Poplar Bluff R-I Teacher asks for district mask policy

The Poplar Bluff R-I school board approved a slight decrease in the district’s tax rate Thursday evening after hearing patron comments on other topics.

Board members also heard from Michael Sowatzke, high school social studies teacher, who asked for the district to develop a mask policy.

The board approved a property tax rate of $3.47180. This is a decrease from the 2019 rate of $3.6503 by $0.18.

Dr. Amy Jackson, assistant superintendent of finance, broke down the rate into how much goes into each of the district’s funds.

The general fund will receive $2.75, $0.180 for debt service and $0.54180 into capital projects.

The assessed property valuation of the area increased about $452,000, Jackson said.

The tax rate provided by the state auditor recommended $0.22 for the debt service fund, but the $0.18 is enough to cover the district’s debt, she said.

The board approved the rate unanimously.

Concerns

Sowatzke spoke with the board next and emphasized his desire to be back in the classroom, but also voiced safety concerns related to COVID-19.

“As a community member, I wish we were doing more for a mask mandate,” he said.

While Sowatzke said he would like to see a schoolwide mandate, at least in the older grade levels, he suggested an area for a middle ground.

He cited the concern that students who come to school aren’t just affecting themselves because they may take the virus home to a family member with pre-existing conditions or a parent who’s working two jobs and can’t afford to take time off.

“The more the virus spreads in the school, the more it’s going to spread in the community,” he said.

The middle ground Sowatzke suggested would be to allow teachers to mandate masks in their classrooms after “a lot” have approached him with concerns.

“I’m only 31. My wife is 27,” he said. “But, she has a lot of health conditions. We worry about if I will get it. I’ll do my best. We’re trying to save up and maybe we can put her in a hotel for a few days and wait for a test.

“There are times when she cries and she says she’s worried about me, but I’m pretty sure some of those tears are for herself.”

Sowatzke said right now it seems to him like the minority of teachers, about 30-40%, would be interested in mandating a mask, which would mean students spending half the day or less wearing a face covering.

“I have no problem with community members, parents of students coming to me angry about making their child wear a mask. I’ll be at the front of that anger,” he said.

Sowatzke also brought up concern with measures, such as keeping students out of common areas and in classrooms instead.

While these are designed to keep the students safe, he said, that’s essentially another class the teachers are being exposed to.

He suggested being able to take those morning periods outside, weather permitting, where there’s lower potential spread.

“It might sound selfish asking for teacher accommodations, but the longer us teachers are in schools, the longer school can function in a productive way,” he said.

With Butler County’s numbers low compared to other areas around the state and country, where school districts are deciding whether to go back to in-person instruction, Sowatzke said, the district has a responsibility to help keep those numbers low.

“A lot of times campus reopens or school reopens, and then they shut down after COVID explodes in those areas,” he said. “They always say a line that seems weird to me. They always say ‘We did the best we could’ and usually that doesn’t seem true because in most of those cases they’re not requiring kids to wear masks.

“I just hope that if … a student brings COVID to their house, and gets their guardian sick, and the worst case scenario happens, I would like to be able to walk down the halls the next year thinking back, look each other in the eye and honestly say ‘we actually did do the best we could.’ I don’t know if I can say that if I didn’t argue for masks in school.”

Dill spoke with Sowatzke after the meeting.