Posted on November 3, 2021 at 12:43 PM by County Council
Parents have recently attended St. Charles County Council meetings to express their anger and frustrations about COVID-19 mask mandates and quarantine policies of local school districts. Many blame the St. Charles County Public Health Department, but the department is required by state law to follow requirements set by the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services (DHSS). It is also important to note that school districts, similarly, are regulated by the state (the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education), and County government has no regulatory authority over them.
Some of the school districts also blame the County health department; however, the school districts are required to send the names of students who test positive or may have been in close contact with a student who tested positive for COVID to the County health department. The blame game goes on and on. Recently, DHSS has given some flexibility to county health departments and school districts to reduce or eliminate quarantine requirements for close contacts. Credit should be given to the St. Charles County Executive’s office for their efforts in encouraging DHSS to change the quarantine requirement. Thank you, County Executive Steve Ehlmann.
The way I witnessed it, this is the truth of what's going on, folks.