End the mask mandate, they demand

More than 50 unmasked parents and students from several school districts disrupted the Whitehall Board of Education meeting shortly after it began on Jan. 31, complaining about Covid-19 restrictions and refusing to mask up. 

The meetings have been virtual for community attendance for months because of the virus restrictions.  

“We certainly appreciate the visit to the Board of Education, but we are going to have to ask that unless you decide to mask up, you are in violation of the law and you have to leave,” said board president Roxanne Waters.  

The room erupted with complaints from the unmasked parents and children who represented multiple districts in Washington County, including Granville and Fort Ann, who indicated they were present looking for the board to fight against the recent state mask mandate changes.  

“You guys need N95 masks otherwise you’re not in compliance,” a parent said to the board.  

When Waters motioned for the board to adjourn just 15 minutes into the meeting, a commotion broke out amongst the parents and students.  

Prior to the protestors storming in, Waters read a letter from the board to the community regarding the mask mandate by the state. The letter was read again at their rescheduled and virtual meeting on Feb. 6. 

“It is important that we make clear the district’s requirements and path forward in regard to masking,” Waters said. “As you may be aware, a court in the New York City area ruled on Monday of last week that the State Department of Health exceeded its authority in enacting the school masking requirements. Since that time there has been significant confusion and misinformation regarding the impact of the court’s decision on public school districts and whether or not the masking requirements remained in effect or had been ‘stayed.’  

Waters explained later that the State Department of Health appealed the lower court’s decision to the appellate court and wanted a stay of the lower court’s decision, which was granted. Because of the ruling, public school districts in the state are legally subject to the Department of Health’s masking requirements for the time being. 

She said that even though the appellate court could come out with a different verdict, the school will continue to enforce the mask mandate.  

“To be perfectly clear, this district is an educational institution. This Board of Education cannot selectively pick and choose which laws of New York State and regulations of its governmental offices that we will follow. That is not how a school district operates,” she said.  

Waters said that although the regulations might not be something that “the district necessarily agrees with,” it will continue to uphold the regulations within the district until change comes from the executive branch.  

“Until that time, the district will continue to follow the Department of Health’s masking requirements,” she said.  

School superintendent Patrick Dee said the safety of the students and staff will always come as a first priority for the district. When asked about the protocols for the discipline of a student who refuses to wear a mask, he said the student is sent home. 

“We are obligated to follow the laws, statutes, and regulations of New York State,” Dee said. ‘Individuals within public schools must be masked until the regulations change.”  

Whitehall, Granville and Fort Ann were some of the districts present at the rally before the meeting. The group lined up at the entrance to the school parking lot and as vehicles pulled in, were trying to identify the members of the board and were using a PA system.  

Some of the signs being held said “we will not comply,” and “masks reduce immunity, mask use is child abuse.” They demanded the unmasking of children in school, vaccinated or not. 

Adam Arquette of Whitehall has a child in kindergarten and he said he wants the board to clarify what the actual mandates are from the state. Arquette said in his opinion, the masks are nonsense and the group wants them gone.  

“To put it back into action when people are eating at restaurants, going to Great Escape Lodge without masks, why should our children still have to have masks on,” he said.  

“They haven’t really been transparent and I want to know how the school, superintendent, and the board feels,” he said. “I want to know if their hands are tied by the state and how much.”  

Cristen Zekus of Granville was at the rally with one of her children, Colbie. Her children haven’t attended school within the district since the beginning of the pandemic. The family started a homeschooling program with a curriculum they found that best fits what their kids want to learn. Zekus said homeschooling her children has been more effective than when they were attending school in the district.  

“We had to figure out a groove but once we did, it was awesome,” she said. “They do everyday stuff with us and they’re learning more than they would at school. They aren’t limited to what’s being taught in the classroom.”  

Andrew Ladd is a student from Fort Ann Central School who was protesting for unmasking. He spoke of the mask mandate after being in the classroom. 

“I tend to get headaches and it’s hard to breathe. It’s just annoying,” he said. “I just feel like I need my own choice and it feels like they’re restricting us and nobody wants to have to do something like that.” 

Ladd’s mother, Jessica, said that she believes there should be freedom for all medical choices and that her daughter is homeschooled because religious exemption has been ruled out with the mandate. She said conversations with school boards in the local districts have become stagnant and that’s why she was passionate about protesting. 

“It’s why we’re trying to band together schools so we have each other’s backs and have a bigger voice,” she said.  

Amanda Coombs, a parent of a Fort Ann student and a registered nurse, said she’s against the vaccine due to its rapid development and she believes there are more side effects than we know.  

“I left my job over the vaccine mandate,” she said. “The more research I do and the more I find out, the less I want my kids to be vaccinated and masked. We’ve had enough.” 

Coombs said when the vaccines were first coming out, she took a “wait and see” approach. After a while she decided not to get vaccinated because of a side effect of blood clotting. 

“I have a blood clotting disorder and they have made it so physicians won’t give you a medical exemption and they have taken the religious exemption. I have no exemption! I had to choose between risking my life versus losing my job… I’m a single parent with two kids so it was a really hard choice, but I would do it again in a heartbeat,” she said.  

Dee has been working with the region’s district superintendents and recently wrote a letter titled “Pathway to Normalcy” to Gov. Kathy Hochul and state Health Commissioner Mary Bassett. The superintendents are “appealing for an ‘off ramp’ to all of these regulations and guidelines,” Dee said. He also said the protesters should focus their attention on Albany.  

“Schools have been ‘stuck in the middle’ since this pandemic began,” Dee said. “It is time that ends. Our families and the many additional individuals from other regional schools and non-public schools that attended our BOE meeting on Monday night need to focus their efforts on Albany; that is where the changes must occur.”