The meeting of the Van-Far R-1 school board on Thursday, March 18, moved quickly through the first several items on the agenda. Then the pace slowed as the topic changed to the mask mandate.

A motion to discontinue the mask mandate was made, leading to a discussion of the intended and unintended consequences of doing so — including a return to stricter rules. The motion was withdrawn.

Finally, a motion was made and seconded that the district end the mask mandate at the end of the 2020-21 school year and be revisited for summer school and the 2021-22 school year. The motion passed by a vote of 4-2.

Kathy Allen, district nurse, introduced the mask mandate as a topic for discussion, noting that there are only “38 days of school left, and I don’t want the kids to lose anything else.” She explained that, with a mask mandate, the procedure for quarantining students is less stringent.

Allen added that the presence of masks makes it much less likely that the school district might be shut down because of an outbreak of COVID-19 positive tests.

This led to a wide-ranging discussion involving the board, members of the public, staff members, and the superintendent. Topics included the efficacy of masks, the ethical responsibility of the district, the necessity of contact tracing, and the law of unintended consequences.

“I’m not sure it’s in our mandate to be testing and contact tracing,” said board member Tony Dameron.

Superintendent John Fortney asked about the ethical implications of making that choice, noting that the issue and its implications were complex.