By Tim Mastro

CAMDEN — Just minutes into the Caesar Rodney School Board meeting Tuesday, yelling broke out after members sought to recess in order to deal with the audience of largely unmasked individuals.

The board called a 20-minute recess to decide how to proceed in compliance with Gov. John Carney’s latest mandate that requires those kindergarten-age and older in K-12 schools and child care centers to wear masks regardless of COVID-19 vaccination status. The requirement went into effect Monday.

The meeting was allowed to continue when maskless attendees agreed to have their children wait outside with a chaperone. Caesar Rodney High School had numerous signs saying masks were required as long as children were present.

On Monday night, the Brandywine Board of Education ended its meeting when unmasked attendees refused to put on face coverings.

When the CR meeting resumed, all five people who spoke during the public comment session opposed Gov. Carney’s order and asked the board to go against it.

“You’re supposed to do what’s best for our children no matter what one man says,” said Kim Petters of Magnolia, who said she has four children in the Caesar Rodney district. “Gov. Carney is not my children’s father and none of you are my children’s mother or father either. Leave it up to the parents, we’ll decide.”

School board Vice President Jessica Marelli, who was wearing a mask for the entirety of the meeting, said she did not want her children to go to school with masks. But she said she recognized it would pave the way for a full return to in-person learning.

Caesar Rodney will be operating on a five-day, in-person, school schedule for the upcoming year.

“As a parent, I’m very disappointed that my kids are going to go to school in masks,” Ms. Marelli said. “But as a school board member, my primary concern is getting kids back to school in school, not hybrid, not remote. So when the mask mandate came, to me I saw it as a compromise. If we have to wear a mask in school, then as long as we’re going to school that’s my primary objective as a school board member, is to educate our kids.”

“I sit here tonight with a mask on because I’m in support of our staff and our students who will be going to school with masks on everyday,” Ms. Marelli added. “If they can do it, then I can do it, too.”

Gov. Carney’s office has said the recent requirement is consistent with guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the American Academy of Pediatrics, and “will help all Delaware students safely return to classrooms full-time this fall.”

The CDC also recommends masks be worn indoors in areas of substantial and high COVID-19 spread. All three Delaware counties are considered high areas of spread. Kent County’s most recent seven-day rolling average for percentage of positive tests is 10.2%, according to the Delaware Division of Public Health. That is twice the recommended mark of 5% by the World Health Organization.

Citing statistics, Ms. Petters said children should not have to wear masks because they are not the most vulnerable population to COVID-19. Delawareans over the age of 65 have made up 83% of the state’s COVID-19 deaths while there has been two deaths of those 17 years old or younger out of Delaware’s 1,840, based on DPH data.

“We’re the best school district, we have the best educators, you need to be doing more,” Ms. Petters said. “We don’t want to hear what you can’t do. We don’t want to hear, ‘be thankful for what you have.’ We want it all, because we deserve it all, because our children are safe. The most vulnerable population are those who are 65 and older. Did you know that 93% of our most vulnerable population is already immunized. How much longer is this going to go on for?”

“You talk about compromise, stop compromising with our children,” she added. “You’re supposed to do what’s best for our children. Thirty-two other states have left this mandate up to the parents. Only 10 states have the strictest mandate and we’re one of them. Why aren’t you and the administrators doing more?”

Amanda Lennon, who has two children in the district, said masks prevent social growth because children cannot gauge the facial expressions of their teachers or other students. She said one of her children has difficulty with sensory processing and hearing, and the masks exacerbate that condition.

“Masks impair social and emotional learning,” she said. “My child cannot hear the teachers through their masks and he cannot see reading lips for both the teachers and the other students.”

Even after the comment session ended, members of the public continued to ask questions. One back-and-forth ended with board President Mike Marasco saying “We’re the school board” to which an audience member replied “not for long” as attendees left the auditorium.

In later discussion, CR Superintendent Kevin Fitzgerald outlined other precautions planned for a full return. He said parents are asked to monitor children, keeping home from school those with a temperature or other symptoms of COVID-19 and staff are required to complete a health screener.

The district will follow new quarantine guidance for a positive COVID-19 test, which is expected in the next few days. Additionally, rapid antigen testing will be available on a voluntary basis for students and staff.

Homebound instruction will be available for those with a medical reason. If a child in school cannot wear a mask due to a medical reason, then they will be six-feet from other students and if possible, a plexiglass screen will be used.