By EMILY TRACY, guest columnist

The start of the school year is always filled with excitement and anticipation for all the wonderful things a school means for students, teachers, staff and our families. I hope your children have enjoyed the first few weeks of class, meeting their new teachers and seeing old friends.

This is my 18th school year as a teacher, principal or superintendent; I can tell you the joy of seeing kids walking into school never diminishes. As educators, we enjoy such an essential position in a community and it’s incumbent upon us to always act in a way that puts the health of our students first.

The link between student health and academic achievement is critical and undeniable. Students who suffer from poor health (or sporadic access to doctors and health care) consistently perform more poorly than their healthier classmates. Missing class due to illness or even lying down to rest in an office instead of receiving classroom instruction stunts the educational growth of our students.

As such, we must all work together to create the safest and healthiest learning atmosphere possible.

While we continue to grapple with the effects of COVID-19 and the disruptions caused by the pandemic, we in the public sphere are faced with some very difficult and disheartening decisions.

It’s been more than a year since cautions and procedures related to COVID caused unprecedented changes to how we interact with each other, how we teach our students, and our emphasis on a healthy learning environment.

We all wish that our lives could be as they were before the pandemic hit with full force. While we certainly have come a long way as a society and a community, it’s clear that further vigilance is necessary.

My background and passion are in education. When matters that reside in the world and science of health care come before me as Brown County Schools superintendent, it’s my duty to consult and rely on the doctors and experts who have spent their lives treating our fellow Americans and studying the behavior of infectious diseases.

Recently, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) released updated recommendations related to COVID-19 and mask updates. Together with the Brown County Health Department and the recommendations from the CDC and Indiana State Department of Health, Brown County Schools began requiring universal masks for all individuals (regardless of vaccination) for all indoor activities beginning Aug. 9.

The Brown County school board and I did not make this decision lightly or in a vacuum. Several school districts in our surrounding area and throughout the state have made this difficult choice as well.

Clearly, the emotions regarding masks and COVID precautions run very high. We understand this. People in favor of our decision and those who oppose it have made their opinions known; we respect the beliefs of everyone in this matter and encourage continued dialogue.

Unfortunately, the pandemic is still a challenge our community is facing. We will continue to monitor and follow the health department guidelines along with collecting data for our school community daily.

As many of you know, Brown County Schools had to close Helmsburg Elementary recently due to the spread of COVID symptoms, cases or contacts within the building. We reached this decision not only to protect the health of everyone who works and learns in that building, but also to be ready to resume a regular learning environment as soon as possible.

We had hoped not to have to take these measures, close schools, or revert to virtual learning.

We understand your frustration, and we share it. What we also share, however, is a commitment to safe and healthy learning for our students, and a safe and healthy working environment for our teachers and staff. All our decisions are made with these priorities in mind.

Let’s please continue to have constructive and respectful dialogue about how best to navigate this health crisis. We must always remember that we serve role models and examples for our children and the greater Brown County community. Working together, we can have a terrific school year and do what is necessary to resume a prepandemic learning environment.

Emily Tracy is superintendent of Brown County schools. She can be reached at 812-988-6601 or [email protected].