Dieterich, Brownstown, South Central Boards Vote to Mask Up; Teutopolis Vote Ends in Tie

The Dieterich, Brownstown and South Central school boards Tuesday voted to require masks as part of their return to school plans. The Teutopolis school board ended up with a tie vote, so that district's plan still recommends masking, but does not require them.

The first fallout from that decision has occurrerd, as St. Joe-Ogden said they would not be coming to Teutopolis for volleyball Thursday night. Instead, Teutopolis will head to St. Joe-Odgen and will follow that district's mask guidelines.

The vote at Teutopolis was 2-2. The Board is currently operating with five members due to the resignations of Brad Koester and Michael Ritchie. One member could not attend Tuesday's meeting due to being out of town on personal business.

A motion was made "under protest" to update the Teutopolis plan to comply with the mask mandate, resulting in the 2-2 vote. 

The Board also directed Superintendent Matt Sturgeon to pursue the possibility of lawsuit against the Governor and/or State for overreach and limiting local authority to make decisions based on the needs and interests of the community of which they were elected to serve. Sturgeon is to provide the Board with additional information for possible Board action as early as the next scheduled meeting. The Board's regular monthly meeting is scheduled on September 20.

Sturgeon shared with the Board a plan with draft metrics for implementation of layered mitigations as necessary, based on local COVID data.

The Teutopolis board Tuesday also hired Kelly Bingman as a junior high paraprofessional, approved Brad Koester as a high school girls golf volunteer, approved Hannah Apple as a junior high theater co-director, and accepted Leah Schumacher's resignation as high school softball volunteer. 

At Dieterich, the Board voted 7-0 to amend their plan to include the mask mandate, but six votes were made "under protest". The change at Dieterich is effective on Thursday.

The Dieterich board also hired Kelsie Probst as a teacher aide.

The vote by the South Central board required the wearing of masks effective today.

At Brownstown, five voted to require masks, and one voted against the mandate. Four of the Yes votes were "under protest". Masks will be required in Brownstown schools as of Tuesday, September 7 when school resumes following the Labor Day holiday.

The Beecher City and Cowden-Herrick boards meet tonight to consider changes in their back to school plans.