Mask on, mask off
Garrison students can opt to wear masks
By JAMES C. FALCON
editors@bhgnews.com
Students will have the option of whether or not they wish to wear a face mask when they return to the classroom in Garrison next Thursday.
Garrison Public Schools will continue the mask-optional policy it had at the end of the previous school year, explained Dr. Nick Klemisch, superintendent of schools.
As the 2020-21 school year winded down, the state rescinded its mask mandate. Communities and school districts, though, could still mandate mask use during the pandemic. At a school board meeting in late April, the Garrison school board voted to make masks recommended, but not required.
“Right now, the frustration is we don’t have a lot of guidance from anyone and I’m not playing medical doctor,” Klemisch said. This includes guidance from the office of Kristen Baesler, the superintendent of public instruction for North Dakota; Klemisch said her office has offered “no formal direction.”
Klemisch added that there is “very limited guidance” from the North Dakota Department of Health, including a lack of consistency.
“Depending on who you talk to, you might hear two different versions of the same story,” Klemisch said, noting that he and another superintendent had approached the Department of Health about an item in particular and were given two different recommendations. “There’s no consistency between people you talk to there (at the Department of Health).”
Klemisch said there is “so much uncertainty” when it comes to COVID-19.
