ASHLAND — A parent whose children attend Ashland City Schools launched an online petition earlier this week that urges the school district to “require universal indoor masking for students” and other measures to fight the spread of COVID-19 in schools.
Ashland City Schools decided in August it would not require students and staff to wear masks in school buildings or buses. Instead, the practice of wearing a facial covering is “highly recommended.”
But Ashland City Schools isn’t alone. No school districts in Ashland County have required the wearing of masks, with the exception of Crestview and Mapleton — which require mask wearing on school transportation.
The Change.org petition, launched Aug. 31, purportedly had garnered 14 signatures as of Friday. The goal was set at 100.
Tiffany DeFrancisco, the petition’s creator, said the school district should also require the wearing of facial coverings outside and offer students the option of remote learning.
“Until all school-aged children have the opportunity to be vaccinated against COVID-19, we need to continue to protect them,” she wrote in the petition.
DeFrancisco, 31, of Ashland, has two children of her own and a stepson. Her 4-year-old lives with an auto-immune disorder.
“We need to protect him. There’s only so much we can do in wearing masks, but no one else is,” DeFrancisco said, adding her 11-year-old daughter attends Ashland Middle School.
Her daughter, who wears a mask to school, has told DeFrancisco she and others who choose to wear a mask get picked on.
“Which is an issue of its own,” she said. “So my daughter feels uncomfortable wearing the mask now. It’s been tough.”
Students at Ashland City Schools returned to class Aug. 31. Since then, there have been four cases recorded among students and no cases among staff.
Despite the low number, DeFrancisco is concerned.
“How many other kids could be asymptomatic? And we’re only five days into school. It concerns me we have any (COVID-19) cases at all,” she said.
Superintendent Doug Marrah did not respond to an email seeking comment for this story.
Board president Zack Truax said he has received one email from a parent wanting the district to mandate the wearing of masks. As of Friday, the board did not have plans to change course, but all options — including a mask mandate and reinstating remote learning — are on the table in this “fluid” time.
“We’re going to need to be very flexible in all directions. There is no place for absolutism,” Truax said.
Meanwhile, area schools are beginning to react to a surge in COVID-19 cases.
Several in Richland County have either reinstated a mask mandate, closed schools or canceled extracurricular activities in response to the rash of cases.
Ontario Local Schools, for example, began the year without a mask mandate. The district reinstated the mandate — at least temporarily — on Tuesday.
Since the beginning of the school year, Aug. 18, there have been 64 cases among students. Comparatively, the district experienced 61 cases during the entire 2020-21 school year.
School districts in neighboring Knox County have recorded 50 COVID-19 cases since schools began last week and quarantines of students and staff are up.
Not all school districts in Ashland County have responded with closures and changes in protocol. Nevertheless, cases are on the rise there, too.
Crestview Local Schools, which serves parts of Ashland and Richland counties, decided to go remote because of a swell of cases there. Its website said there were a total of 73 cases among students and staff as of Sept. 2.
Hillsdale Local Schools doesn’t start instruction until Sept. 7. The district has a reported nine cases of COVID-19 and 11 remain in quarantine, as of Sept. 3.
Mapleton Local Schools started school Aug. 18 and has reported 18 cases among students since then. Four of those cases are marked as “recovered.” There have been eight cases among staff, but seven have recovered since then.
Loudonville-Perrysville Exempted Village Schools reported one case on Aug. 31. It is unclear if the case involves a student or staff member.
DeFrancisco said she will continue to advocate for mask wearing through the circulation of the petition. She hopes to present the petition to Ashland City Schools officials at an upcoming board meeting.
