UNION COUNTY, N.C. — Union County Public Schools’ Board of Education voted early Monday morning to send students currently in quarantine back to class, as long as they are not showing symptoms and have not tested positive for COVID-19.

The vote comes after UCPS reported 7,385 staff and students in quarantine in its Friday COVID-19 dashboard update. The district says 479 students and staff are positive.

After a lengthy closed session, starting at 7 a.m. Monday, the board met publicly and voted quickly to end contact tracing and quarantine policies for ‘healthy’ students, as described by some members of the board. 

The 8-1 vote took just a few minutes, as the board had very limited debate or discussion over the measure.

In recent weeks, board meetings have stretched hours as members passionately debated potential mask mandates and quarantine policies.

Just last week, the board met for nearly four hours in its regular September meeting to debate its mask policy for Union County public school buildings, eventually deciding to keep masks optional. 

This morning, they took additional action, voting to effectively end quarantines and contact tracing, claiming UCPS employees never had the legal authority to conduct contract tracing and mandate quarantine in the first place. 

“I’d like to make a motion to stop sending healthy people home and that the quarantine protocols be for sick people only. And, that we immediately bring our healthy people back to school and their workplace,” said at-large board member, Jimmy Bention. 

In an amendment to his motion, member Gary Sides, District 3, added UCPS employees must immediately stop contact tracing and only report positive cases.

“It is clear that Union County public schools staff does not have the authority to issue quarantine," said board member Sides. "And, that effects, by law, the students that are currently— have been contacted by UCPS staff that are out on quarantine. That is— if this motion passes would be null and void, except for those that are in isolation due to a positive COVID test,” Sides added. 

Soon after, Chairperson Melissa Merrell called a roll call vote.

Member John Kirkpatrick, district one, was the only vote against. 

“Effective immediately, Union County public schools employees, staff, nurses halt all activity of contact tracing and quarantine. And, if a student that has currently been sent home on quarantine— they are allowed to come back to school as long as they were not on the positive list and have no symptoms,” Merrell said after the vote.

“Immediately?” Bention asked.

“Immediately, effective immediately,” Merrell replied. 

The board meeting ended quickly after the vote, so Superintendent Dr. Andrew Houlihan could communicate with school principals and staff. Board members expressed concern the principals at area schools might turn away students not knowing the policy had changed early Monday morning.

“I think they’re all watching the meeting right now,” Merrell said.

Dr. Houlihan said they would communicate with the schools on multiple levels, including administration, nurses, and individual families impacted by the former quarantine policy.

As the news spread Monday, the parents of a Union County second grader expressed dismay with the board’s decision.

“So, you have no masks that are required. You have no way to know if you’ve been in close contact with someone who’s positive. And again, for half the grades, you can’t even get a vaccine. So basically, all safeguards are removed and it’s just one big free-for-all in a continuing pandemic,” parent Mike Miller said.

Miller’s second grader wears a mask to school and was considered a close contact of a positive case last week. However, because he was wearing a mask, he was not quarantined. 

At last week’s board meeting, Miller attended a protest outside in which parents and families were calling for a mask mandate in Union County’s public schools. The vote was 5-4 against the mandate, the closest vote since this summer. 

“It’s unfortunate, and discouraging, and upsetting,” parent Mike Miller said about Monday’s quarantine decision, adding it took away his hope the board would approve a mask mandate at future meetings.

Miller and his wife, who currently both work from home, said they had not made any immediate decisions about their second grader’s future in the county’s public schools.

“Now there’s an even greater feeling of helplessness,” Miller added.

Meanwhile, other parents in recent meetings have celebrated the board’s insistence on keeping masks optional and even urged the board to loosen quarantine requirements.

“Why are our healthy children made to sit out of school for 10 to 14 days following exposure? This is also arbitrary, with no scientific basis. If the new delta strain has an incubation of 48 to 72 hours, why are we asking kids to sit out of school for longer than three days? If a child does not have any symptoms, why can’t we just use common sense and basic clinical knowledge and get them back in school?” said Britney Bouldin at last week’s meeting, representing the group Moms for Liberty. 

During the board meeting Monday, board member Jimmy Bention, at-large, introduced the motion using some of the same reasoning.

“I’d like to make a motion to stop sending healthy people home and that the quarantine protocols be for sick people only. And, that we immediately bring our healthy people back to school and their workplace,” Bention said shortly before the vote.

In a short statement on its website Monday afternoon, UCPS stated in part, “The statutory authority of managing contact tracing and quarantining is that of Union County Public Health. As required by law, school nurses, administrators and school staff will continue to address positive, presumptive or confirmed cases of COVID-19.”

The statement continued, “All students and staff who do not have a positive COVID-19 test or symptoms, should return to school or work immediately.”

“A quarantine exists to squash the ability for the virus to transfer. That’s the whole point of it. Yes, no one likes having their kids home for two weeks. But, it’s either that or you spread. And, I don’t want undue spread,” Miller said. 

He added he would support changes to the county’s 14-day quarantine policy if the board implemented a mask mandate for all students and staff.

The board’s next regularly scheduled meeting is on Tuesday, October 5 at 7:00 p.m.