Eleven students have left the Eastern Pulaski Community School Corporation since face masks became mandatory, according to Superintendent Dara Chezem’s COVID-19 update to the school board Monday.
But she said three students have enrolled in that same timeframe, and enrollment is still up significantly from last school year.
When defending the mask mandate, Chezem echoed language used by other local superintendents, noting that the state requires schools to either mandate masks or quarantine close contacts. “These are the only legal options available to us,” Chezem said. “I’m aware that some schools have chosen to make their own rules or not follow any rules at all. This is not something we will entertain, as it could have serious legal and liability ramifications down the road.”
Compared to when the school board approved the mask mandate two weeks ago, the number of students in quarantine has dropped from 113 to 23, and those students were exposed outside of school. Chezem said there are 47 students who would have had to quarantine had Eastern Pulaski not mandated masks, and the number of positive cases has dropped from 29 to 10.
“Finally, the decision to require masks is not a financial decision and does not help our school funding,” she added.
Chezem denied that the mask mandate was somehow timed around Indiana’s student count day, noting that September 20 was the earliest the school board could schedule a public meeting after she was made aware of a rapid increase in cases.
