Grove City Messenger - August 22nd, 2021

PAGE 2 - GROVE CITY MESSENGER - August 22, 2021
Blood drives in Grove City
The American Red Cross will host several blood drives
in Grove City. The events will be held:
•Aug. 24 from 12 to 6 p.m. at First Baptist Grove City
•Aug. 24 from 12 to 6 p.m. at Grove City Elks Lodge No.
37
•Aug. 27 from 10:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. at the Grove City
Library
•Aug. 27 from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Jackson
Township Administration Office
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community events
•Aug. 28 from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Bethel Lutheran
•Aug. 30 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Mount Carmel Grove
City
To schedule an appointment, call 1-800-448-3543 or
visit www.redcrossblood.org.
S.A.L.T. at Evans Center
The Grove City Division of Police host Seniors and Law
Enforcement Together (S.A.L.T.) meetings at 1 p.m. the
second Tuesday of each month at the Evans Center, 4330
Dudley Ave. Adults of all ages are welcome to
attend. If you would like additional information on
SWCS
Continued from page 1
health boards to mitigate the potential spread of
COVID-19 in their schools.
“We are continuing many of our practices and protocols
from last school year, which include but are not
limited to physical distancing, hand washing and respiratory
etiquette and cleaning and maintaining
healthy facilities including ventilation improvements,”
wrote Sandra Nekoloff, the district’s executive director
of communications, in an email.
She added that the district will also continue to follow
the Ohio Department of Health’s quarantine and
contact tracing guidelines; recommend but not require
(COVID-19) vaccines; make appropriate accommodations
for students with disabilities; and follow federal
orders on transportation protocols.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
(CDC) is requiring that all students who take public
transportation to school wear a facial covering while
they are on the bus.
The public reaction to the district’s announcement
that it would be a ‘mask-friendly’ district for the start
of the 2021-22 school year on Aug. 25 was mixed. For
every person who celebrated the decision, there was
one who expressed disappointment.
Chandra Fredrick was one of those who were disappointed
by the district’s decision not to require masks
for its students and staff. On Aug. 9, she came before
the board of education at its regular meeting to ask the
district to reconsider its choice.
Fredrick said one of her children, a 10-year-old who
is going into his fifth grade year, is immunocompromised
and she fears for his safety should she send him
to school with the current guidelines in place.
She said prior to the revised mask policy announcement,
she and her husband had enough confidence in
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other crime prevention programs visit police.grovecityohio.gov
or call 614-277-1765.
Vaccine clinic at Westland High
OhioHealth will host a COVID-19 vaccination clinic
from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. each Tuesday through Aug. 31. The
clinic will be held at Westland High School, 146 Galloway
Road in Galloway. To schedule an appointment, call 614-
566-8187. Walk-in are also accepted. For more information,
visit ohiohealth.com/covidvaccine.
the district’s decision-making process regarding
COVID-19 protocols last year that they re-enrolled
their three children after nearly a year of home-schooling.
“Because our district did such a great job with
COVID precautions last year, we felt comfortable
enrolling our kids in school for the fall,” said Fredrick.
“But now, you’re throwing away the most important
method of protection for our unvaccinated kids by not
requiring masks in school.
“We know that masks work. We know the science.
You’re an education board, you teach science. We know
that masks work. We know masks are the reason that
transmission in our schools was so low last year. You
can say that you care about all of our kids but your current
policy demonstrates the opposite.”
Fredrick said her child wants to go to school, wants
to catch up with his friends and wants to get involved
in activities. She said she wants to send him to school
but is filled with anxiety by the thought of doing so if
the district maintains its current policy. She said children
who are immunocompromised or disabled should
not have to find alternative methods of learning simply
because “some parents don’t want their kids to wear a
mask.”
Shortly before this article went to press, Governor
Mike DeWine urged school districts throughout the
state to reconsider their mask policies if they have not
mandated its use. “At the very least,” he wrote on this
official Twitter account, “consider requiring masks for
the next few weeks when we know the spread level will
be very high.”
As of press time, district officials maintain they will
begin the school year with its current requirements
and protocols in place. They said their policies could
change if mandates were to change.
In March, the state legislature passed
Senate Bill 22 which allows lawmakers to
rescind health orders like the mask mandate
via concurrent resolution, which circumvents
the governor. It also blocks local
health departments from banning mass
gatherings or closing schools unless a dangerous
communicable disease becomes
unusually prevalent.
In July, Franklin County Public Health
and Columbus Public Health recommended
universal masking policies for all students
and staff members in the upcoming 2021-22
school year — even if they are fully vaccinated.
Children under the age of 12 are not yet
eligible to receive the COVID-19 vaccination.