Some private schools in the four-county area are not reporting COVID-19 related information directly to Mississippi State Department of Health, in violation of an Aug. 14 state order put in place to track virus cases in schools.
The order, signed into effect by State Health Officer Dr. Thomas Dobbs, requires all Mississippi schools — public or private — to report COVID-19 data directly to MSDH on a weekly basis. Schools must report both weekly and total counts of positive cases among students and staff; the number of students and staff under quarantine; and outbreaks, where three or more people within the same group test positive within two weeks.
“I do hope schools will be forthcoming and share it,” Dobbs said at an Aug. 19 press conference. “Because every school is going to have coronavirus. It’s like everybody gets the flu sometimes.”
Arguing private schools are just like other private businesses, however, some local school officials told The Dispatch they do not have to comply with the state order. Instead, they report to the Midsouth Association of Independent Schools (MAIS), a group representing private schools in Mississippi, Arkansas, Louisiana and Tennessee.
Among at least 13 private schools in the area, only five are listed on MSDH’s website, and only three — Starkville Christian School, Annunciation Catholic School in Columbus and Magnolia Christian School in Macon — have reported their numbers consistently. The three schools have had a total of four cases since the semester started, and none reported new cases this week.
Officials at three of the seven private schools not listed as reporting to MSDH told The Dispatch they report to MAIS. The organization, however, is not sharing school-by-school data with MSDH, department spokesperson Liz Sharlot said. The organization reports total numbers of positive cases among all its member schools weekly to the department, according to a Wednesday statement from MAIS.
Mississippi law deems violations of MSDH orders regarding “life-threatening communicable diseases” a felony punishable by a fine of up to $5,000 and/or imprisonment of up to five years, Sharlot told The Dispatch on Tuesday.
However, Sharlot said the department will not enforce the order in hopes to “encourage a partnership” with the schools. Additionally, no schools have been fined for not reporting, she said.
“We continue to work with the schools as a partnership and encourage direct reporting to (MSDH),” Sharlot said in an email. “There is a fine, but again, we want to encourage a partnership.”
There is also inconsistent reporting from some public school districts. None of the schools in Noxubee County School District is listed as reporting to MSDH. As of Friday, school districts in the four-county area have seen at least 268 positive cases among students and staff since school started, according to numbers the districts reported to MSDH or The Dispatch.
Independence vs. transparency
Some private school officials not reporting to MSDH argue the state order does not apply to them in the first place.
According to the MAIS statement, the organization does not consider private schools “agents of the state” and questions the “legitimacy and efficacy” of the reporting requirements.
“Unlike state schools, independent schools are not agents of the state,” the statement reads. “They are small businesses that happen to be in the business of teaching children. … No other Mississippi small businesses are required to report hearsay evidence of ‘positive cases’ to MSDH on a weekly basis.”
MAIS Executive Director A. Shane Blanton did not respond to The Dispatch’s email or calls for comment by press time.
Jeremy Nicholas, head of school at Starkville Academy, said his staff reports weekly numbers to MAIS and alerts parents when students test positive or have come in close contact with positive individuals. The school has 668 students and 74 staff members, and has seen 16 positive cases since school started Aug. 10 with most students learning in person.
“We are not a state school. In a sense, we are a business,” Nicholas said. “Are there other small businesses … reporting to the health department how many positive cases (they) have every week? Probably not.”
Additionally, Nicholas said the school may not have the most accurate numbers because it relies on a self-reporting system and cannot force parents to disclose health-related information.
“As long as we are reporting to our home association, that association is reporting to the state health department and we are reporting to our patrons, then we are satisfying every bit of communication that we believe is necessary,” he said.
Rachel Thomas, counselor at Columbus Christian Academy, said the school has 230 students — all learning in person — and 35 staff members. The school has had two faculty members and one student test positive since school began Aug. 10. The school reports via MAIS to MSDH, she said, so there’s no duplicated effort.
“We just do it all as one association,” Thomas said. ” … I would assume it’s more efficient that way.”
Bobby Eiland, headmaster of Hebron Christian School in Pheba — also an MAIS member school — said the school has had four students and one staff member test positive since students returned to school in person Aug. 6. He said he supports MAIS’s position on the reporting requirements but declined to elaborate.
However, private school officials who comply with the state order argue such public reports amid the pandemic are important.
Magnolia Christian School Principal Gabriel Knepp said his school reports the data weekly in respect for the state authority. Since school started Aug. 26, there’s only been one positive case on the small campus of 36 students and four staff members, he said.
Joni House, principal of Annunciation Catholic School, said her school — although an MAIS member school — reports the data directly to the Catholic Diocese of Jackson, which then shares the data with MSDH. Since school began in person Aug. 24, there’s only been one positive case among students and staff, she said.
Even if she’s not required to report the numbers, House said she thinks it’s the right thing to do.
“I personally think, for everybody to stay healthy within our school environment and the entire community, that it’s important to have the correct numbers. … It really can drive individual decisions,” she said. “… If parents are trying to make a decision on what school they want to send their child to, I just think it’s important that people know that we are taking all the measures we can to navigate the circumstances as best as we can.”
Randy Witbeck, principal of Starkville Christian School (non-MAIS member), agreed. There have been two students test positive, he said.
“We are totally independent, but when requests are made of us … that make sense or seem to help those who are trying to work (in) the medical field, we don’t see any reason why not to go ahead and comply with that,” he said.
Yue Stella Yu was previously a reporter for The Dispatch.
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