‘A charade.’ Key pastor at Ky. megachurch asks school board to stop masks, quarantines

Twice in the last several weeks, the lead teaching pastor at one of Central Kentucky’s largest churches has asked the Jessamine County schools board to stop COVID-19 mitigation practices -- masking, quarantining, and contact tracing.

“I trust that this board actually wants our children back in schools without masks, without quarantines and without contact tracing. It’s time to have the courage to make that move,” Scott Nickell, lead teaching pastor at Southland Christian Church said at an August school board meeting.

Nickell told the board, ”We are exaggerating the novelty of our situation.”

“This is not new. The only thing new is the way we are attempting to handle it. And it’s costing our children,” Nickell said. He said the board was asking students to sacrifice the window of time they had as children, “for what amounts to a charade.”

Nickell told the Herald-Leader Wednesday that the views he expressed at the meeting “do not represent Southland’s position.”

“They reflect my position as a father,” he said.

Southland Christian Church officials declined to comment Wednesday on Nickell’s comments.

Nickell told the school board that COVID is here to stay and not going away and many mitigation efforts don’t make sense.

In 2020, Nickell said, “we were compelled to perform laughable demonstrations as evidence of our desire to keep children safe.”

He said kids have a greater chance of being struck by lightening than dying of COVID. Nickell drew applause from some in the audience after making his comments.

At Monday’s school board meeting, Nickell asked “when will we not be testing, quarantining, masking and devoting so much time, energy and resources to COVID mitigation?”

He said the board had not disclosed the measures by which they are making that determination. Nickell said kids ride school buses without seat belts and eat food mass prepared at schools, and district officials take those risks.

Nickell’s comments come at a time when at least 48 school employees in Kentucky have died of COVID-19. A 15-year-old Fayette County Schools student died last week of coronavirus. Several children are in intensive care units in Kentucky hospitals, some on ventilators. Hundreds of Kentucky students have contracted COVID-19 since the school year began.

In response to Nickell’s comments, Jessamine Superintendent Matt Moore told the Herald-Leader that the Jessamine County School District is following science and evidence-based protocols to help to ensure the safety and well-being of students and staff.

“We are all hopeful that a return to normal operations will be possible soon,” said Moore. “There are some individuals who believe that now is the right time to do that, even as the Delta variant is affecting young people in much greater numbers and with more severe health impacts. “

Moore said with a large percentage of the student population ineligible for a vaccine, it is crucial that the district use all of the tools available to maintain a safe environment in schools.

“To that end, Jessamine County is included in the ninety-seven percent of Kentucky public school districts that have made the decision to continue requiring masks for the time being,” said Moore.

“We appreciate the words of encouragement and tremendous support that we have received from many people who trust that we are making decisions in the best interests of our students and staff,” he said.