My name is Jay Porter and I am the Principal at Blanding Elementary school. Recently our board voted to accept parent letters as a medical exemptions for masks. I feel this interpretation of the most recent health order is a blatant disregard for the work that the state has gone through to help keep our students safe. I had two very concerned parents who work in the medical field in our community who can not believe that this has happened knowing that students have not been immunized. I see this as causing a rift in our community and in our school. I understand that this has become very political and this decision has caused the political aspect to spill into the school even at the Elementary setting. This is naturally causing a divide in the my school the students with and without masks. My faculty has been great in dealing with this situation because they have been in a very tough spot trying to keep the peace, keep track of who should and should not be wearing a mask, and getting conflicting information from our state and our School board. A small group of parents have been very vocal and pushed this agenda along with one of our board members. This happens too often in this county and we can do what is normally done and roll our eyes and say whatever, or we can hold this board accountable to following the mandate that has been given by the state health professionals. What we are asked to by a health order is being ignored by our district and potentially putting our kids in danger. I hope that someone from the state takes action because I see this as a very slippery slope that we are going down and opening ourselves up to some legal problems for our district.
