Shen school leaders respond to mask concerns

Parents and staff at Shenedehowa have many concerns about masks and social distancing.

The superintendent and the school board president both admit things are not perfect. But both are adamant that the school administration is pushing hard to make sure all teachers, staff and students follow the rules with masks.

This all came up earlier this week when the Superintendent Dr. Oliver Robinson put out an announcement reminding teachers and parents of the mask mandate in place by order of the governor and the rules with mask breaks — no more than 15 minutes throughout the day when indoors.

Parents have been messaging me all week with concerns those rules and social distancing rules are not always being followed. Even some staff members reached out.

Robinson and School Board President Deanna Stephenson say they’ve heard from parents too, and any instance of these strict rules not being followed is unacceptable and is being addressed immediately.

“We could put the perfect plan on paper. However, it now relies on us to be disciplined enough to constantly, constantly review, evaluate, constantly remind people of their responsibility,” Robinson said.

“To the parents that are feeling that, I can’t make them feel better, but they should feel better because we are trying to do the very best we can for our students,” Stephenson said.

Robinson says 91% of all Shan staff is vaccinated.