NORWAY — The Norway-Vulcan Area Schools Board for now won’t lift the district’s mask requirement for students in sixth grade and younger, despite another round of complaints by parents.

More than 30 people attended Wednesday’s meeting in the Norway High School auditorium, with several again protesting the masking requirement the board approved on a 5-2 vote in September.

Under the policy, staff working with masked students also will wear a mask and students of all ages must have a mask on while riding district buses. Students and staff in grades seven through 12 will not be required to wear masks in school unless 8% of students are COVID-positive or in quarantine.

“I’m for mask choice,” said Chelsey Nickels of Norway in voicing her opposition to the policy. “You make choices for your kids. I’ll make choices for my kids.”

Diane Gregg of Vulcan said she doesn’t believe the school board had enough data or facts to support the mask requirement.

“I’d really like to see your facts,” Gregg said. “No one else in the county did this. Why did you do it? That’s what we’d like to know.”

Another parent, Sara Lake, admitted she previously had not paid much attention to the local school board. However, the mask requirement vote changed that.

“Your mask mandate lit a fire under my butt,” Lake said. “We have to find common ground, but we don’t do that if the rules are nonsensical.

“We’re neighbors, friends and family here. We need to come together,” she added. “You can help do that by rescinding the mask mandate.”

Lake was among at least three individuals who called for board members supporting the mask requirement to resign, with Jenny DeDecker, the board’s secretary, specifically targeted for photos posted on social media that allegedly showed her at a recent concert without a mask.

Saunja Morgan of Vulcan, an administrator for the Facebook page “Norway Families for Freedom” representing area residents opposing the mask requirement, said she considered DeDecker’s actions hypocritical and evidence she should no longer serve on the school board.

“This is my job, not yours or the government’s,” Morgan said of requiring the mask.

Neither DeDecker nor any other board member responded to the calls to resign. However, board members did discuss the mask requirement and the need to keep it in place, at least for the time being.

“When you’re up here, you represent everyone in the district,” said Bill O’Brion, board vice president. “We’re having to make decisions that affect everybody. We’re making decisions in the best interests of the school district.”

O’Brion added he and other board members rely on recommendations from health officials, including guidelines posted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, on whether to lift the mask requirement.

“You’ve repeated it. We’re not medical experts,” he said. “I put my decision-making in the hands of people who know better than me.”

If metrics and numbers of reported COVID-19 cases drop, O’Brion said he’d support lifting the district’s mask policy.

“Right now, we’re not quite there,” he added.

Trustee Joe Rake agreed. “I don’t think anything needs to be done right now,” Rake said. “Things haven’t gotten better.”

NVAS Board President Cory Heigl, who previously voted against the mask policy, said he remained concerned over the lack of defined thresholds for the requirement, adding he was “not comfortable where we landed as a board” on the issue.

Despite the difference of opinions over the policy, O’Brion said he wanted to reassure district residents the board was listening to their concerns.

“I know how emotional this subject is for everyone,” he said. “We listen. Everything we were emailed, we’ve read.”

O’Brion also issued a criticism of his own, calling threats against board members as “shameful” and asked all residents to follow the golden rule.

“Our job is to protect the kids, keep them in school and keep them safe,” he said. “You’re really attacking all of us who were elected to protect our kids.”

While not taking action on the mask policy, the board voted 6-0 to approve a proposed letter of agreement with bargaining units for district teachers and staff. Trustee Brady Gustafson abstained, citing a potential conflict of interest.

Superintendent Louis Steigerwald said the agreement, which has yet to be approved by either union, would extend non-accumulated sick days to staff should a staff member or staff member’s child be infected with COVID-19.

Additional details on the proposed agreement were not available.