In a 2-1 vote today, the Yamhill County Board of Commissioners approved a letter to Governor Brown supporting local decision-making for Yamhill County schools. The letter recognizes the importance of parents, superintendents and school boards when it comes to making decisions about their individual school districts.

Amity School Superintendent Jeff Clark made the case for mask-free, in-person classes pointing out the Governor’s latest mask mandate for K-12 children is unnecessary and harmful for students. Clark told the Board the smaller, rural schools were taking the lead in Yamhill County and across Oregon by pushing back against mask mandates for children.

Ongoing conversations with the State saw mounting frustration on the part of superintendents after they were threatened with fines and civil actions by the Oregon Department of Education if they violated the mask mandate.

Yamhill County superintendents from Sheridan and Willamina were also in support of a letter opposing mask mandates. Dayton’s superintendent expressed support pending approval from his school board.

Conversations with McMinnville and Newberg superintendents were still ongoing.

The letter read:

The Yamhill County Board of Commissioners supports our county school districts, superintendents, parents and teachers in advocating for local decision making regarding COVID-19 mitigation measures, including whether to require children attending K-12 in-person classes to wear masks during the school day.

Governor, we appreciate your decision in June to shift from a state-centric model and acknowledge that each local school district is guided by a superintendent, school board, parents and advocates who understand and can address the unique circumstances and are uniquely positioned to address the health and well-being of their students.

Superintendents in Yamhill County have asked for a continuation of this community-focused approach and the Yamhill County Board of Commissioners has confidence in their ability tp make reasoned and informed decisions regarding, among other considerations, the masking of children during school hours.

Commissioners Mary Starrett and Lindsay Berschauer voted to approve the letter supporting local decision- making. Commissioner Casey Kulla voted “No”.


--Staff Reports

Post Date: 2021-08-05 21:49:05

Last Update: 2021-08-05 22:07:18