The State Board of Education voted Tuesday to extend pandemic precautions for child care providers by putting them into permanent rule, but with plans to revisit those rules in a few months.

State law requires the Ohio Department of Education’s (ODE) child care provider regulations to follow those of the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services (ODJFS), which also licenses child care providers. ODJFS recently embedded pandemic precautions including mask requirements into permanent rule after operating under a series of emergency rules authorized by executive order of Gov. Mike DeWine, prompting ODE to propose that the board follow suit.

While the rules are permanent, the pandemic-specific provisions are only to be in effect during the declared health emergency related to COVID-19, according to ODE staff.

The board was scheduled to vote on the rules last month but deferred to this week’s meeting after some members expressed concern about putting pandemic-specific rules into permanent rule, a concern that remained for some Tuesday.

“It still has, in my opinion, the same root problem -- overkill,” said board member Diana Fessler.

“I do think that these rules will become permanent … in the beginning of the COVID situation we were going to shut down for two weeks, just to flatten the curve. It’s been a year now,” she said.

Board member John Hagan complained of an “asinine” and “ridiculous” process, saying the law should simply state ODE rules will follow those of ODJFS, rather than requiring the board to repeatedly vote to update them. “Here we are again. When I think about this issue and the amount of that we have, in my opinion, wasted that could have been put toward things that could have benefitted children and education, I get a little more angry each time,” he said.

Board member Kirsten Hill asked about ODE’s ability to establish a mask rule given provisions of law defining masks as medical devices, making their recommended use the domain of licensed clinicians. “Is it legal for anyone in education to prescribe a mask if it’s a medical device?” Hill said.

Immy Singh, chief counsel for ODE, said the Ohio Department of Health has authority to mandate masks and has delegated determination of some details to ODE and ODJFS.

Board Vice President Charlotte McGuire, who voted in favor of the rules, said “the bottom line is the health and safety of our children.”

“We do not want to create what I will call unequal practices or that we subtract from what JFS is doing. You’re talking about Head Start programs, you’re talking about other, non-school based programs, and we want to make sure the regulations are equal and fair across the board for all who operate those types of settings for our children,” she said.

Board member Mark Lamoncha said he’d been amazed to see how children in his area were wearing masks without complaint. “It is a real blessing to see that they were little leaders in what they were doing to help protect one another,” he said.

“This discussion is much bigger than this board, right?” said board President Laura Kohler. “Unfortunately, for the good or the bad, it has become politicized, and I think that’s the reality of where we are now. But we have a responsibility under statute to pass this resolution to keep us consistent with our fellow agency. And you know, I’m not certain that the politics of mask wearing is really the issue here, or at least the issue that we have any statutory control over at the moment.”

ODE had suggested bringing the rules up for review in six months following the concerns expressed in February, but board members opted for an even shorter window, adopting an amendment calling for review in four months.

The resolution to adopt the updated child care rules passed 12-6, with Fessler, Hagan and Hill joining members Jenny Kilgore, Brendan Shea, Mike Toal in voting against it.

The board also voted Tuesday for a resolution calling for lawmakers to consider graduation flexibility for students given disruptions of the pandemic, an action already contemplated in HB67 (Koehler-Bird).

The resolution, introduced by member Christina Collins and amended by board member Martha Manchester, urges lawmakers to consider allowing the use of final course grades in lieu of end-of-course exam scores, the workplace readiness criteria set forth in the OhioMeansJobs Readiness Seal for high school diplomas, and the recommendation of a student’s principal in consultation with teachers and counselors.

Under HB67, which passed the House last week and had its first Senate committee hearing Tuesday, students could use course grades in place of exam scores, and high schools could allow students on track to graduate to earn a diploma if the principal, in consultation with teachers and counselors, determines they’ve successfully completed the high school curriculum.