With no vaccine yet approved for kids under 12, Rochester Public Schools’ youngest learners will have to continue wearing face coverings to start the 2021-22 school year.

The Rochester School Board voted unanimously Tuesday to approve a recommendation from interim Superintendent Kent Pekel requiring students between ages 2-12 to mask up upon arriving at school. The board’s action will take effect Thursday with the opening of Longfellow Elementary.

“Rochester may, may be a bit lonely in this decision,” said Pekel. “We have a good number of K-12 districts around us who chose to have no requirement for masks. I think the situation, however, is so fluid that as people look at the CDC guidance from today, that may shift. And so I would suggest that we oughta do what we believe is right for Rochester based on the evidence and data that we have for our community.”

The line stretching outside RPS’s Edison Building ahead of Tuesday’s meeting

Under the plan adopted Tuesday, students 12 and up will be encouraged but not required to wear face coverings while on district property. The same will go for staff and other adults while on RPS grounds.

That is despite updated guidance Tuesday from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommending that teachers and students wear masks inside classrooms, regardless of vaccination status.

In a memo released earlier Tuesday, Pekel said his goal with the district’s updated policy was to strike a “balance between the forces of hope and the forces of challenge that define the present moment.”

He noted that his recommendation was based on input from the district’s Covid-19 advisory group, which includes representatives from RPS as well as Olmsted County Public Health and Mayo Clinic.

“The insights I have gained from those experts have led me to conclude that given the high vaccination rates and low infection rates in our community, we should encourage but not require students who are 12 years of age or older to wear face coverings,” Pekel said in the memo. “The high vaccination rates and low rates of Covid-19 in Olmsted County also lead me to recommend that staff be encouraged but not required to wear face coverings in our facilities during the 2021-2022 school year.”

Rochester School Board with Pekel center-left and Marvin center-right

Before calling a vote, School Board Chair Jean Marvin acknowledged that she was looking forward to students not having to wear masks this year — but said things just aren’t where they need to be yet for that to happen.

The School Board is expected to come back at its next meeting on August 3 for a broader discussion on other Covid-related mitigation strategies.

“It will get better, but our number one goal right now is to keep our schools open,” said Marvin. “And in Rochester, we have the best guidance, I think, nationally and locally. So if we can keep our little kids safer because they are wearing masks, if we can keep the spread lower, if we can continue to encourage families to get vaccinated, to get their older kids vaccinated… the back to normal is going to come sooner than later. This won’t be forever.”

Tuesday’s meeting was less contentious than the last time the School Board met. Still, there was a packed crowd — with some in attendance wearing masks to show support for the district’s policy on face coverings.

RPS added new safety and security protocols to ensure a smoother meeting Tuesday

In all, 10 people were allowed to speak during the public comment period. Some spoke in favor of the district’s mask policy, others against it.

Rochester resident Karin Charron said because most serious cases and deaths from Covid do not involve children that it should be up to families to to make their own decisions for their kids.

“Please let us make our own choices for our kids and not mandate masking,” said Charron. “It should be optional. We have rights — God given rights that should be upheld.”

(In his recommendation, Pekel noted that “while it is true that young children are much less likely than adults to become seriously ill due to Covid-19, the virus nonetheless poses a significant threat to the health of our youngest learners.” You can read the full memo here.)

While the masking decision was the only big item on the agenda for Tuesday, some speakers also made a point to offer support for the district’s positions regarding equity and Black Lives Matter.

At the last meeting, there were signs denouncing masking, the BLM movement, and the teaching of critical race theory — despite the fact that the concept is not included in the district’s curriculum.

“Thank you for using facts, evidence, and expert advice when making decisions,” Rochester resident Bob Werner told the board. “The School Board is a decision-making body. I urge you to not start making decisions based upon personal religious beliefs, emotions, rumors, or information you found on your neighbor’s cousin’s Facebook page.”

Sean Baker is a Rochester journalist and the founder of Med City Beat.

Photography by William Forsman