Geauga Public Health Restates Common Sense Approach to COVID School Guidance

by Tiffanie Broadbent

Echoing last year’s forward-thinking, common sense guidelines, Geauga Public Health released a letter on August 23, 2023 detailing “School COVID Guidance” for Geauga County schools. The letter, signed by GPH Administrator Adam Litke, reiterates last year’s guidance advising against compulsory masking and advising symptom-free students without positive test results to remain in the classroom after known COVID-19 exposure. The letter stresses, “The decision-making autonomy of families should be respected. GPH affirms the reversion to a pre-pandemic education and community experiences and discourages – in the strongest possible terms – resumption of any prior COVID-19 school restrictions.”

Geauga Public Health made headlines last year for being among the first county health departments in Ohio to push back against nonsensical, politically-driven COVID-19 policies. Parents statewide experienced high frustration and many roadblocks when attempting to assert their parental rights regarding COVID policies is schools. School boards pointed to Superintendents, Superintendents pointed to county and state policies, federal agencies pressured local entities with COVID funds…it was a maddening merry-go-round of misdirection and malfeasance.

The courageous step taken by GPH last year helped put an end to that misdirection. With clear, common-sense guidance, GPH made it impossible for Superintendents to continue claiming their policies were coming from our health department.

Kudos to the GPH for continuing this courageous, common-sense stance this year. It is heartening to see public servants in Geauga County valuing personal liberty and family autonomy.

Listen to an interview about this guidance with GPH Administrator Adam Litke and Bob Frantz.

The GPH document appears below: