In a special meeting on Friday morning, Ridgefield School District directors expressed their support for ending Washington’s statewide mask mandate.
The board voted 4-1 in favor of a statement that praised state schools Superintendent Chris Reykdal’s recommendation on Wednesday for Gov. Jay Inslee to drop Washington’s indoor mask mandate.
Inslee said later on Wednesday that he would not yet be lifting the mandate, citing recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
“We agree with Reykdal; it is time for Washington to follow other states and make masking decisions locally. We respectfully urge Gov. Inslee to lift the statewide indoor masking mandate affecting public schools and enable local jurisdictions to set their masking policies moving forward,” the Ridgefield board said in its statement.
“Removing the state mask mandate for public school students empowers schools to better focus their valuable time on supporting our students’ learning, well-being, recovery, and acceleration.”
District spokesperson Joe Vajgrt said the board’s statement was prepared shortly after Reykdal’s comments, and that the decision was not related to a student-led protest against the mask mandate at Ridgefield High School on Wednesday morning.
“This was something they had ready just after Reykdal’s comments, I don’t think it came as a result of anything else,” Vajgrt said.
Other school districts in Clark County haven’t been as quick to share messages of agreement with Reykdal.
Vancouver Public Schools spokesperson Patricia Nuzzo said Friday that the district’s school board hasn’t indicated if they are considering a statement regarding Reykdal’s recommendation.
On Friday, Vancouver sent out a letter to staff and community members, alerting them that Inslee would provide a better timeline for the indoor mask mandate sometime next week.
Evergreen Public Schools spokesperson Craig Birnbach said the same of his district, and that he wasn’t aware of any similar statements being drafted by the Evergreen board.
While COVID-19 cases are steadily decreasing following the peak of the omicron wave in Clark County, local public health officials reported that 97.2 percent of Clark County’s hospital beds and 98.3 percent of its ICU beds were occupied as of Tuesday. It added that 26.3 percent of hospital beds and 25.9 percent of ICU beds were occupied by people with or suspected of having COVID-19.
Weekly COVID-19 cases in Clark County schools also still remain in the hundreds for some of the larger districts, with dozens of these cases coming among staff members.
Health officials warn that case totals are still being under-reported due to the use of at-home tests and delays in offering in-office testing.
