HANCOCK COUNTY — A local doctor’s remarks on COVID-19 to school leaders continue to echo across the country, serving as a reminder of the difficult position medical and education officials are in as they balance parents’ concerns with public health.
The now widely seen criticism of masks, quarantining and vaccines drew disagreement from Hancock County’s health officer, who counters that those practices aid in the fight against the pandemic, a position state and federal health officials also continue to maintain. While the unconventional view and plenty of parents’ support for it made school leaders stop to think about health and safety protocols, it hasn’t shaken their faith in their original sources of guidance.
The video of Mt. Vernon’s Aug. 6 school board meeting has been viewed hundreds of thousands of times, and other versions capturing Dr. Dan Stock’s comments from the session quickly went viral as well. Along with Indianapolis media outlets, it’s also been covered by Fox News’ Tucker Carlson and Forbes.
Stock is a McCordsville resident who runs PureHealth Functional Medicine in Noblesville. According to The Institute for Functional Medicine, the practice “focuses on identifying and addressing the root cause of disease.”
Stock told Mt. Vernon officials and an applauding attendance of parents that masks, quarantining and vaccines aren’t effective in stopping the spread of COVID-19, and that measures supported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Indiana Department of Health are futile toward a virus that will never cease to exist. He also gave school board members data drives containing what he said were studies backing up his claims.
Stock did not return a request for comment. On his office’s voicemail greeting, he explains he’s been inundated with requests for the materials he shared with school board members and directs callers to find them on Hancock County Indiana Patriots’ blog. A post on Stock lists 22 links to studies and articles, which include scientific sources like the National Institutes of Health and Health Affairs; and conservative sites like The Federalist and The Heritage Foundation. Some concluded masks didn’t have a substantial effect on viruses that cause diseases like influenza and COVID-19. Other topics addressed in the materials include fully vaccinated individuals contracting COVID-19 and potential treatments for COVID-19 patients. Two of the studies, both on masks, were retracted after faults were found.
Dr. Gary Sharp, Hancock County health officer, said he feels Stock’s comments were irresponsible.
“I think it was misinformation, a lot of it,” Sharp said.
Sharp acknowledged cloth masks “are not a slam dunk” against COVID-19, but data has shown they are capable of reducing the spread of the virus.
“When we wear a mask, we’re protecting other people, not ourselves,” he said, adding if wearers can use them to block even a small amount of viral particles, it’s still advantageous.
Sharp also reiterated his support for COVID-19 vaccines.
“Keep in mind that the main purpose of the vaccine is not to keep people from getting COVID,” he said. “We’ve been very, very fortunate this vaccine has succeeded in that to a large degree. Most importantly, we’re trying to keep people from dying and being hospitalized, and I think it’s done an overwhelmingly good job of that.”
He agreed COVID-19 is likely never going away.
“I think it’s going to be here forever, hopefully in a much milder form where it’s kind of like a cold, possibly the flu,” Sharp said. “But as the virus continues, I think it’ll become less potent, and if we can push the vaccine, I think more and more people will be protected against death and hospitalization.
“The shutdowns were to keep the hospitals from being overwhelmed and to keep people from dying, and it did a reasonable job of that,” Sharp continued. “Now the vaccine is taking that place. … That is ultimately the thing that will save lives.”
He sympathizes with parents’ frustration toward how masking and quarantining can be disruptive for children in school.
“I totally understand,” he said. “I think we’re proceeding with an overabundance of caution, and I think on the other side, there are many parents that want wearing masks.”
Jack Parker, Mt. Vernon superintendent, said he and the school board listen to, consider and appreciate all comments at board meetings, but that Stock hasn’t swayed the school corporation from looking to the same sources for direction it has since the start of the pandemic.
“We’re letting the medical professionals guide us,” he said. “We are absolutely paying attention to the Indiana Department of Health guidance and using that, as well as those things we’re legally required to do. Those are the things we’re paying attention to.”
Kellie Freeman, president of Mt. Vernon’s school board, said she’s glad people are willing to speak up when they feel the board needs to know something.
“This discussion, in my opinion, has already spread to every corner of the world,” Freeman told the Daily Reporter in an email. “School boards throughout the U.S. are all making decisions they feel are best for their communities while balancing legal requirements.”
Mt. Vernon’s health and safety plan sets out to allow for the flexibility officials know the pandemic will require, she continued.
“However, we will continue to follow the guidance given by the County Health Department and the Indiana Department of Health and make adjustments if needed or required,” Freeman said. “We know we cannot please everyone; however, our first priority is the students and staff. We want them to be safe and remain healthy while providing the best learning environment for them. In that process, we have to make the best decisions based on the data and on the laws.”
The school board will consider a resolution at its meeting on Monday that would allow the school corporation’s administration to adjust the health and safety plan when new state guidance is issued.
“I think most all schools have a formal process to allow the administration to tweak the plan with new guidance that comes out, because this new guidance comes at us every other day,” Parker said.
Mt. Vernon is also rolling out opportunities for students at home due to quarantine or illness that it lacked at the start of the school year after not anticipating so many quarantines so soon. As of Thursday afternoon, the school district had 17 COVID-19 cases among students and staff, Parker said. As of Wednesday night, there were 250 close contacts, about 80% of whom are not fully vaccinated and must quarantine at home.
Through those additional opportunities, teachers reach out to homebound students with online resources, guides, information and videos, Parker said. More information on those additions, along with a report on Mt. Vernon’s health and safety plan, are also on Monday night’s agenda.
Mt. Vernon has a program for students who wish to be fully virtual, but it’s currently only being used by a handful of independently motivated high school students, Parker said.
Last year, 17% of Mt. Vernon students were fully virtual, and quarantined students went virtual when they had to stay home. Teachers developed virtual learning plans that they used for all virtual and in-person students.
“And that was incredibly difficult,” Parker said. “It is like teaching two groups of students in two different locations — very, very hard. It wasn’t as effective.”
Monday’s school board meeting starts at a different time and will be in a different location than meetings normally are. The meeting is at 6 p.m. in the auditorium at Mt. Vernon High School, 8112 N. County Road 200W, Fortville.
[sc:pullout-title pullout-title=”If you go” ][sc:pullout-text-begin]
WHAT: Mt. Vernon school board meeting
WHEN: 6 p.m. Monday, Aug. 16
WHERE: Auditorium in Mt. Vernon High School, 8112 N. County Road 200W, Fortville
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COVID-19 data through early Friday, Aug. 13
Hancock County
- 500 new tests administered (Feb. 22-Aug. 12)
- 47 new cases (Aug. 12)
- 8.2% seven-day (July 31-Aug. 6) positivity rate all tests, 8.6% cumulative rate
- 0 new deaths
- 123,502 total tests administered
- 47,758 total individuals tested
- 9,098 total cases
- 12.3% seven-day (July 31-Aug. 6) positivity rate unique individuals, 19.1% cumulative rate
- 152 total deaths
- 43,355 age 12+ fully vaccinated (65.2% of that population)
Indiana
- 33,413 new tests administered (April 17, 2020-Aug. 12, 2021), 8,521 new individuals tested
- 2,721 new cases (Aug. 12)
- 9.7% seven-day (July 31-Aug. 6) positivity rate all tests, 8.4% cumulative rate
- 12 new deaths (Aug. 10-12)
- 11,558,469 total tests administered
- 3,738,803 total individuals tested
- 796,733 total cases
- 18.5% seven-day (July 31-Aug. 6) positivity rate unique individuals, 21.3% cumulative rate
- 13,698 total deaths
- 430 total probable deaths
- 59.8% ICU beds in use – non-COVID
- 15.5% ICU beds in use – COVID
- 24.7% ICU beds available
- 20.1% ventilators in use – non-COVID
- 5% ventilators in use – COVID
- 47.9% ventilators available
- Hospital census: 1,433 total COVID-19 patients (1,135 confirmed, 298 under investigation)
- Delta variant: 82.6% of samples in August
- Not variant of concern: 14.8% of samples in August
- Gamma variant: 1.4% of samples in August
- Alpha variant: 1.1% of samples in August
- Beta variant: 0% of samples in August
- 104 total confirmed cases of multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children
- 3,001,375 age 12+ fully vaccinated (51.6% of that population)
- 6,740 breakthrough cases (0.225% of fully vaccinated individuals)
- 226 breakthrough hospitalizations (0.008% of fully vaccinated individuals)
- 78 breakthrough deaths (0.003% of fully vaccinated individuals)
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