COVID protocols heat up school board meeting

CHENEY – Emotions were high again during the public participation segment of the Feb. 8 School Board meeting.over COVID-19 safety protocols like school mask mandates and social distancing requirements that removed lunch tables, forcing students to sit in rows and eat lunch from trays in their lap.

Ivan Khala, a frequent contributor at the board meetings, let his thoughts be known.

"Since the school board directors are voted in by the people, the people should have a say in mask-wearing," Khala said.

He grilled the board about its perceived roles in the safety protocols, speaking past his allotted five minutes.

He ended his speech by throwing a wad of $1 bills at Superintendent Rob Roettger.

Roettger and the board appeared stunned.

"Ivan has children who attend the district and is a very invested community member. He is frustrated with COVID protocols and the stress that it has placed on children and families," School District Board member Zachary Zorrozua said.

"I have spoken with him in the past about more effective ways to get his message across. Unfortunately, he opted to continue to engage in a way that is disrespectful and unprofessional."

"I continue to encourage him to engage in a more respectful way. I have also shared the policy with him regarding public participation and conduct," Zorrozua said.

"Unfortunately, he is at a place where he does not trust the district, board of directors, and superintendent. He questions the motives behind our decisions to follow the mask mandate and COVID protocols that we are forced to enforce."

Vinay Prasad is one of the many researchers and scientists worldwide who have been openly critical of the science and research surrounding the masking issue.

He believes federal and state agencies like the Center for Disease Control, the state Department of Health, and Spokane Regional Health District push the narrative that masks mandates reduce the spread of COVID-19 without scientific evidence to back it up.

Prasad is a hematologist-oncologist and Associate Professor in the Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics at University of California-San Francisco.

He also runs the VK Prasad Laboratory at UCSF, where he studies cancer drugs, health policy, clinical trials, and better decision-making. Prasad blatantly said on his YouTube channel that their latest study around mask effectiveness was science propaganda at best.

"It's in shambles. It doesn't prove anything it claims to prove," Prasad said of the CDC's latest study titled Effectiveness of Face Mask or Respirator Use in Indoor Public Settings for Prevention of SARS-CoV-2 Infection.

According to Kelli Hawkins, SRHD's public communications officer, the prevailing science from the CDC is sourced to design their safety protocols around COVID-19. They also work with the FDA and DOH and adapt their recommendations to fit locally within Spokane County.

"We look at the evidence provided to us by the CDC, and we know that they've done their own research and their own studies that show that mask mandates were associated with statistically significant decreases at the county level," Hawkins said.

When asked if the SRHD has considered the data that shows wearing masks hinders a children's ability to read facial expressions, thus hindering their emotional development, Hawkins said the CDC provided information proving masking doesn't hinder children's developmental health.

"They've also done studies on children to see how that impacts them and their growth," Hawkins said. "There's been no evidence whatsoever there's any impairment on their ability to understand their emotions or any slowing of their development."

Lloyd Fisher, the president of the Massachusetts chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics, disagrees.

"It is important for children to see facial expressions of their peers and the adults around them in order to learn social cues and understand how to read emotions," Fisher said in an article written in the Intelligencer on Aug. 21, 2021.

Fisher agrees with universal mask mandates but wants to use data-driven discussion points about the adverse side effects of masking children. Meaning you can favor mask mandates while still being critical of the science that says masking mandates are harmful.

A litany of studies by the National Institute of Health (NIH) shows the many different ways that masks hinder the ability to read facial expressions, which harms young children's developmental health.

When pressed on the issue of weighing the CDC data against opposing data on mask mandates, Hawkins said that any narrative that counters the CDC should have their motives questioned.

"I think when you look at different studies, it's really important to look at the intent behind those studies, and we know the CDC is a proven trustworthy resource that will provide us the best information and evidence," Hawkins said.

Therein lies the problem. State and federal agencies push the narrative that following the CDC is the only pro-science approach to COVID-19 safety protocols. Any research or data critical of their findings is demonized as anti-science. This type of reasoning continues to divide communities like Cheney.

Prasad was incredibly detailed in his critiques of the CDC and their studies around mask effectiveness. His research analysis hasn't located a single randomized control trial, a technique that is considered a golden pillar of the foundation of sound scientific research.

"We found very poor-quality data, insufficient to support community masking, particularly for years on end," Prasad wrote in his Substack article titled Mask Studies Reach a New Scientific Low Point published on Feb. 5. "Cloth masks had especially bad data. Data to support masking kids was absolutely absent. Worse, however, was how little we learned during COVID19."

Prasad isn't the only clinical researcher or scientist that has been critical of the CDC's research and mask mandates. But at the end of the day, when it comes to the issues of public policies, you don't have to be a scientist or epidemiologist to have a valid opinion on the subject.

Outside of extreme instances, the goal of all these debates is to keep kids in school for in-person learning, a sentiment Hawkins echoed loudly.