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Hold Them Accountable
I believe in transparency from elected officials and community leaders. The information posted here is public record and can be verified through public information requests and research. Residents of Henderson County, NC have been ordered to follow "guidance" issued from our local health department (LHD) during the pandemic, not knowing our LHD signed a contract with the North Carolina Dept. of Public Health (NCDPH) obligating them to follow directives given from the NCDHHS and the CDC. Failing to follow directives handed down by state and federal authorities would have placed all Covid Relief funds issued by the federal gov't in jeopardy.
This letter was sent from NCDHHS Secretary Kody Kinsley to Senator Deanna Ballard on January 5, 2022 in regards to the StrongSchoolsNC Toolkit. In the letter, Sec. Kinsley specifically states the Toolkit is not legally enforceable. The letter also states the Toolkit does include references to certain statutory requirements for schools. This points to the knowledge on some level of the contract contingencies for covid relief funds.
The 1st School Nurse Liaison Contract signed during the 2021-2022 school calendar year is a 5 page contract. It was signed by Henderson County Health Department Director Steve Smith on 8/9/21. Page 2 of this contract states what the LHD "shall" do. Pay attention to "c." and "d." of that page. Those are listed under "shall", which means must. Page 5 lists "Funding Guidelines or Restrictions", but those guidelines weren't made clear, yet.
The 1st Addendum School Nurse Liaison Contract signed by Henderson County Health Department Director Steve Smith is 3 pages and has a tremendous amount of information. The contract was signed by Mr. Smith on 8/24/21 and updates the "Funding Guidelines or Restrictions" contingencies from the original contract. On page 2, section 6 of this document you are able to read, the contingency to receive all Covid Relief Funding for Henderson County was complying with existing or future directives from the LHD that were handed down by the CDC and NCDHHS to control the spread of Covid-19. In addition, the LHD was to assist the US Gov't in implementing and enforcing quarantine orders.
This is the 2nd addendum to the School Nurse Liaison Contract. It was signed on 12/1/21 by Henderson County Health Department Director Steve Steve Smith and is 6 pages. This contract lists the funds received for additional nursing staff to be placed in Henderson County Public Schools, as well as the contingencies to receive those funds and all other funds received into the county by all Covid Relief Packages.
Under NC GS 130A-145, LHD officials are supposed to issue quarantine orders using the official form that was sent out from the NCDHHS in March of 2020. That form has been updated on the NCDHHS website as needed, and the form you see here is the latest version. Notice the statute listed on the form, along with directives with your personal information including address that is supposed to be filled out.
This is not the Covid-19 quarantine form, but is what Henderson County Health Department's deputized nurses are issuing to students inside Henderson County Public Schools. This form was issued the first week of February 2022 to a student from a previous quarantine, and does not follow NC GS 130A-145.
Official quarantine guidance under NC GS 130A-145 can be found by following the link below. You can read it and determine for yourself whether proper procedure was followed. https://www.ncleg.gov/enactedlegislation/statutes/html/bysection/chapter_130a/gs_130a-145.html
Article 31 14-228 is interesting to read when considering whether our Health Department deputized nurses to carry out directives, is now able to act independently, or if a contract signed has obligated them to follow guidance in exchange for Covid relief funds.
Article 31 14-231 and 232 are interesting to read when you consider the official Covid-19 Quarantine Order form has not been used and is still not being used by Henderson County's Health Department
https://www.ncleg.gov/EnactedLegislation/Statutes/HTML/ByArticle/Chapter_14/Article_31.html
The images of the emails shows my efforts to request and document the official quarantine proclamations made by the Health Department in Henderson County. As you will see, there were 0 quarantines officially issued.
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