The Summit County Attorney’s Office has concluded that Park City School District and Parley’s Park Elementary School officials did not intentionally delay the enforcement of a mask mandate at the school in November.
A report released this week says the evidence points to the “sincere desire” of Superintendent Jill Gildea and Parley’s Park Principal Kim Howe “to enforce the mandate and protect the health of students, faculty, and staff at PPES.”
“The concern in the community that PCSD/PPES was intentionally manipulating the situation so as not to have to enforce the mask mandate is unfounded,” the report, which was written by County Attorney Margaret Olson and Deputy County Attorney Helen Strachan, says.
An inquiry was launched to determine why a mask mandate was not enforced during the week of Nov. 1-5. The office hired a neutral outside investigator to interview witnesses and gather documents.
In a written statement, the Board of Education says it accepts the report’s findings and appreciates the time and effort that went into its review and preparation.
“We will continue to work with our employees, parents, students, and other constituents to make the best decisions possible based on the information available to us from the state and local health departments, and in compliance with state and federal regulations,” the statement says. “We reaffirm our commitment to clear, effective, and civil communication and encourage the broader community to do the same as we move forward, together, towards our community’s aspirational vision and mission for its schools where our students and all-staff are safe, supported, engaged, challenged and healthy.”
Summit County Health Director Phil Bondurant issued an order in August that said if any elementary, middle or junior high school had a 2% or greater 14-day rate of COVID-19 positive cases, a mask mandate would be in effect for the following two weeks. That order covered the Park City, North Summit and South Summit school districts. Secondary schools were not included.
Parley’s Park reached the threshold on Oct. 29, a Friday, and the mask mandate was scheduled to be in effect the following Monday, Nov. 1. However, the health order was not enforced that week, and students and faculty were seen not wearing masks, the report says.
The report says Howe’s original email on Oct. 31 to the Parley’s Park faculty about the order said “students are encouraged to follow the students’ parents’ guidance with regard to wearing face masks” and “face coverings or face shields will be required for all students, faculty, and staff.”
“In retrospect, it appears this may have been an addition onto an old email, a mistake that created confusion from the start,” the report says.
On Nov. 1, Gildea notified Bondurant that she was being advised by an attorney that the district could not “legally” enforce the mandate and also emailed the same message to the Park City Education Association (PCEA), a teachers union.
A series of discussions, email exchanges and phone calls about the mandate took place throughout the week, according to the report. Participants included school officials, the PCEA, Bondurant, lawyers for the district and the Summit County Health Department and parents.
On Nov. 4, a parent emailed Gildea to express concern about an announcement Howe made that morning on the public address system describing the mask mandate as a parental choice. The superintendent told the parent that some students have exemptions from wearing a mask and that the district wanted them to still feel welcomed, the report says.
“It is at this point that Dr. Gildea appears to begin to equate ‘parental choice’ with ‘medical exemptions.’ This confusion would characterize the next few days,” the report says.
Parents became concerned and started an online petition urging the district to implement the masking requirements, which gathered hundreds of signatures.
Enforcement of the mandate began on Nov. 8, and an inspection held at the elementary school that day found conditions to be “satisfactory and compliant,” the report says. Other inspections were held throughout the remainder of the mandate and conditions again were satisfactory.
The Board of Education statement notes that the issue of masks in schools has been “definitively addressed by the Utah Legislature in a manner that makes the legal issues underlying the County’s prior order moot.”
Lawmakers passed a resolution on Jan. 21 to immediately end mask mandates that had been put in place in Summit and Salt Lake counties through public health orders.