Spring-Ford Area School District officials and parents hold heated meeting over mask mandate
ROYERSFORD, Pa. - Health officials in Pennsylvania say 80 percent of adults over 18 have gotten at least one dose of the COVID vaccine. More than 64 percent of adults are fully vaccinated.
Local school districts are trying to figure out how to keep students and staff safe once school begins. The Spring-Ford School Board meeting on masks had no shortage of opinions and discussions were heated, at times.
"Require masks, require vaccines and we may have a relatively normal 21-22 school year," stated one parent.
MORE HEADLINES:
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"The majority want mask optional. That’s all I want to say to you," remarked another.
Parents with strong opinions at a heated Spring-Ford Area School District meeting at the high school Monday night trying to decide whether students in grades K through twelve should wear masks indoors when school starts.
"Are all my kids vaccinated? You bet they are, but can all kids be vaccinated? No. The least thing we could do is put on a mask," parent Rebecca Roberts commented.
The district amending its proposed safety guidelines to recommend students and staff mask up in school buildings. One district mom, with kids in first and third, thinks the district should make it a universal mandate.
"I am particularly concerned about our kids 12 and under who can’t get vaccinated. We are putting them and other unvaccinated students and staff at risk," Theresa Westwood said.
Other parents say the masks put kids physical and mental health at risk.
"We really have to have a better plan for breaks. Last year, my kids weren’t given any breaks. They were given a 10-minute break in an eight-hour day. That’s abusive. It cannot happen," one mother remarked.
"What I don’t appreciate is how we are divided and how we walk around with swagger and talk about things we think we know something about. We’ve got to start working to be better," parent Scott Ziegler explained.
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