In 1956, John F. Kennedy won a Pulitzer Prize for his book, “Profiles in Courage,” a collection of short biographies describing acts of bravery and integrity by eight United States Senators.

These accounts of men who endured withering criticism, sometimes at the cost of their political standing, to do the right thing served as an inspiration for an emerging generation of leaders.

To date, no one has written a book called “Profiles of Cowardice,” but if an author takes up the subject, a chapter could be devoted to the Lowndes County School District Board and its actions Thursday evening.

The special-call meeting was called to set COVID-19 protocols for the school year, specifically as it pertains to mask-wearing and quarantines. It should be noted that the district’s elementary school-aged children don’t have access to vaccines to combat a pandemic that has killed more than 7,500 Mississippians. Eighty-three percent of Mississippi children ages 12-to-17 have not been vaccinated. Mississippi’s vaccination rate among children is the worst in the nation.

Mask-wearing has long been established as a reasonable and effective precaution against the spread of the virus, so the decision before the board appeared obvious given the widespread vulnerability of the student population.

If the safety of children is the highest priority, requiring students to wear masks was the only reasonable choice.

But that is not the decision the LCSD board made Thursday night.

Faced with a standing-room-only crowd of angry parents dead set against a mask requirement, the LCSD Board folded like a lounge chair.

Instead, the board voted 4-1 to “recommend” students wear masks, leaving the decision up to parents. Simply put, the district has no mask policy.

Jacqueline Gray was alone among the five-member board to vote against the faux policy.

Gray put the safety of the district’s school children above all other considerations. She alone did her duty as a board member and she is to be commended for her courage.

The other board members — President Robert Barksdale, vice-president Jane Kilgore, Wesley Barrett and Brian Clark — yielded to arguments they knew were misguided, ill-informed and potentially dangerous.

Although he had no vote, Superintendent Sam Allison failed as a leader with a pathetic rationalization of the board’s acquiescence to mob mentality, pointing out that no statewide or local mask ordinances are in place. In relying on that argument, Allison admitted the district has abdicated its responsibility for the safety of its students.

At a time when the surge of COVID cases is at its highest since January and when the new variants are proving to be a risk of serious illness among children, a day of reckoning may come for Allison and those four board members.

When students become seriously ill as a result of the board’s failure to act, it won’t be a bunch of overwrought, sign-carrying parents they will have to answer to. Those voices  will have long since receded into the shadows. They will not hold themselves accountable. They will be silent.

But the board certainly will be held accountable, and accountable most of all to their own consciences.

Thursday, the board was not moved by the arguments of the audience, but by their own cowardice.

The board failed to perform its duty. The potential of the consequences is ominous.

Slim Smith is a columnist and feature writer for The Dispatch. His email address is [email protected].

Slim Smith is a columnist and feature writer for The Dispatch. His email address is [email protected].