Ralph Case hates school mask mandates.
The Stark County resident believes parents should have the right to decide whether wearing a mask is right for their child. He also believes a cloth mask is not going to protect a student from contracting COVID-19.
But his arguments have yet to sway the leaders of Plain Local School District, which instituted an indoor mask requirement for elementary and intermediate students on Aug. 18 and expanded it to the middle and high school students on Sept. 7 after an increase in COVID-19 cases and related quarantines.
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Now, Case is applying for an exemption to the district’s mask requirement for his 10-year-old son. “If we can’t beat it, then we’ve got to find another way,” said Case, who scheduled an appointment with his family doctor.
Two of every three Ohio school children are in districts that require masks for some if not all students. Ohio Department of Education data shows. Many districts across the state are accepting exemption requests from students and parents. While some districts are approving hundreds of those requests, others are granting few, if any, mask exemptions, a survey by USA TODAY Network reporters found.
As of Oct. 15, 250 of Ohio's 609 public school districts required masks for all students, and another 41 required them for some students (typically elementary schoolers).
Nearly 320 districts in the state have optional mask policies in place. These districts tend to be smaller in size, holding 31.4% of the state's public school students. New case numbers in Ohio schools have been dropping weekly since mid-September.
Reasons for mask exemption
The Ohio Children's Hospital Association and American Academy of Pediatrics - Ohio Chapter has identified five reasons why a student may request an exemption to a school's mask-wearing policy:
- Children under the age of 2.
- Any child unable to remove the face covering without assistance.
- A child with significant behavioral/psychological issues undergoing treatment that is exacerbated specifically by the use of a facial covering.
- A child living with severe autism or with extreme developmental delay who may become agitated or anxious wearing a mask.
- A child with a facial deformity that causes airway obstruction.
Asthma, allergies and sinus infections are not valid reasons for exemption, the guidance reads. Some districts have adopted these guidelines as a way to sort through their own exemption requests, many with the addition of religious exemptions.
In Plain Local, where Case’s son attends, only four exemptions – three for medical reasons and one for a religious reason – have been granted this school year in the district of roughly 6,000 students.
Case said his son missed a week of school due to an illness not related to COVID-19 and believes the masks are contributing to the problem.
“He needs to breathe fresh air,” Case said. “The immune system is built on fighting bacteria and viruses.”
More than 600 exemptions have been granted at Dublin City Schools, which enrolls more than 16,500 students and requires masks for students in pre-K through eighth grade.
The state's third-largest school district, Cincinnati Public Schools, which enrolls about 36,000 students, does not offer mask exemptions at all.
"We do have students who have difficulty wearing a mask due to a disability and have taken all needed steps to accommodate those students," Krista Boyle, Cincinnati Public Schools' spokesperson, said. "An example would be using a face shield as an alternative to a mask."
Boyle said few students fall under the category of needing extra steps.
Hilliard City Schools has approved 30 mask exemptions, communications director Stacie Raterman said. The district requires masks for students in pre-K through sixth grade. There is no deadline on the exemption forms "in case a student's need changes." Students with medical exemptions must have a form filled out by their physician.
"Requests for religious exemption are not automatic. They will be processed in the same manner as a medical exemption request," the Hilliard City Schools religious exemption form reads. "Please note that the bar to establish a 'sincerely held religious belief or requirement' is extremely high. For example, if your student did wear a face covering at school in 2020-21, it is unlikely that he/she would qualify for a religious exemption this year."
Nearly 80% of New Albany - Plain Local Schools' 59 mask exemptions are for religious reasons, according to data the district released at a recent school board meeting. Other exemptions were granted for students with severe autism or children with significant behavioral or psychological issues. The district requires masks for grades pre-K through 6.
At Springboro Schools, district communications coordinator Scott Marshall said 262 of the district's 6,200 students, or just over 4%, have approved mask exemptions.
Less than 10 exemptions were granted for teachers and staff members in the Warren County school system, which approves exemptions to individuals for the following reasons: a documented disability that prevents a student or staff member from safely wearing a mask, documented proof that a medical provider advised an individual not to wear a mask due to a health issue, or an established, "sincerely held" religious reason that does not permit the person to wear a mask. Religious reasons are "left to the parent to explain."
"Our district will not question an individual's religious reasons, regarding mask exemptions," Marshall said. He would not provide how many of the district's 262 exemptions were for religious reasons, and the district denied The Enquirer's request to view any of the completed forms.
Is religion a valid reason to not wear masks at school?
Back when Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine implemented a statewide mask mandate in July 2020, it was the only COVID-19 related policy that did not exempt houses of worship, though officiants could remain unmasked during services. Some took issue with the governor's rule, claiming it violated citizens' First Amendment rights.
Ohio State Rep. Nino Vitale, a Republican from Urbana, publicly stated he would not follow DeWine's mask order because it would dishonor God.
"This is the greatest nation on earth founded on Judeo-Christian Principles. One of those principles is that we are all created in the image and likeness of God. That image is seen the most by our face. I will not wear a mask," Vitale said in a Facebook post.
But in August of this year, the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which has jurisdiction over Ohio, ruled mask mandates do not violate an individual's religious freedom. The case came out of Michigan, where a handful of parents from a Catholic elementary school in Lansing said the state's mask mandate in schools required families to "either violate their sincerely held religious beliefs or face criminal prosecution," the Lansing State Journal reported.
“This ruling affirms our continued stance that (Michigan Department of Health and Human Services) was well within its jurisdiction to impose a mask mandate to help control the spread of COVID-19 as children went back to the classroom last school year,” Attorney General Dana Nessel said in a statement. “As science has proven and now the Sixth Circuit agrees, enacting a mask mandate in the manner in which MDHHS did so does not violate one’s rights – it is a measure by which we can better protect public health.”
Sara Clark, chief legal counsel for the Ohio School Boards Association, said many school districts last year adopted board policies that specifically included a religious exemption to comply with the initial state health order. When the health order was lifted in June, some of the districts maintained their policies, while others rescinded them, she said.
A suburban Dayton woman opposed to masking mandates went online to become a minister before signing exemption forms for more than 160 people in Montgomery and Warren counties. An initial story on Kristen Grant's effort, published in the Dayton Daily News, drew sharp comments. “People were saying that I should be arrested,” she told USA TODAY columnist Connie Schultz.
Grant, who described herself as "constitutional Christian," acknowledged to Schultz she used a loophole when some districts failed to define who was qualified to be a religious official when setting up their religious exemptions. "I haven’t broken any laws," she said. "I did what I was told I had to do.”
Exempt with no questions asked
Northwest Local Schools in Stark County is one of the few school districts in Ohio allowing students to opt out of the mask requirement without a stated reason.
The district, which started the school year with a mask-optional approach, began requiring masks on Sept. 7 for all of its roughly 1,800 students. But, as part of the mandate, district leaders also said parents could sign an opt-out form to exclude their child from the requirement. The form doesn’t require a reason, nor give parents space to provide one.
The opt-out option was first available to middle school and high school students, then expanded this month to students in kindergarten through fifth grade.
District employees are not eligible to opt out of the mask requirement, and students still must wear a mask on school buses and other district-provided transportation due to a federal order.
Roughly one-third of students in Northwest High School and one-quarter of students in Northwest Middle School have opted out, officials said. In the lower grades, 40% of students opted out in Northwest Primary School while 35% of Stinson Elementary students have chosen to not wear a mask indoors.
Northwest Local Superintendent Shawn Braman said the district will continue to monitor its COVID-19 cases and will re-evaluate its mask mandate at the end of October.
At most schools with mask mandates, the exemption process is thorough. Parents must fill out detailed forms, oftentimes including a written note from a physician or religious official, such as a pastor.
At the Northwest Local School District in suburban Cincinnati, public relations coordinator Lyndsey Creecy said 31 of the district's roughly 8,900 students are exempt from the mask requirement. The district only accepts exemptions for health or safety reasons and not religious ones.
"It is difficult to outline specific reasons that qualify for an exemption as these decisions are individualized to their needs, on a case by case basis," Creecy said. "In most situations, we are able to offer mask-alternative accommodations in an effort to mitigate the spread of illness and to meet the individual's needs as well."
Creecy said once parents submit their exemption request form, a building administrator contacts the applicant to set up a meeting to discuss their individual situation. At the meeting, applicants can further explain why their child cannot wear a mask and provide documentation from a physician that supports their reasoning.
Administrators strive to review each submission and offer the applicant approval or denial within 48 hours, Creecy said.
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