at the state level right now, but we hope to be able to see both of those pieces of data moving forward. I think that will help people not only feel confident about vaccination percentages amongst children but also how much case load is there really out there. >> Thank you. >> We also talk every Friday with Dr. Steven Faggin who represents the center for clinical translational science and training health collaborative affectionately known as the Cincy Health Collaborative and he does speak for pediatricians and

049he does give us weekly data on hospitalizations at children's. So what we talk about each week is vaccine efficacy uh approval status for uh children 12 and under uh hospitalizations in the city and the region positivity rates our factor all the data that any of us could try to mine ourselves we get from the doctor every Friday. Some other factors for review that have come up. Um, again, taking a look at these and they're not necessarily in a rank order, but I would ask the board members to think about how you would want to dialogue about them in terms of of um efficacy and importance. Campus numbers and the percent of reported cases among students or staff, whether that's all COVID or delta V. Um, again, are we looking for a weekly quarantine impact? We've

050shared that weekly for the last year. We will continue to do that. uh are we looking at the number of 0 to9 year olds impacted locally? We will continue to look at zip code numbers uh each each week. Um and we can report those to you and share those. >> Which zip codes are you going to be looking at? >> Uh well, we can look at multiple if you like. We can >> No, I just got people living in 45243 45236. I mean, we could look at any >> I think we ought to look at all the ones that encompass our uh our school district. Well, and I think that that's yeah, that's also something that we've done for the last year and a half as we look at continu contiguous zip codes, contiguous districts.

051Every week you get a report from me about what every district surrounding us is doing. Wonderful. Uh we also look at the local vaccination number percentage. We've started to track this whenever we can get it from the county and the state. I think it's very important moving forward that we are looking at vaccine percentages. Uh I mentioned earlier um we believe that we had over 82% of our staff fully vaccinated through our partnerships with Tri Health or other local provider providers. That's a really important baseline now for us and moving forward. We can ask questions about vaccination status. People do not have to provide information, but if they do provide information, we can then update our percentages of numbers. And I think that's very important for the school community to reflect on. uh staff, students

052and families, visitors, anybody. We have a baseline of uh over 60% of Hamilton County residents. Those are people 12 and over fully vaccinated as of August 13th and 60% of Ohio residents fully vaccinated as of August 13th. So, we have a baseline again. Uh should we ask families to share information? Um we may be able to have much more specific local information that we just don't have today. um especially with regards to our own school population, which I'm very interested in. Um we look at total zip code case load data. We talked about that. We look at a county positivity percentage every week on Friday. We also know what the state's percentage is. We can compare those things. And we know child hospitalization numbers as they are reported every Friday to us by the health

053collaborative. And again, if somebody comes uh with numbers over the weekend or Monday or Tuesday the following week, I get those every Friday morning. >> So, at this point, we don't have access to the percentage of our students that have been vaccinated. Correct. >> We believe we have a baseline percentage based on the number of students we know last spring who went through our vaccine clinics. >> Okay. Um, we are waiting for the c the county to start sharing uh by demographic age group vaccine percentages and that's not posted yet because it's going through an ODH legal review, but they tell us it's coming. Um, we also have the ability to field that question out and hope to collect new information and if families were willing to share it, we would be able to update

054our percentages. And I think that that's something I would ask you all to dialogue about. Um, HIPPA allows us to ask questions. We may not get a response, >> but we we are allowed to ask the parent just to get a feel of how many people are vaccinated in our district. Right. >> We can ask we have we have specific language where we can ask about vaccine status and somebody could choose to reply. >> And are you are you prepared to share that baseline? I may have missed it in your >> Sorry. Are you are you prepared to share that baseline number or? >> Well, right now we believe it's it's 60% is what we have to go with until we have more specific information. >> 60% of our students uh 12 and over. >>

055Okay. >> That's I think that's what was my same question, Nancy. >> And again, that may not be 100% accurate. We need to collect information to try to get a more accurate figure. and we're just waiting for legal approval before we make that survey or are you planning on getting that survey out right away? >> I we we can issue information and put out a survey as soon as the board would give us uh some authority to go ahead and do that and I think we should again talk about that before we leave here today. >> Yeah, I think for sure. >> So, those are some of the factors. These are some of the same factors we looked at last year on a weekly basis. I kind of put them in a rank order. Um,

056but again, that's for the board to to decide. So, any questions about that? Because I know Nancy, you brought up you'd really like us to have a process in place about how we would we would or if there's something missing from this that you would want to see beyond what I share in those reports or if the board members want to talk about which of these factors are more or less a priority before we move on. And these are the things again we're recommending we look at specifically on a bi-weekly basis for review purposes. And >> I guess my question to the board would be what are we looking for? If let's let's say um factor one letter a weekly quarantine is our top priority of data. What is it that we're looking for? What

057are our what are the trigger points that change the behavior or change requirements? I think we need to look at not just our because you have to remember when kids are wearing everyone is wearing a mask the number that we are going to initially get we hope that it won't be very high in comparison to some other local schools who just opened up without mask. So I think it'll be important to see what our numbers are and what our local numbers are. >> Yeah. But I'm I'm I'm specifically asking I'm just using this as an example >> is if we decide if the board decides that that's the most important one then what what are the numbers so that the I'm trying to give the administration a sliding scale to work in and so that

058they can predict what they're going to need to do because we haven't even talked about what we do if we have a lot of quarantine children. So last year during our worst week of quarantine, um we had uh over 88 students at one point in in the winter months that were quarantined at once. Um you know, that uh discussion then triggered a uh change over the holiday break of how we would do schooling for two weeks. Um and that was the highest number we ever had. Anything under that, we were operating in person. We also offered an online option, but we were operating in person. >> That was across all schools. Um the only thing that I would um that I had mentioned before uh that would be helpful in factors for review um is

059just looking at like the districts that have in our you know region that have gone both mask optional mask required as far as the quarantine numbers I think and I know you get >> you'll have those weekly like yeah I share those with you on that report I think on the fourth page every week. So everybody around us and the large suburban schools in the area I always report out to you. But any contiguous district whether it's Deer Park, Madera, Marmont, you'd have those every week. >> I just the reason I asked that question uh Nancy is I think that's something that I personally would would look at um as well. >> Yeah, I agree. Add that to the list and I would add u some comparison school districts that are also doing mask mandate

060to see what they're doing. So I'd like to see all of that. So Wyoming and Seven Hills Country Day, those kind of Tom, you know, Country Day would be a really good one, too. >> So last, again, I I don't want to interrupt. It looked like Nancy were going to say something. >> No, I was just >> these these five items, they're not rankordered, even though I numbered them, but we did look at all of these factors last year. And if you're saying we're going to continue to look at all of them along with the contiguous district date numbers each week, I I will add that. Um and then again if there's any other direction you want um to give us on terms of thresholds that will help but other otherwise these are the things

061that we were looking at. >> Can I ask a question of the board members? It seems to me that this is such a high stakes issue that we probably should meet and discuss the data because we can't do anything out of board meeting. We only have to do it in front of the public. So the discussion of all of this information in two weeks to decide whether we're going to make a change if because that has been proposed to do it in two weeks. I I think we're going to have to sit down where we can all talk. >> I I agree that in two weeks we need to meet in person and talk. But I don't want to be meeting every two weeks. What we need to do is give the administration their guard

062rails and their ability. They need to run the school district. That's their job. We It's not our job to come in and micromanage. I do agree that in two weeks if we're starting with masks, we we need to meet and talk about it. But beyond that, I'm hoping that we can have a process and a system because we're in the business of education, and that's what our administrators need to be doing. So, what what I've heard again is I if we were to meet on the 30th or 31st of August for a bi-weekly review, I think it would be important to clear up for the public, are we then going to evaluate after 2 weeks or are we just going to have a dialogue or are we going to um continue to communicate that we

063will not evaluate until September 14th? And I think we need to clear that up. And I I think that's when we have our vote when we amend the policy. Um a little bit later we can clarify that. But per personally I think we need to evaluate in two weeks not just talk about it but not every two weeks. Is that what you're asking? >> It sounds like yeah you're saying that we should meet and evaluate in two weeks which would be on or around the 30th of a August. And I'm not hearing whether everybody else wants to go along with that or not, but that that's one of the questions we need to clear up that was asked. I think you brought that up earlier. >> Okay. >> So, I'll move on and you can

064come back to that if you'd like. And >> um so when and where masks are required based on the current policy, masks are required inside all school buildings for all students, staff, and visitors until September 14 unless that is amended. uh on all school bus transportation through September 13 until we get more clarification on that federal order inside during any calendar of activities or events as visitors or spectators. That's in places like the auditorium, gymnasium, cafeteria, or classroom meeting settings. Uh masking and social distance will be encouraged and communicated during indoor events, sports, and activities. Citizens should be used to hearing those announcements. Um, I just if we're going to meet on the 14th as a board, the 13th is the day before, I would think you'd want to have that masking policy not change

065until we met. >> That's a federal law. >> I understand what why you did it, but I think it leaves some confusion. What happens on the morning of the 14th? We haven't met. And >> I think I think what they have done, Dr. Hooker is they have shared one week prior to the expiration of those orders each time and I think we'll probably have to communicate out before the 13th anyways. So, um that's information I could share to all of you and we could we can make sure we we put that in an updated release to the community >> and and if we've met two weeks prior, >> we'll have had that discussion as well. >> Okay. Uh next would be when and where masks are not required. Again, we have not said that masks

066are required outdoors. I hope that that's clear. Um, participation by students and staff in already approved school activities or events indoors related to the practice or competition times during performing arts and/or physical activities such as fizzed, choir, gym, dance, and sporting contests. Again, those are approved. This is the same discussion we had a few moments ago. Um, this is consistent with what we did throughout the school year last year. Uh masks would not be required of visitors at any outdoor venue. Uh teachers may at times remove their masks when it is educationally necessary as part of their specialized role such as speech and language therapy. This is something we practiced last year. We leave it to our professional educators to use their common sense about when they need to do this in an academic setting

067where it's required. When no students are present during, before, or after school hours, we ask that staff be able to remove masks for adult meeting purposes. And I think this is a point that probably requires a little dialogue and clarification. I know a couple board members had questions about it. Kim, >> my question about it is um when we talk about sending out the questionnaire to students, we would also talk about sending the questionnaire out to our staff. And um I would um ask that this would be I mean my thought is that this would be um similar to um you know if if they if someone is vaccinated they certainly can take off their masks around other you know vaccinated people but if someone's unvaccinated we would encourage them to put a mask on.

068>> Correct. They welcome to wear the mask. >> Kim I would really like that's what I was going to say. We need to add that in. Unless you're unvaccinated, if if if you are unvaccinated, you're encouraged to wear a mask. And we communicated this to all of our faculty and staff last spring. We can reiterate all of that. >> Add that wording. >> I have a question on um point four where a teacher may at times remove their mask for educational purposes. What about our young children and the at times when they need to remove their mask so the teacher can see they're sounding out words phonics forming words? How do we deal with that? >> Um actually uh probably I can clear up that language and add that line in for the student because

069quite frankly that's what would happen with speech and language therapy. Both would unmask at different times. So to clarify, I should add student there or staff because it could there could be an aid involved, >> right? Is that just during therapy or is that during >> um instructional time in the classroom? >> Can you say that again? >> Yeah. Is that just during a therapy session or is this um >> No, it could be inside the classroom instruction academic um environment required by uh >> Don't you think the wording would make it so you could do educationally necessary? That leave it to our profession. >> It up a bit. Yeah. Speech and language therapy is just one example, >> right? Yeah. Good. Maybe our board policy allows for um academic environments to occur um you

070know as a part of the policy. >> Okay, great. >> Contact tracing again. Everybody is um so excited about contact tracing as always um and quarantine. Uh they were uh ODH has updated the guidelines. This is a little bit different than last year and we've already had several questions about this of course. So again, we we'll go through some of this in the following slides, but um what you will hear us say over and over again is unmasked and unvaccinated is automatic quarantine. Everything else we would discuss case by case basis depending on social distance duration. But if you are unmasked and unvaccinated, by law, you would be included in the contact trace and be expected to quarantine. >> So, I just want to clarify, unmasked and unvaccinated, not one or the other. >> Other

071scenarios are up for discussion. >> So, unmasked and vaccinated, >> you could be exempted. >> Okay. >> All right. Um, we are going to talk about some social emotional resources here in just a moment. Again, we're going to continue to track these things weekly. We also have to continue to communicate out about reported cases uh legally, which we've continued, you know, throughout the last year and a half. And I think some people saw we had one reported case we sent out our first release of the year last week. Um we're going to continue to promote vaccination as an opportunity. This isn't a political stance. It's an opportunity people can consider. Um and again, it exempts people from quarantine if they're vaccinated. We're also going to be supportive of vaccinated individuals who choose to continue to

072wear face coverings um to help mitigate anything uh with regards to contact tracing. We've set up two additional mobile vaccine clinics we'll be offering here on site by the tennis parking lots on the 18th and 23rd. We'll be sending information out about that again. And I would encourage anybody over 12 who has not considered vaccination to think about contact tracing and quarantine again in our school year. I want students in school and able to participate. Do we need to add the word fully vaccinated? >> Um well we can we that that is what we followed last year full after yeah we can restate that. >> So again uh unmasked and unvaccinated equals automatic quarantine. Um how do you become exempted from quarantine um or or from being considered a close contact? Again there are protocols

073we follow through ODH. I'm not going to read through all of this here except to say we're going to continue to pay attention to whether people are um getting tested or not. Uh there are rules to follow with symptoms, whether you're symptomatic or asymptomatic. There are rules to follow um if you've already had COVID and you're recovering. Um and whether you're fully vaccinated or not. And again, when in doubt, somebody who has had contact, close contact with someone with less than 3 ft for more than 15 minutes cumulative duration, that's a problem. And and we're going to go through those situations whenever they come up for all children and adults uh on site at any activity, including um activities, performances, sports that occur outdoors as well. >> Can I have a clarification? So, we're talking

074about um close contact, unmasked and unvaccinated equals automatic quarantine. So, why do we need to be concerned about fully vaccinated individuals? >> That's just in here so that people understand how we go through the protocols overall. Um obviously, if you're a fully vaccinated individual, we ask that you monitor symptoms. Um, everybody has heard of the possibility of a breakthrough case. Um, and so that's one of the reasons that's still included there. Um, and again, it's recommended that those people consider masking. We have a requirement here, but in other environments, maybe they don't. So, it's just restating how the guidelines are shared by ODH. >> Okay. So, this is more about um contact tracing than specific >> how we would go through each scenario to kind of uh break out our >> Okay. Okay. Thanks. Just

075wanted to clarify. >> Good question. >> Um, obviously if you're exempted from quarantine, you're going to be able to uh continue to uh attend school in person. Um, and what we have to do as a district is document that we have our prevention policies in place uh when we share information to Hamilton County Health. That's really what this slide is about. Um, and that we're sharing that our the people who were either involved in the contact tracing or not involved, how we went about determining that. And it comes back to again where we have less than three feet of social distance and a duration of more than 15 minutes. Chances are those that is the group of people we're going to start contact tracing and then we exempt them based on whether they had those

076other pieces in place like vaccination or masking. >> So as I understand it you start there and then if we are under universal masking and somebody is wearing a mask they don't have to quarantine. >> Yes. And so let's talk about the elementary school cafeteria as an example. >> We do not have barriers on the tables because we have eight children sitting at a table in the cafeteria at the elementary school this year. That is different than last year. Some people say, "Well, why didn't you put a barrier on the table?" Really, if you think about it, each uh each bench has two students who are sitting together and they're allowed to remove their mask to eat lunch. However, they're going to be probably sitting less than 3 ft apart and they may be doing

077that for more than 15 minutes with a mask off. They would automatically be involved in contact tracing. If they put their mask on when they're not eating, they may not be. The barrier will not be the difference. Does that make sense? >> Will kids have the option of eating outside? Like if they would like to go out? >> Yeah, there are other options for people who want a different space or setup. still have outdoor classrooms and again uh we deal with those things on a case by case request. >> I think our principles and teachers did a pretty good job of managing that last year. >> Yeah, I think it's nice if we can offer that an option today. I think I just heard the range so that probably wouldn't work necessarily. >> So, uh

078Erica, would you want to just talk for a moment about some of our partnerships just so everybody can be aware of what we're looking at here? >> Yeah, sure. So, as in >> closer. Yeah. Uh just like in all other years, we have a partnership with Cincinnati Children's Hospital uh to provide school-based mental health services. So, lots of our kids take advantage of that. Each of our buildings has a therapist on staff 5 days a week. Uh parents would just need to reach out to their child's school counselor to take advantage of those. We also partner with organizations called Mindpiece and One and Five. Both provide us with access to various resources in the region. um the most up-to-date research about mental health for children and adolesccents. Um we also meet regularly with other schools

079in the area to talk about what other schools are doing to support mental health for their students. And then finally, we've developed as a district um the brave character education program at the direction of the board. So that's based on social emotional learning standards and is another layer of support that all students K through 12 are guaranteed. Can I ask you a question? Um, if a let's say 11th grader or pick anything, sixth grader said, "I feel I need to talk to the therapist." Do they have to have parental permission or can they talk to the therapist on their own? Knock knock. I need an appointment. >> So, there is a referral process that would go through our counseling office where we would be contacting a parent before doing therapy through Cincinnati Children's. But if

080a student said, "I need to talk with someone," their school counselor would obviously be the very first person they would see and that person would respond to whatever the immediate need might be. >> Okay. Thank you. >> So, one more question. So, if a student wants to see a therapist but not for a therapy, just want a consultation, can they do it without parents consent or they would still need a parent consent? >> Uh, just to clarify, you're speaking about our Cincinnati Children's Therapist, correct? Yes. So that all goes through Cincinnati Children's Hospital and I do believe that they would need to get parent consent before they started. >> We do have a nurse from uh Cincinnati Children on a campus, right? >> We do. We have a nurse practitioner that can she comes I

081think once a month to do um if students are in need of medication or things like that so that students don't have to go off campus for those types of appointments. >> Okay. But do we have someone that if a student is feeling or you know a student has a concern that they want to talk to privately, do we have someone that they can just go and talk to? >> Yeah, our school counselors are always available for that for that purpose. Yep. >> Thank you. >> Thanks, Erica. >> In terms of daily operations, board members, again, we've had some general questions uh from the public about what we would do obviously with the reopening of school. So, I just want to restate here uh what happens in the event that we have students who choose

082to not wear masks in spaces where masks are required. We're going to follow appropriate responses that could include things like offering the child a mask to wear, holding an individual meeting with a trusted staff member, making a phone call home to include parents in the conversation, uh isolation within a school environment in a space with increased mitigation measures in place for their safety, uh meeting with the building administrator or principles, um requesting a parent to pick a child up who doesn't want to participate. Um, our district has a legal ability to control our physical campus to keep schools open and that's our priority. >> And this mirrors our um, dress code policy. Is that accurate? Similar similar to the way >> similar to what? Yeah. What you would see in a dress code language or

083policy. Yeah. >> Thank you. >> Um, we're going to continue to put our mitigation strategies in place. Uh, we've got signs posted around campus about our safety protocols. We're going to continue to ask our faculty and staff to maintain classrooms and shared spaces and maximize physical distance to the greatest extent possible, including outdoor spaces. We're going to encourage the use of those same outdoor spaces that we did last year. Our teachers did a fabulous job, as did our students with managing this. Um, we're going to continue to supply hand sanitizer and continue our hand hygiene practices. We're going to continue to clean and disinfect our facilities regularly with our partners, Scarlet and Gray. We're going to continue to monitor, use, and maintain our HVAC and HEPA filtration systems. Again, we have those available for all

084of our classroom environments to ensure the proper flow and air quality. We're going to continue to partner with Hamilton County Health, perform contact tracing in combination with those isolation and quarantine practices, and we're going to hope we don't have much of that. Uh we're going to continue to report cases found in our buildings publicly because it is law, not because we are trying to just share that information. it is the law. Um, and we're going to continue to limit students on bus seats whenever possible. Uh, we were able to have a high level of success with that last year as well. Um, and while students have to be in a closer proximity on buses to and from school, um, that was not the source of our contact tracing issues most times last year. And I

085think we we're pretty confident that uh, we did a good job with that. >> Does don't we perform the contact tracing ourselves? We don't depend on Hamilton County to do it. Is that right? Well, we do depend on Hamilton County to help us report through their contact tracer, verify our information, but we investigate on site. >> Great. Because Hamilton County is going to get overwhelmed and that's why I want to make sure we're keeping that in house. >> Yeah, we we we investigate on site on site and we have a liaison that we report to >> and last year we had an individual that was a contract employee, correct? Who handled so that handled it on on the day-to-day basis >> internally? last year that was performed by our nursing staff, our administrators on a

086daily basis. Um, and we have discussed um adding a person at the elementary uh primary level as well as one at the secondary level who we may task with doing contact tracing this year for the team because as you can imagine um this is a lengthy process when it happens, >> right? >> Yep. >> We'd like our principles to administer school buildings, not administer contact tracing on a daily basis. >> Absolutely. And I think our teachers did a great job taking kids out and teaching them outdoor where, you know, they don't even have to wear a mask because they're in an outdoor setting. So that's I think an very important part of it's it's really commendable for uh to say that what a fantastic job our teachers did last year taking students out and keep

087the education on. So >> yes, I thank you. I don't think that can be restated enough. Our faculty did an amazing job last year of mitigating problems and they will continue to work to do that as they're building relationships. >> Thank you. Um other future considerations for the board. Again, we know vaccine approval is forthcoming for children 12 and under. We expect it to happen this fall. We just don't know when. Um the best estimates I've been given are late September, early October. Um we also know that the FB FDA is slated for formal approval of the three vaccines anticipated this fall. that could come as early as the first week of September. Um the state legislators will be back in office beginning September 7th, I believe, and we'll see what happens with legislation. Um

088we're going to continue to get input from Hamilton County health officials and local governing bodies. That evolves weekly. Uh their stances and what they communicate to us. And again, we get those updates by Friday morning every week. And then uh we know that we can pivot and change our plans if necessary. And we'll continue to share that information with you. So, I'm pretty sure I know the answer to this, but I'm asking it anyway. The the vaccine for children under 12 is still a two-step process. Correct. >> Uh, as far as I know, if they were to approve Maderna or Fizer, yeah. And probably Fizer would be the one. >> So, we're looking at a four-week window of vaccinations and then a couple more weeks for advocacy >> based on what we went through before.

089Yeah. >> Okay. 6 to 8 week process. >> Yeah. Yeah, and I think that >> from the time they are available >> and that also assumes the supply chain's good. >> That's a big >> another whole issue. >> So, I think if people think about that timeline again, it's another reason to restate why we're going to continue to offer as many vaccine clinics as we can with our partners. >> And then as soon as we get that approval, we will offer vaccine clinics for those 12 and under. And uh we will try to offer as many as we can and get that uh going as efficiently as we can. Um the last piece here just again in terms of communication out for those paying attention and uh to review with the board. We're going to

090continue to ask students and staff who are feeling ill to stay home. That's a that's a counterintuitive message from uh precoid, but last year we we gave this message and we're going to give it again. If you're having symptoms or feeling ill, you should stay home from school. Um, we're going to encourage the continued use of pickup patrol for the first four weeks of school or until the board decides to review that. Um, and ask for people to report daily symptoms. Again, sharing of information is going to help us to talk about vaccine percentages and status moving forward and to mitigate COVID spread. We want to keep people from having to quarantine. Um, we're going to continue to share data reviews with the board each week in the reports and we're going to continue to

091review our health partnerships as we go along. for evolving news. We will share those updates out with the public as we get them. Um we're going to continue to report COVID cases we find in our building. We do that within 24 hours of finishing that contact tracing information every time. And we're going to continue to provide vaccine information for children and staff as new opportunities become available. And I would just add a caveat to that. The mobile clinics we're offering with Hamilton County Health on the 18th and 23rd are for children, staff, and any families of Indian Hill that are interested. So any adults interested in the community as well. >> Awesome. This is a graphic just about how some of the guidelines work. We've talked through some of this today, but this will be

092available for all parents and again a part of the release and the information we update on the website today and share. Thank you. I know that was a lot. Oh, that was wonderful. Thank you for very excellent packet. Um so are there any other questions related to this packet from any of the board members? >> Uh there just one other thing or two other things Dr. Hooker I would reiterate because of some questions that came up. So one the question was could we hold more clinics? Yes is the answer. Um can we ask students, parents and staff again to share vaccine status information? Yes we can. There is a process with specific language that we would follow under HIPPA. Um, and again, families do not have to offer replies, but we're going to ask those

093questions. Um, how do we manage um, you know, groups? Again, we're going to do that on a case- by case basis when it comes to dealing with our families. And, um, I did have a question again about the review process. So, I think the only outstanding questions I heard were what you would like to do with the review and the next time you'd like to do that as a body together. Um, that I need to I guess hear. >> Can I clarify one thing? you were talking about um asking the questions with respect to pickup betrayal patrol, but also we talked about um asking from a staff perspective about vaccination status, which I don't is that that's not pickup patrol, right? That's >> staff does pick up patrol. >> Oh, they do. Okay. Okay. Thank

094you. >> So, you're going to basically get a survey together and get it out to all faculty. >> Yeah. As long as you have no problems with that, we're going to plan to get that ready for staffing. >> Board member have any issue with that? >> No, I think that's a great idea. better data and help us make a decision further. >> And I think that at least to me and and maybe other board members would agree or disagree, but to me knowing that we're getting our vaccine status, you know, the vaccinated higher is going to play into my thought process of what we do in the high school. You know, we may change our mind and if we've got 95% of our kids vaccinated, that changes the dynamic tremendously. So, I I really hope

095that people will get vaccinated and will report it to us so that we know that. >> Yeah. Agree. I agree. >> So, not to put you on the spot, but I'm going to put you on the spot anyway. >> I always love We'll say that. Yeah. I'm not putting you on the spot, but I am. Um given all this information then as the superintendent what would you recommend to the board for um monitoring and measuring and timing? I think it's safe to say that I would recommend that we do a um we continue the weekly reports of data that I share to the board that the board do a bi-weekly review and evaluate after two weeks because the trends that all of the other organizations share with us are based on seven and 14 days

096of trailing data or uh which to me again is just something we should follow consistently so that we're not getting questions about our own practices. I think it makes sense to do a bi-weekly review and evaluation of the current uh mandate at at that time. So, I would say that we should meet on or around August 30th or 31st, the latest to at least evaluate the twoe trend that started today because today is the day that our uh mask requirement went into effect on campus, right? >> Um I also think that we should look at the number of quarantines weekly, which we've been looking at for over a year and a half. Those would be students who had to quarantine because they were part of close contacts. The number of local cases we have and

097again we can break that out by age in our district building. >> How are you defining local? >> Uh our our school district first. >> Okay. >> Our zip code second. And I think we also have to look at our vaccination percentages >> because I believe that that is a really uh a psychological benefit and a celebration for everyone in our school community moving forward. And I think if we feel good about low quarantine numbers, low number of cases and higher percentages of vaccination, we then should be able to exempt people from wearing a mask. That's that would be my recommendation. So um my question about timing given the fact students aren't coming back to school everyone until next Monday and we have 50% Thursday 50% Friday. I really do think that we need two

098weeks of data. So I would recommend we meet the week after labor basically the week the week that Labor Day falls on. though. Um not on Labor Day obviously, but uh the week of the 6th because I think if we meet on the 30th or 31st, we really only have one full week of data >> that um that everybody's in school, >> but aren't aren't students here this week for um bridges and >> half and half. >> Yeah. >> Meet the teacher and >> small number of kids are in >> and parents families are a lot more on campus this week too. So I think there is a lot of activity on campus. >> Part of the reason I'm g giving this rationale uh Kim again and you can disagree. Part of the reason I'm

099giving the rationale is we have so many events and things going on with students and staff already back that started last Friday. Um I know we don't have a full contingent of a student body in until the third or the 23rd, but we do have staff and students in the buildings every day already this week. And to your point earlier, we're also going to see contiguous data numbers um by the time we get to the 30th or 31st. Um and again, that's nine full days of a full body in school uh with staff. I think we'll have some data that would be important. Um to me, it's up to you all, but you know, that's why I gave that rationale. >> I I like the earlier date as well for a lot of reasons. I

100think people on uh you know both sides of the issue of masking in particular um I think having those numbers and our discussion sooner than later will um alleviate concerns. Um I I think everybody is is looking for data that we will use and obviously not being back on campus until t well Friday uh last Friday um we just didn't have our true local data to use. So I think I don't mind having having a meeting in two weeks to evaluate and if at that point we don't have enough data then that's part of the evaluation. But I think I think the administration is looking for um some support and guidance from us sooner than later. And I think the community also wants input as soon as possible. So I don't have a problem with

101and if we have to meet two weeks after that or the next week, so be it. >> Two weeks after that will be our regular meeting. Uh can I ask a question on this? Um the data that we get from CCTST, uh that comes out on Thursdays. Is that right? uh it comes out. I believe they have review meetings Wednesdays and Thursdays and then it gets relayed to us on Friday mornings. So we really will only have one week of data um as far as infections. We'll have quarantine data for nine days. You're absolutely right. >> Um but so I mean I'm not sure that's enough to make a decision on. That's my only concern like Mrs. Lewis. >> Yeah. And again I it's up to the four of you. I I think to NY's

102point, people are looking for guidance and information and in a vacuum. I think more information rather than less, even if you don't change your minds uh is probably a good thing uh at a twoe interval, that's what I would recommend. >> So, Miss Lewis, what you going to say? >> Yeah, that's I I mean, I think we can I don't know about Mrs. Johnston's schedule or whatever, but I think we can try to talk about it. Um people's availability that week. >> Okay, sounds good. Um so um any other questions for administration about the packet? >> Um maybe I think it's important we don't have to get into too much detail right now, but maybe Dr. Stewart could just explain because people are getting confused the difference between Brave Virtual Academy last year and what

103a virtual learning opportunity could look like. I just think it's important and we're going to be sharing information out to the public about this this week. Um because the numbers are much different than last year and and it is a different looking opportunity and it has a different label. >> Thank you. Um can you hear me? Okay. >> Yeah. So though it was not perfect last year, I have to say we were really proud of what we did in Brave Virtual Academy and it worked out really well because in some grade levels we had up to 40% of our students say that they could not come to school. And when you have that many students say they can't come to school, just mathematically it makes sense that you can then remove teachers from their face-to-face

104setting and ask them to be responsible for those students who are online. This year we do not have those numbers. And so it's really important that we do differentiate and that we do not by mistake use the term that we are offering a brave virtual academy this year which in some ways last year was like a fifth school in many ways. We offered a fifth school of learning. To pull that off we needed more than 25 staff members who could teach in that way. This year for virtual learning opportunities, we have one staff member and it's Dr. Kim Gibbon. That's who's basically running it by collaborating with teachers who will offer a VLOO for students to be involved in a virtual learning opportunity. We're taking it by casebycase basis and those students work with Dr.

105Kim given and each of the principles to determine how we can make sure to offer a virtual opportunity for the students in a safe way and we're doing that based on a medical condition that's documented to show that they cannot be in school. Um when we make those plans it consists of some live streaming in the classroom. It also consists of some asynchronous opportunities at home as well as a small portion of their time with onetoone opportunities in a in a live stream live virtual setting with a teacher. So it looks very different from last year's brave virtual academy and I do feel like it's very important for people to understand the difference. Um, I've had a great conversation with someone recently who asked why can't we just lift up BVA again and we would

106be looking at extreme circumstances in order to do that. Not only in the number of students but also looking at trying to hire staff at the very last minute which we this is Indian Hill School District and we expect quality. We want people that we have vetted um with all of the standards that we usually do for any of our new employees. Uh, can I ask a question? Uh, how will we handle because I think parents are going to ask this. My child just got exposed and they're now in quarantine for the next 10 days or 14 days. How will we handle continuing their education? What will the teachers be doing? >> Uh, the same as we did last year. The teachers will be expected to have information loaded onto our learning management systems at

107the primary and elementary. It's Google Classroom. Um, we use Canvas at the middle school and high school and the information will be posted on there and students will participate in that way. >> Thank you. I just wanted that to be clear because Thank you, Dr. Stewart. That was the question I was going to ask you to clarify. I appreciate it. Thank you very much. So, that that's really all we have to share at this time, board members. >> All right. Um, >> I just want to make a point. I think because now we don't have BVA, it is even more important that we have a students in the building and less kids getting infected. >> Yeah, I do I agree with you. Um, Mrs. Lewis, >> yeah, I just I I know that um you

108know we the the mass policy that we have in writing is is something that we'll need to make motion to amend the agenda and I know that um we have had discussions about the time period. I I just you and and I think that that's kind of the next order of business is this. >> But before I do that, I I did want to make sure that the board was aware. I I will not be able to make a meeting that week. Um and that's fine if you have enough uh members um beyond me. I will be available the following week. Um but I know that we have to have a policy in place, you know, until you have a quorum that can make it there. So I I wanted to make sure that I

109was clear that I I >> Thank you. >> Yeah. Absolutely. Um, so I would entertain a motion to amend the agenda. >> So move >> second. >> And um, >> tell tell me how you're going to amend the agenda, please. >> Sorry. Don't we just have to pass the We have to first pass the fact that we're going to amend it. >> That's what I said. Just so how do you want to amend the agenda? >> I think we need a vote on motion to amend first, >> right? Okay. >> Yeah, that'd be a >> So um, >> so we're ready for a vote. >> All those in favor of amending the agenda? I I >> We need a roll call on that. Dr. Hooker. >> Thank you, >> Mrs. Singh. Were you the second

110on that? >> Yes. >> Yeah. >> Thank you, >> Mrs. Lewis. >> Hi, >> Mrs. Sing. >> Hi, >> Mrs. Eichel. >> Hi, >> Dr. Hooker. >> I now >> um well, and I think this is one that I I don't know that I guess I should make the motion and then we have the discussion. Um, but I would make the motion to, and I apologize I it's in here somewhere. Uh, the specific mask mandate if you could help me >> policy >> find it. Thank you. Um, uh, in our materials there is a, um, use of face mask >> coverings. Yes. um which is what has been presented and I would make a motion that we approve this um as we've discussed um and the only question I I would make the motion that

111we approve it as is through the August 14th have a meeting to see whether >> you said it's August you meant September 14th thank you >> no problem >> through the original date of September 14th but that you have a meeting to discuss amending it at prior point in time. So, I would make a motion to um approve the use of ma face mask coverings through um September 14th >> based on based on written thing. >> I guess we need a second and then we can discuss. >> Can we have a do we have a second? >> Second. >> Okay. Now, >> okay. So, you're saying approve through September 14th. So even if we have a meeting on August 31st, all we can do is evaluate, we can't make any changes. >> No, we can

112always make a change. >> You can amend it. >> Yeah, we can amend it anytime. As long as the board is together, we can amend it. >> Okay. So what's the purpose of the 914 date then? >> Uh because that was the it's really the original date to have something in effect and obviously the board can amend it at any point in time. >> Okay. So what's different about 914 then? I guess that's I'm tripping over that a little bit. Maybe it's I I think >> I think what we are saying is that we will re-evaluate it but not necessarily that it'll change it that time. It'll depend on what the data we have and how we think about it. >> Maybe I mis mistated it because I made it's really just approving what we

113approved on August 3rd, but I just it's now kind of in writing in a clear form >> and that's I I wasn't changing the date. I was just seeking to clarify because we had a discussion about um maybe amending it prior to that point in time based on further information and I think that at least I think I've heard the board is willing to talk about those things based on data and amending it prior to that point in time. >> Okay. As long as as long as we can on August 31st or 30th actually amend the policy, >> you you have the ability because of the way the policy and guidelines are written to do that at any time. >> Yeah. >> Okay. I'm just I think it's just confusing to put a date in

114there because what does it mean? >> And that language is in the guidelines uh the date, but you can amend it at any time when you make a motion. >> Okay. Thank you for clarifying that, Nancy. Um, is there any further uh discussion on this? I would therefore call for the question. Roll call, please. >> Mrs. Lewis, >> I. >> Mrs. Singh, >> I. >> Mrs. Eickeult, >> no. >> Dr. Hooker, >> I. And uh we now have um Do I have anybody would like to uh allow for anything else at this work session? What do you say or >> excuse me? >> Do you want any to make any motion to allow public commentary or anything? >> Um, I move to allow public commentary. >> Can I have a second, please? >> Second. >>

115Uh, all those in favor? >> Can I ask a clarification question? >> Yes. >> Um, the time of public commentary under our board policy is how much? >> 30 minutes >> and a limit of five minutes per person. What's your timing? >> That'll break my time. So that's that's fine. >> Okay. >> Thank you very much. Um so um >> so we need to vote. Is that a roll call? >> Yes, please. >> Mrs. Zikols >> I. >> Mrs. S. >> I. >> Mrs. Lewis >> I. >> Dr. Hooker >> I. >> Uh so Mr. Davis, would you uh take care of uh running the show at this moment? >> Certainly. Uh we'll have 30 minutes of public participation. Um I will uh do just as I did at the uh Tuesday meeting. I will

116call up three members and then I uh would like for you to uh sort of get in line over there by Mr. Nichols. Uh the first person will begin to speak. Um I will call up an additional person who will be the third person in line. Uh please as as I call you forward uh come forward, get in line. Please remember that we are um a civil body here and that we should respect all uh viewpoints and keep uh all clapping and participation in the audience uh to a minimum. So with that I would like to call Nicole Isg, Katie Foster, Jerry Wentz and Melissa Chen will be the first four. So, we're just going to ask you so the the emails that you receive from the parents, are we reading those or how is

117it going to be? >> So, we we asked for emails to be sent to the board office to me in particular. Um, we will not be reading those publicly today. Those were all given to the board of education. I had nearly 42 pages in a document. Um, those were distributed to the board members uh for them to read and then also to be included in the minutes of this meeting. >> Yes. And uh the board has read those. Every board member has read those. So um we don't we just to read them in at this point would be wasting a lot of time. Uh as you step forward, come ahead and just introduce yourself because this is being recorded. >> Mr. Davis >> Nicole is great. So, >> and would we um possibly be able

118to allow um people who are speaking to take their masks off to speak because it is hard from over here to hear them speak. >> Um >> any major objection to that? >> Okay, that's fine. Just speak get very close to the mic. >> English teacher at one time with or without a mic. That's what that's what my >> Go ahead, please. Thank you. >> Yeah. >> Hello. >> Hi. >> I feel like this is a feudal attempt, but I will proceed anyway. Um, I'm going to begin with uh data directly sourced from the >> um Tell us your name, please. >> I'm sorry. My name is Nicole Grigg. >> I'm the mother of a junior and an eighth grader here. >> I'm going to begin with data directly sourced from the CDC. During this

119pandemic in the United States, as of August 11th, 2021, 52,600 children under the age of 18 have died of all causes. Of those 500 52,672 deaths, 354 died involving COVID, almost all with comorbidities. Fewer kids died of COVID 19 than heart disease, cancer, suicide, homicide, and birth defects, which killed hundreds of times more. Why are we masking kids? They don't easily spread to adults. They are not effective vectors, and they are very resistant to CO. In the last four decades, there are zero randomized control trials concluding that masks stop the spread of upper respiratory infections. Zero. Any data that proves this wrong, please provide it. The flu poses a far greater pediatric threat than COVID. In the 2018 2019 season alone, almost 1,000 pediatric flu deaths were recorded. To be clear, a typical flu season

120runs October through May. Based on these numbers alone, we should be masking every flu season. How ridiculous is that? A May 2020 meta study on pandemic influenza published by the United States CDC found that masks had zero effect neither as personal protective equipment nor as a source control. An article in the New England Journal of Medicine from May 2020 came to the conclusion that face masks offer little to no protection in everyday life. A 2015 study in the British Medical Journal found that cloth masks penetrated were penetrated by 97% of particles and may increase infection risk by retaining moisture or repeated use. This is exactly what's going on with the kids that are they're re using these over and over. We know they're moist. We know they're dropping them on the floor. We know they're

121touching them. We know that that's occurring. The WHO admitted to the BBC that its June 2020 mask policy update was due not to new evidence but to political lobbying. Dr. Hooker, you started stated on August 10th that cases were up 400% in the last month. My question is 400% of what? These percentages are the easiest scare-mongering tactic taken directly from the mainstream media's playbook. This brings me to the infection fatality ratio versus the case fatality ratio and whether most know the difference. Spend your time researching that in regard to CO 19 and the flu instead of looking at death numbers supplied 24/7 by the media. If more people devoted their time to researching the data that is so easy to find versus putting their blind faith into the mainstream narrative, myself and other parents wouldn't

122have to be speaking to school boards. Just because the media reports it doesn't mean it's true. But sadly, so many people believe it like it's the gospel. Dr. Lucy McBride is a practicing internist in Washington DC. She says, quote, "Fragmentaryary data and muddled messaging from the CDC and elsewhere have stoked the public's collective fear, especially among parents. The Delta surge has created new opportunities for grifters, antivaxers, and others to spread information, misinformation that press on parental anxiety. Not all fear is irrational. We need it to survive. However, being constantly wired and dialed into our fears is unhealthy for us and our children. Dr. McBride also states, "Fixating on a single threat to our children's health can keep us from recognizing their broad human needs. Every day we face risks for our children. Every time my

12316-year-old drives her car, I worry. But that doesn't stop me from allowing her the freedom and independence she deserves to grow. We as parents truly deserve the choice to do what we think is best for our children. In order >> that's time. >> Thank you very much. If you have your written comments, you can handle to Mr. Nichols and those can be recorded in the in the minutes. >> Hand those to where? >> Oh, >> right behind you. Thank you. Who's next? Jeff Heineken, please come forward. >> Hi, thank you for the opportunity to speak. My name is Katie Foster. We're brand new to the district. I have a six-year-old son that is medically complex going into kindergarten this year. Um, I am speaking for Daniel Woo, who's the professor of neurology at University of

124Cincinnati who was unable to attend this uh meeting. to the Indian Hill School Board. Thank you for the opportunity provided today to air thoughts on the recent decision by the board regarding mask mandates. I'm a professor of neurology and vice chair at the department of neurology at the University of Cincinnati with a rising 11th and eighth grader attending school cross country, marching band, Latin club, powow, and choir. My pray my primary concern was echoed by one of the speakers last week which is the long-term effects of COVID among survivors. A recent JAMBA neurology paper um found that 20% of over 1600 pediatric COVID patients suffered from neurologic symptoms including stroke Julian bar and multi-systemm inflammatory syndrome. The long-term effects on our pediatric population won't be known for decades, but autopsy studies of severe COVID infection

125demonstrate a 70% rate of blood brain barrier leakage among the most severely affected. This leakage is the key pathophysiologic event in many forms of progressive cognitive impairment. in developing children. It is difficult to overstate the importance of this wellestablished scientific and medical fact regarding COVID infection. As stated tonight, it may be true that bodies of politicians, some of who may be doctors, but most aren't, have not mandated masks in many school districts. But physician-led bodies of experts, including the CDC and the American Academy of Pediatrics, recommend masking during the current Delta variant crisis that has been skyrocketing that has seen skyrocketing rates of COVID infection in every state. I won't ask a surgeon to do my taxes for legal or for legal advice and we shouldn't take medical advice from non-medical professionals. It is paradoxical

126to me that with a less contagious and less severe COVID last year, we had an appropriate and measured stay-at-home versus school in school with mask and appropriately guided levers to turn on and off different mandates. Yet with a more contagious variant, with greater evidence that vaccination may be asymptomatic carriers, and without the ability to achieve herd immunity within the state of Ohio, which still is under 50% fully vaccinated, that we are seeking to end a sensible and measured restrictions when things are bad and lifting, when things are getting better policy. The rates quoted uh last week are evidence of the success of such measures with very few children dying across the state of Ohio. One doesn't get rid of the parachute halfway down because it's working. Much damage was done to the cause of civility

127by the laughter at the suffering of a mother whose family has seen firsthand long-term effects of co. There was absolutely no laughter or snide bickering when the mass choice side gave their heartfelt side. Please do not view that small contingent of vocal parents last week as reflecting the mood of thousands of parents throughout this community. Nor should such duty to responsibility be subject to the mood and if I heard correctly threats of the mob. People used to argue that they had the right to drink and drive. They have the right to drink in the privacy of their own home. But others have the right not to be endangered by the by their behavior on a public road. People used to argue that they have the right to smoke wherever they wanted. They have the right

128to smoke in their own home as much as they want. But others in enclosed public spaces have the right not to be exposed to danger from their smoke. Here too, people have the right not to vaccinate or wear masks and decide for their children. No one is taking that away from them. And if anything, every accommodation is being made for them, but in public spaces and schools. Others have the right not to be exposed to the dangers of those behaviors, at least during this current spike, nearly as bad as the worst of the pandemic last year. We should be temporarily cautious and let events and science dictate how we raise those restrictions, hopefully soon. My kids are vaccinated, as are my wife and I. I do believe that if we can bear through these difficult

129times that they will end quicker. But if we delay and delay the correct measures, these difficult times will linger for years and years. I thank you for taking the time to read my thoughts and for your thoughtful and responsible for service to our community and especially our children. >> Thank you very much. And if you again, if you want to hand it to Mr. Nichols, he can >> Thank you. have it. >> Chris Flaska, please come forward. Chris, I know she he just said your name, but please state your name as you start. >> Okay. Um, I did have a question to ask regarding how this works if that's okay. I don't know if I'm using my time. Um, even though I have a few pages, it's awfully large print so that I'll be able

130to see it and I only plan on talking for two minutes. And so my question is, can I give Nicole get to finish? >> No. >> Okay. Thank you though, but appreciate it. >> Am I on the clock? Okay. Um, good morning. My name is Jerry Wentz and I want to start with saying something that I hadn't planned on saying, which is I wanted to apologize to Kim Lewis because I view the mental health aspect different than the way she described it this morning. So, I have something prepared. And if I refer to uh mental health in if I offend anybody in any way, it's only because I'm scared to death about it. And I'm not trying to say anything offensive to anybody. And I hope that you know that. I've lived in Indian Hill

131School District for 24 years. I have three children. My youngest is a senior this year. As I was preparing for today, I was thinking of all the things I wanted to say. Please don't ruin my son's senior year. I am legitimately scared for the mental health of all Indian Hill students. We've always had immune compromised children in our school districts and we've always had the flu and we've never had a mask mandate and the flu is more deadly. Why do some people proposing masks only put them on when they're trying to create fear? Why are they twisting the data to make things sound worse than it is? My example is Nikki's example of the Duke study, which only only studied children in masks? Why is the school board micromanaging our superintendent? Why don't they listen

132to our teachers who are the heartbeat of the schools? What the heck happened to my body, my choice? And while I'm thinking about it, since when do I need somebody else's permission to parent my child? All of these thoughts were immediately followed by the visual of our schoolboard president raising his voice at and talking down to nearly more than half the auditorium. An audience of his neighbors, his peers, some of whom voted him into office. At that point, I better understood why the Rangers were called to the last meeting. And I realized that all this back and forth, everybody's opinion has legitimate concerns, is getting us nowhere. So, back to the beginning. How can we come together as a community? How do we find a middle ground? Mask, no mask, mask, no mask. Seems to

133me the compromise between mask and no mask is mask optional. Hm. Seems like our teachers and Kirk were on to something. But what do they know that we've forgotten? They probably are thinking about the fact that our our children are good citizens. Our teachers are good citizens. Everybody in this school district is a good citizen. And the example that comes to my mind is when I remember the class of 2016 voting Abby Favll, a girl with Down syndrome, as their prom queen. It made Abby feel like the rock star that she truly is. And it and our children redefine the word special that night. So, here's my final thought. Instead of enforcing a policy that has zero conclusive data to support it, what if we just trusted each other, our kids, our teachers, and our

134superintendent? When I think of the word optional, I think of room to brea breathe and not scolding children because they're not perfect and they need a just some fresh air. Thank you. >> Thank you very much. >> Would Jeb Lions please come forward? And again, please state your name as you start. Thank you. >> So, my name is Melissa Chen. I am a resident of this district. Um, it was my understanding that what you wanted to hear from more um than opinions or the vast information that we could all find to site our different sides on the internet. What a lovely place is that you wanted to hear from pediatricians of which I am not. But I will use this uh time to read a letter rather from Dr. Andrea Renderneck who is a pediatrician

135um in our district. Dear members of the school board, thank you for your service to our schools, our community, our children. It cannot be easy to be asked to make decisions that affect so many people, especially when the decisions hinge on information that might not be in your area of expertise and when the constituents you serve have such polar opposite opinions and strong emotions to go along with them. We all want this pandemic to be over. Nobody wants to wear a mask if it is not necessary. But this pandemic is not yet over and we all must work together to keep each other safe until it is. That means doing things that are inconvenient, uncomfortable for the safety not just for ourselves but of all our children and of each other. My plea is to

136take the emotion and politics out of the decisions about school-based pandemic safety protocols and listen to the professionals who have spent their lives learning about science practicing medicine and how to evaluate sources and interpret data streams for accuracy and bias. and who for their whole adult adult lives and especially during this pandemic have given of themselves and put their own lives and families at risk to care for their patients, our children, our friends, our communities. I'm writing to you as the parent of two Indian Hill students, one who is immunized against COVID and one who is not yet eligible by age. but more importantly as a pediatrician. My area of expertise having practiced over the course of almost 20 years in emergency medicine at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center as well as more recently in

137the community as part of a trialth pediatrics practice is the health and safety of children. The following information is based on scientific data, consensus in the medical community, and my personal experience caring for pediatric patients, including from the Indian Hill community, throughout the pandemic. I know you must have an overwhelming number of letters to read, so I'll keep this as short as possible. I'd be happy to provide any references should you be interested in supporting sources. I and the overwhelming majority of physicians in our community support universal masking of all students and staff indoors at all levels, but particularly for preschool, elementary, and middle schools, which contain the most at risk students who are not yet eligible for COVID vaccination. This recommendation is strongly backed by science, including updated guidelines from the CDC, the American

138Academy of Pediatrics, and Hamilton County Public Health. Masks worn to prevent transmission of CO 19 are important scientifically proven mitigation strategies. Masks may not be perfect, but a well-fitting appropriate mask is without doubt better than no mask for preventing transmission of the virus. Optional masking is not sufficient as masks are most effective when all parties are wearing them. If masks are not worn by every student and teacher, CDC and HCPH quarantine guidelines will force large numbers of students as well as teachers to quarantine at home. And we all know after last year how different in-person education is compared to self-guided work at home. We all share in the goal of keeping students in school. Masks will undoubtedly help achieve this goal. Without a virtual learning option this coming year, more students will be in each

139classroom, which means less ability to maintain distance, increasing the importance of masking. Masks also had the added benefit last year of keeping other viral respiratory illnesses at exceptionally low levels. This too kept more kids in school, decreased COVID testing burden, and lessened the stress on families of having to determine if an illness was COVID or not. The CO 19 Delta variant, now the predominant strain in the United States, is more than two times as contagious as pre previous variants. >> Thank you. Thank you very much. And >> again, that wasn't from me. I just specifically Dr. Andrea Render. Thank you, Dr. Render. >> Thank you. >> John Zerby, please come forward. >> Ready? Oh, yeah. just introduce your name. >> My name is Jeff Heineken. I'm a parent of a children in Indian Hill School

140District. You know, I live in a country where I can stand in front of my school board and state my opinions. You may not listen to me, and that's your choice, but as long as I'm respectful and follow the law, I have no fear of what I say. This is going to come as a surprise to a lot of you. I'm going to quote John Kennedy. Let us not be blind to our differences, but let us also direct attention to our common interest and the means by which those differences can be resolved. And if we cannot end now our differences, at least we can help make the world safe for diversity. For in the final analysis, our most basic common link is that we all inhabit this small planet. We all breathe the same air.

141We all cherish our children's future and we all are more mortal. Now, I firmly believe that the Ohio Revised Code Title 33 does not give this school board the authority to make health mandates and therefore the vote on October August 3rd, August 10th are without authority and uninforceable. And I'm just beside myself that a certain board member who is an attorney, who has been recognized as Ohio's super lawyer, best lawyers in America, who for law, has not counseledled her colleagues on that effort. I've been asked, what can we do about the vote, which I claim is without authority and uninforceable if it stays in place. My response is make your own choice for your children. You can choose to have your child come to school without a mask. To my knowledge, there is no mechanism

142in the school board's policy or the school district's rule rules to punish anyone for violation of an illegal and uninforcable order. I do not believe they can or will do anything. I do not believe it's within the power or the training of the teachers to enforce improper and illegal actions. Should your child be punished, you will then have a primacia case for damages and the school board's qualified immunity will no longer protect them from illegal acts. It's your choice. So why am I here? Remember my Kennedy quote. Let's not be blind to our differences, but let us also direct attention to our common interest. I'm here to offer a compromise, which is to have the school board amend its order to provide for one week period of strongly requesting all students wear masks. And at

143the end of that week, if the average number of new cases per day, as reported by the Hamilton County Board, does not increase by 20%. parents and students be permitted to make a choice to wear masks. I've prepared a board amendment to that effect. And that's really all I have to say other than Mick, what I sent you, I have amended. So, I'm just going to give us to Mr. Nichols. And thank you. >> Thank you, sir. Who's next? >> Chris Flaska is next. >> Hi there. Um, my name is Chris Flask. I live in the Indian Hill School District. I find it really disappointing that we just can't have this as a volunteer. You know, no one's out longing mass. I don't know why we have to mandate it. Um there's some data that

144was presented and the data that I see is I I find positivity rates quite meaningless. Um I want to know what people are ill and uh I don't need to know the positivity rates of anything. That's that's a meaningless piece of data. There was mention of the flu or that the mention about the flu data. Yeah. the same same study that someone else referenced. 2018 there was 51,000 kids under 18 in hospitals for the flu and 480 died. That was in an 8-month period. And in a year and a half of COVID, that's been half half the deaths, most with coorbid vulnerbidities. And Miss Singh mentioned she's concerned about 1,000 kids in the hospital. Well, there were 51,000 in an 8-month period. In 2019, no one on this board was recommending masks in 2019. The

145CDC also says the recommendations for the flu are to stay home if you're sick, clean your surroundings, and avoid touching your eyes, nose, and face. So, I would say that putting mask on kids, they're going to be touching their nose, eyes, and face quite a bit. Also, I would um offer that u at least the doctor I'm sure has been through PPE training. Surgical masks are meant for one-time use, not all day use. Any mask in surgery or any mask in medical is one time use. It also does not stop the particle of a corona virus. Coronirus particle is so I'm told in point is 0.1 micron. Those masks at best will do uh will only prevent three. So I don't and you can smell smoke through a mask. That tells you everything you need

146to know about what they're doing. I guess the last observation is I came here, I went to the wrong rooms. I saw the cafeteria. I saw the audit the high school um gym filled with people. None of them wearing masks. And and that's fine. It's good. I come here, we got you all lined up with masks on. Um, so I I find it disingenuous that you think that any of this is is meaningful. And um, as someone mentioned to me, it's um, to me it's as an observation, it's this um, it's a form of child abuse that there's a disease called munchousing by proxy where you project the disease on someone else. Well, I think you're projecting the disease on the kids. So, I think you have munchousing by proxy. You're you're you're showing us

147how much you uh want somebody else to be sick. And that's that's my opinion and that's I think need to seriously step back and let let people live. Like I said, in this in this room, in this building alone, there's 100 people running around without mask and yet you want to mandate it. That's all I have. >> Thank you, sir. And again, if you want to give your comments, where are we at, Nick? Hey, good morning everybody. Jeb Lions. >> Hang on one second. Where are we? >> I don't have 30 minutes. >> 25. Good. Please go ahead and state your name. And >> I just said Jeb Lions. Uh my wife couldn't be here today, so she asked me to speak. Um I asked her son last night. I said, "Buddy, how do you

148feel about wearing a mask in school?" And I used my best poker face, you know, so I wasn't, you know, manipulating his answer at all. He said to me verbatim, "I can't breathe and I'm worried I'm going to die." I said, "What do you mean?" He said, "Because I have no oxygen." I'm doing my best impersonation. You can sit there and think to yourself, "He's not going to die. Breathing in your own exhale all day long is not harmful. I don't care. This is how my 5-year-old feels." And all day long, he's worried about his breathing while simultaneously trying to learn. These are his foundation years. It's a major distraction and restricts his teachers ability to encourage him. That's why these people got into this industry. They all want to teach to get a kid

149to reach his full potential. I can guarantee you my son is not reaching his full potential. I mean, period. You think you know what's best for him, but you don't. That's just your ego getting in the way. You don't even have kids dealing with this like we are. There's no skin in the game. and telling parents their mental health concerns are garbage is. When my son was in school every day wearing a mask, I would have him read to me at night. Every time he got a word wrong, he beat his head repeatedly. And I don't want to say this in a recording, you know, but I care about him. He's the kindest kid in the world. He would beat his head uncontrollably like a mental health problem. It was freaking me out and freaking

150him out, too. He said, "Dad, what's wrong with me? I mean, I'm I'm not This is So, if you tell me to my face that my concern is garbage, then you go hang out with your friends without a mask on. You don't even have kids who go here, you can see why so many people are on an uproar m, you know, asking you to resign." So, my son stopped hitting himself over the summer when he wasn't wearing a mask, even though he still messes up a lot of the words. So I can't prove this mass, you know, mess with his mental health just like we can't prove the mass does anything to protect the child's physical health. So I mean Google a thousand times over it will say may may do something. So that's why

151the only solution is mask optional. I mean it's that simple. A good deal is when nobody's truly happy. You know, you say mask optional, you're still going to have people upset on both sides, but you have to meet in the middle. I would, you know, encourage you to stop being so stubborn and letting your ego think you're saving the world. The news says you are because it's designed to keep you to watch and then sell you products during the commercials. But as my wife said, the teachers, students, parents, and superintendent all vote for mask optional. The majority of you board members already would have if you weren't being bullied in the last meeting. I could see there was a tipping point and then people just kept getting interrupted. So some parents are concerned about mental

152health, others are concerned about physical health. You have to let each family make their own decision. And most importantly, when they do, we can't judge each other. Make a commitment to be a stronger community to be a good example for your kids. Don't talk under your breath. Don't tell your kids that family doesn't know what they're doing for wearing a mask or not wearing a mask. respect their decision and be nice to everyone. Mask optional. Thank you for your time. >> Thank you, sir. Is that 30 minutes? Okay, we're going to cut that off. I'm sorry. If you have a comment you want to give to Mr. Nichols, he will take it and we will actually read it. Okay, >> we have time for one more. I'm sorry. I thought you said no. Oh, please,

153please, Austin, come ahead >> and just state your name as you start. >> Got it. Good morning. Uh, my name is John Zerby. Thanks for the opportunity to be here today. I know I'm going to chew into my time here for a second, but I wanted to make an observation that board member Aoltz uh, brought to my attention a moment ago when she asked Miss Foster if she could take her mask off so that we could hear her better. And your response was no, that you wanted to keep your mask on. And that's absolutely your choice. And I think that's exactly a perfect segue into what I want to talk to you guys about this morning. So, my wife Amanda and I were raising four young boys here in Indian Hill. Our oldest, Jack, is

154six years old and a rising first grader in the primary school. I'm here as an advocate for mask optional school year. What's best for one child and what is best for another child does not always have to be mutually exclusive. This does not have to be a zero sum game. We should all have the opportunity to do what's best for our children. The last 18 months have been tough for everybody. All of us in this room have suffered to some degree. There's been physical suffering and then mental and emotional suffering. If I could just spend a moment to talk about quantitative verse qualitative. Quantitative topics are obviously more easily measured. What can be measured can more easily be understood. We come across quantitative metrics all the time. Weather, stock prices, sports scores. And CO 19

155has been no different. Since March of last year, we've had a non-stop feed of this data. Positive cases, hospitalizations, hotspots. We're flooded with this stuff. We can chart it, trend it, and we can even assign color codes to it to compare ourselves to other parts of the country and the world. Data is everywhere. Quantitative metrics are more of a science, and qualitative is more of an art, not as easily measured. Some examples of some rhetorical questions that what moment did you fall in love with your husband or your wife? How much do you love your children? How was your day? These questions are more difficult to answer with real data. They're not as easily defined. But just because we can't quantify the answers to these questions, it does not mean that the answers are not

156important. What we're not talking about is the qualitative side of CO 19. What about the people who are not accounted for in a metric? Board member Lewis, you talked about illness. What about people who don't show up in an illness metric? What about how our children are feeling? Has anyone bothered to ask them how they're doing? Most of us in this room are adults. We're better equipped than our children to deal with difficult situations. How do we quantify the emotional and mental suffering our children are experiencing? I don't know how to quantify this, but I know it's there in my son, Jack. He's not doing as well as he should be doing. I'll be clear. I'm blessed. These issues that I'm describing to you are not necessarily scientific or labeled as an illness, but they're

157real. The mask acts acts as a muzzle on him. He told Amanda every day on the way to school last year that he didn't like to speak up because of the mask. He didn't like the way it feels on his lips. What do you tell a six-year-old who tells you that? Last week when we drove by, we were talking about school and he said he missed it, but he said, "Mom, please don't wake me. Please don't make me wear a mask." While a certain board member might think that that's a garbage comment, we know it's not. This emotional and mental suffering is very real. It can't be measured by the CDC, but it's real. You should not be mandating masks. This needs to be a choice. We cannot and should not value one child's suffering

158over anothers. This is wrong. We're lucky enough to live in the best school district in Ohio. This board was elected to maintain and build upon that prestige for the benefit of the next generation. You need to do better. We need more balance. A secret emergency meeting on August 3rd with a moment's notice to quickly vote for a mask mandate. That was the easy way out. You need to have the courage to put in the real work and come up with a creative solution that allows all children to thrive and grow. The framework that you laid out, Mr. connecti a few moments ago. That's the first thing I've seen that resembles any sort of logic in this process. So, thank you for pulling that together. The rush decision to mandate masks sets us all up for

159failure. There is no finish line. Whether you want to admit it or not, the risk to our children dying of COVID is so incredibly low. I sent you all an email on August 5th with footnotes and all the data that you need, but you're choosing not to acknowledge it. We need to stop with the cherrypicked data propaganda. Stop reciting incomplete and misleading information to to scare people. Cincinnati children's COVID cases rising 400% last month. Compared to what? The prior month, prior year, if we go from 1 to 5, 1,000 to 5,000. The risk of a child dying from this disease is so low. You know it, but for some reason, you're choosing not to acknowledge it. Listen to all your constituents. Please swallow your pride, set aside your emotions, and vote for a mask optional

160school year. Thank you. Thank you for your comments. All right. I'm glad that we were able to hear everybody. Um, is there anything else or do we have a motion to adjurnn? >> Second. >> Uh, all those in favor? >> I Exclusive coverage on the Indian Hill Television Network has been a copyrighted presentation of the Indian Hill High School video department.