HERMANN — The new Gasconade County Health Department administrator says the situation is more muddled now than ever involving how public schools are dealing with managing the ongoing coronavirus pandemic and its effect on students — a task made more confusing by the recent Cole County Circuit Court ruling that stripped county health agencies of their authority to quarantine students in close contact to classmates and staff who test positive for the virus.

Also, Kenna Fricke Monday morning told the agency’s Board of Trustees that a lack of legal guidance from the state health agency has led the local health department to seek legal advice on its own. During the regular monthly session, the trustees authorized Fricke to contract with a local attorney for legal consultations as the need arises.

The result of the court ruling is that school districts now have to make the choice of quarantining students, a position they are not comfortable being in. Fricke said with each school making the decision to keep students in class or send them home, there seems to be no coherent policy throughout public education.

“Each school is kind of doing their own thing,” she told the board, which was meeting via Zoom. “Now, everybody’s kind of nervous,” she said.

But the shift is responsibility for quarantining students appears to have had one unifying act, at least in districts in this part of Mid-Missouri: No one is quarantining students any longer.

Meanwhile, Fricke said the need to obtain local legal advice stems from an abrupt move by the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services (DHSS), the parent agency of county health departments.

“The DHSS has basically canceled all of our meetings, our updates,” the new health administrator said. “We’ve received nothing” from the state agency, she added. “Just left us with nothing.”

Still, the county agency is promoting public health education using the tools provided by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). “We’re offering guidelines and best practices through the CDC,” Fricke said.

Retiring Administrator Greg Lara, who was attending his last board meeting before completely turning over the reins of the agency to Fricke, said the actions of the state health agency doesn’t come as a surprise. 

“I understand the DHSS,” he said. “Their legal advice is the attorney general.”

He was referring to Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmidt, who has made opposition to strict public health protocols such as mask wearing and quarantines a main part of his campaign for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by Republican Roy Blunt.

As for the status of COVID cases in Gasconade County, Lara reported a total of 83 deaths since the beginning of the pandemic locally. As of last week, there have been 146 breakthrough cases, he said, adding that the county has a positivity rate of about 10 percent with rate of 190 cases based on a population of 100,000. Those numbers are “maybe a slight decrease” from earlier figures, he said. “But with this Omicron variant, we’re going to anticipate cases to go up slightly,” Lara added.

But Fricke said there’s a bright spot in the arrival of the Omicron variant. “The good news is that it is mild,” she said, referring to its effects.

In other matters, Fricke told the board she has applied for a grant issued by the CDC that she hopes to use for a remodeling of the agency’s Hermann location on Schiller Street. The administrator said some first-floor offices might be moved upstairs to  allow an expanded waiting area and work space for nurses administering vaccinations.

“I’d like to bring some other services” to the agency, Fricke said, “but right now there isn’t a nurse’s working space.”

One of the trustees suggested Fricke considering including an elevator for the older downtown building as part of the proposed remodel. Fricke said she also saw that at as a need. “I put elevator and/or renovation” of the current structure, Fricke said.

Whether the agency’s grant request is approved or not, Fricke said she wants to have a firm plan in place in the event funding becomes available later. ‘I think having a plan, even if it doesn’t work out (this time), might be good later,” she said.

“I’m trying not to get my hopes up, but I’m excited” about the prospect of being able to remodel the building and offer more services, she said. The board’s next regular meeting is set for Monday, Jan. 31.