Public Health Dean questions mask mandates’ effects on learning
October 5, 2021
As the delta variant surged through Bulloch County Schools, only a few members of the Board of Education voiced their approval of a mask mandate, with Georgia Southern’s Dean of Public Health questioning its affect on the well-being of students.
Dean of Public Health and District 3 Board member Stuart Tedders said in a September meeting that “masks help to slow the spread of COVID-19”, the Statesboro Herald reported, but despite the public’s agreement with Tedders’ statement, no vote was taken to implement the mandate.
“My guess is that we all have different opinions about what we should do as a district or as a community, and there’s probably nothing that I can say to convince you, probably nothing you can say to convince me,” Tedders said in the meeting. “But I do know one thing, and that is that all of us, wherever our opinion lies, all of us are trying to do the best that we can do to protect our families.”
While believing masks and vaccines are effective in combating COVID-19, he posed questions on how enforcing a mask mandate could interrupt instruction or hinder learning for young children or children with disabilities that rely on facial cues.
The George-Anne reached out to Tedders for comment on the vote and received this response:
“My roles as an employee at Georgia Southern and my community service with the Bulloch County School System are completely different, and I work diligently to not commingle the two for ethical reasons,” Tedders told The George-Anne. “As such, I do not believe there is overlap.”
Upon The George-Anne’s requests for any further discussion, Tedders declined further comment until after the publication of this article.
“I never indicated I would not support [a mask mandate],” wrote Tedders. “In fact, I would have supported it had we voted. Whenever I make a decision, it is incumbent on me to ask the question, ‘How does this decision impact the academic well-being of students?’.”
Editor’s note: A previous version of this article was published with factual errors and was taken down temporarily for some well-needed fact-checking. The previous version told that there was a vote at the meeting, and this was incorrect. We have fixed the errors along with adding an additional statement from Tedders.
Patrick Wheaton • Oct 7, 2021 at 10:48 pm
Stuart Tedders newly added comment to the revised version of this story is disingenuous. Yes the board took no vote on a mask mandate for Bulloch Schools. Several times, Charles Wilson, the Superintendent, and Mike Sparks, the Board Chairman, noted that any board member could make a motion and the board could vote. Not a single board member made such a motion and thus no vote was taken. If Mr. Tedders “would have supported it had we voted,” then why did he not make a motion and put it to a vote? Furthermore, while it is true that he “never indicated [he] would not support [a mask mandate],: he also never indicated that he would support such a mandate. In fact, his comments implied that he had issues with mandating masks.
Go back and watch the videos of both the September 9th and August 12th board meetings (the videos are available at https://www.bulloch.k12.ga.us/board).
At the August 12th meeting, Mr. Tedders spoke for more than 11 minutes beginning at the 8:28 mark. After provided pre-Delta data about mortality and minimizing the effects of COVID as only affecting 2% of the population and mostly those over age 60, he stated “I am all about choice. It is your decision” (15:06) and “i wish people would CHOOSE to wear a mask” (15:45). In making these remarks, Tedders did not indicate that he supports a mask mandate; he implied that mask wearing is a choice, because he “is all about choice.”
At the September 9th meeting, masks were on the agenda as a discussion item. Mr. Tedders’ comments begin at the 1:28:44 mark. In these comments he stated “I’m of the opinion masks are helpful . . . Masks are not the answer. . . we live with risk everyday.” During that comment he noted that there are studies that find masks are ineffective and studies that find masks are effective. Mr. Tedders is playing both sides of the fence. He is equivocating. Furthermore, he raised the question about how having to enforce masks could disrupt student learning and that young children and children with special needs need to see facial expressions. These comments imply Mr. Tedders lack of commitment to a mask mandate. While he never explicitly stated opposition to a mandate, it is not unreasonable to take his comments as not supporting a mask mandate either.
If Mr. Tedders would vote for a mask mandate, then perhaps he should take a stand and make a motion to require masks in Bulloch County Schools.
Finally, Mr. Tedders claims to “work diligently to not commingle” his “roles as an employee at Georgia Southern and [his] community service with the Bulloch County School System.” If this is true, then why is he officially listed on the BOE webpage as Dr. Stuart Tedders, Professor of Epidemiology? Why did the board ask him to comment about COVID at the August 12th meeting, prior to the period for public comment? Could it be that the Board of Education turned to Dr. Tedders’ professional expertise as an employee of Georgia Southern University? Why did he, in his statement, imply expertise as someone who deals with data”? In these cases, Mr. Tedders seems to be comingling his employment as Dr. Tedders, Dean of the College of Public Health, with his community service as a Bulloch County Board of Education member. Let me be clear, I think Dr. Tedders should use his professional/academic expertise to guide public health policy in our schools. To do so is not a conflict of interest. He would not be advancing the interests of Georgia Southern at the expense of Bulloch County Schools; he would, and should, be using his expertise in line with the mission of the Jiann-Ping Hsu College of Public Health: “to improve health, eliminate health disparities and health inequities of rural communities and underserved populations globally through excellence in teaching, public health workforce development, research, scholarship, professional service and community engagement.”
Joanne Remppel • Oct 7, 2021 at 9:47 am
The lack of a mask mandate effects those of us with underlying conditions because we do not feel safe going into the classroom with those who are so cavalier about the respiratory cause of the transmission of this virus, with those who will not wear a mask. So your article is lacking insight into the full spectrum of how this impacts learning. I want to go into the classroom rather than just zoom the session. However I am not leaving my health in the hands of others.
Liz Desnoyers-Colas • Oct 5, 2021 at 9:01 am
There was nothing ethical about his vote. When you abstain, it’s a “No” vote. Please don’t let this guy go into the community representing GSU and vote foe us in such a cowardly fashion ever.