School chiefs welcome special session

Gov. Asa Hutchinson chats with Dumas School District Superintendent Kelvin Gragg before a community discussion on Tuesday at the Dumas Community Center. (Pine Bluff Commercial/I.C. Murrell)
Gov. Asa Hutchinson chats with Dumas School District Superintendent Kelvin Gragg before a community discussion on Tuesday at the Dumas Community Center. (Pine Bluff Commercial/I.C. Murrell)

Dumas School District Superintendent Kelvin Gragg made his voice heard and Gov. Asa Hutchinson is taking action.

Two days after hearing from Gragg and other southeast Arkansans about the covid-19 impact close to a new school year, Hutchinson announced Thursday to the entire state that he would call a special session sometime next week -- no dates were specified -- to consider amending Act 1002, which prohibits public entities including school districts from enforcing a mask mandate. The act went into effect Wednesday, three months after it was approved in the state legislature.

"You know, I'm glad that the governor kind of listened to us to try to give us some local control in terms of what we could do," Gragg said.

Gragg spoke fervently Tuesday against Act 1002 at the Dumas Community Center during one of many Hutchinson-led town halls about the rise in covid-19 cases.

Hutchinson lifted a statewide mask mandate March 31 and said Tuesday he favored citizens having the option to wear face masks while pushing for vaccinations to increase in Arkansas. But a spike in the number of covid-19 cases -- and feedback from local leaders like Gragg -- apparently led the governor to ask state legislators to reconsider Act 1002.

Among the challenges posed by the new law, Hutchinson highlighted, is that children younger than 12 cannot take covid-19 vaccines because they are not yet eligible.

"I have consulted with Speaker [Matthew] Shepherd and Senate Pro Tem [Jimmy] Hickey, and they expressed to me it's going to be a heavy lift to get passage of this in the legislature," Hutchinson said. "But I have confidence that as the legislature looks at this, they will understand, one, it is a conservative principle to utilize local decision-making and not everything fits statewide, and then secondly, that this is necessary for providing local school boards to protect those most vulnerable, young people 12 and under, as they go to school. And we all want to have school in that environment."

Shepherd is the state House Speaker from El Dorado. Hickey is the senate president pro tempore from Texarkana. Both men, along with Hutchinson, are Republican.

Sen. Trent Garner, R-El Dorado, who sponsored the measure, could not be reached for comment Thursday.

Arkansas tallied 2,843 new covid-19 cases, the largest single-day increase in the state since 3,106 were confirmed Jan. 21. Eleven more deaths due to the disease were confirmed Thursday as well, raising the state's death toll to 6,110.

Jefferson County has 473 active cases, up 26 from Wednesday, and 179 deaths, one more than Wednesday, due to covid-19.

"Being an old farm boy, I feel like what we're doing is shutting the gate after the horse got out," Gragg said. "I'm extremely happy that for 60 days they have declared an emergency and suspended that to allow local control. My idea of local control is giving the school district the authority to determine what is best for the student population.

"Their idea is to give the parents the right to decide, but I think from my standpoint and all the other superintendents, we're not responsible for a select few but the entire student population."

Local control would only be extended to public and charter school districts and not to institutions of higher learning, Hutchinson clarified. Hutchinson also declared a 60-day public health emergency due to the spread of coronavirus Thursday, adding the state legislature has to review it.

"The reason for it is, we are in a public health emergency," Hutchinson said. "Anytime you're having staffing shortages in a hospital -- I believe today we have four covid patients who are waiting in ambulances to be able to find a hospital to go to -- that constitutes an emergency and a public health crisis."

Pine Bluff School District Superintendent Barbara Warren shared the same sentiments as Gragg over Hutchinson's special session request.

"I am very happy that the governor is taking this direction," Warren said. "It is important that we as school leaders can assess and respond to the situation on the ground. I appreciate his efforts to position us to make the call that best meets our community needs.

"If we are given the authority, after speaking to district leaders, we unanimously agree that it would be the best recommendation to mandate masks be worn."

Watson Chapel School District Superintendent Andrew Curry said he watched Hutchinson's announcement and added his district would "highly, highly recommend everybody wear masks." He said Watson Chapel schools enforced mask mandates through summer school.

In the meantime, Curry said, "We are going to highly, highly recommend everybody wear masks. If [the state legislators] approve it, then our board would have to make our decision here whether to enforce to not enforce a mask mandate."

If masks are required during the fall semester in Watson Chapel, "then I will be 110% behind that," Curry said.

White Hall School District Superintendent Doug Dorris did not indicate whether he would push for a mask mandate, adding he wanted to wait until the legislature decides what to do with Act 1002.

"I wish they would make the decision -- yes, wear the masks, or it's optional," Dorris said. "It's the same thing we got into last year. We get a directive today and it may change tomorrow."

Dorris is making his own push for vaccinations, offering a one-time $200 bonus to any employee hired as of July 1 and a "free day" to any student that takes a covid-19 shot. The Watson Chapel School Board passed a similar measure regarding the employee bonuses at Curry's request earlier this week.

Employees in the White Hall administration building are wearing masks, according to Dorris.

"We're highly recommending them," he said.

Classes in the Watson Chapel, White Hall and Dumas districts begin Aug. 16. Classes in the Pine Bluff district begin Aug. 18.

Gragg said while Dumas schools intend to open in a "100 percent on-site" format, the district will submit a petition for virtual learning to the Arkansas Department of Education by Sept. 1.

"My teachers were completely drained and worn out last year trying to do virtual and on-site," Gragg said, explaining the delay in requesting a virtual option. " That was not fair to our teachers, requiring them to do that. At this point, we are going to do that if it's the very last option."

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