Editorial Roundup: Indiana

South Bend Tribune. Aug. 29, 2021. Editorial: Doing the right thing during a pandemic shouldn’t be controversial Doing the right thing is often difficult. But it shouldn’t be this hard or controversial, not during a pandemic, not when the goal is keeping people safe – and keeping kids learning in school buildings. On Aug. 19, in response to a surge of COVID-19 infections in the first week of classes, School City of Mishawaka announced it would begin requiring masks for all students, staff and visitors, regardless of vaccination status. Last week, nearly 10% of staff and students in quarantine and the district reported more positive cases than during any other week of the pandemic. As of Wednesday evening, 554 staff and students across the district have been quarantined – also an 18-month high for the district, according to school corporation data. The decision came days before Penn-Harris-Madison issued its own universal mask requirement. Other schools in Indiana have already returned to virtual learning after being open less than a month. Given those numbers and those facts, it shouldn’t be difficult to understand why Mishawaka, acting at the direction of the county health department, made the change in policy. Still, as anyone who’s been paying attention for the past 18 months could have predicted, School City’s decision, and others like it, haven’t gone over well with everyone. While some parents at Wednesday’s board meeting were supportive of the district, others protested. As reported by The Tribune, a couple dozen people who refused to wear masks – and who were denied entrance to the building – shouted ‘œYou should be ashamed of yourselves’� and ‘œYou have no right to mandate a mask on us.’� In explaining the decision, Mishawaka Superintendent Wayne Barker said, ‘œWe have nothing left’� and noted, ‘œwe’re trying every mitigation strategy that we have.’� Barker said that ‘œwe have to try something because we’re getting to a place where we’re going to be forced to make another recommendation because we won’t have the students or staff to keep our schools open.’� A letter writer on these pages recently wrote the one thing everyone should be in agreement on is that keeping students in the classroom is critical. Simply put, the wearing of face masks – in addition to vaccines for those students who qualify for it – give schools a better chance of continuing in-person learning and dodging school closures and e-learning. School officials who make that a priority – along with keeping everyone safe – are doing the right thing. And that shouldn’t be controversial. ___ Anderson Herald Bulletin. Aug. 26, 2021. Editorial: It’s time to take action against systemic racism Gov. Eric Holcomb recently took another baby step toward addressing systemic racism in Indiana. On Aug. 10, Holcomb’s office lauded the launch of a ‘œpublic disparity data portal’� online as a ‘œview into current equity gaps that exist in health, public safety, social services, education and workforce.’� The press release went on to say, ‘œThe information reveals key areas the state will focus on to address disparities in our communities and monitor overall progress throughout the state.’� To be clear, the dashboard doesn’t introduce any new information; it just pulls together and presents the already available statistics from 2014 through 2020. As most already knew, the data shows a troubling disparity between Indiana’s white majority and Black minority. Here’s some of the evidence: – In 2020, Black people comprised 9.3% of the state’s population but accounted for 25.4% of police arrests.