Another school year, another round of pointless coronavirus mandates being imposed on children.
Parents are blasting the Fairfax County, Va., school board after it announced that students may have to wear masks again while indoors for the coming school year, Fox News reported, citing rising COVID-19 infection rates.
In a memo sent home to parents, the Fairfax County School Board also noted that parents and legal guardians of students have rights under the Code of Virginia giving them to choice whether or not they want to send their kids to school in a mask.
“FCPS requires all students to wear a face covering when indoors (except while actively eating/drinking) on school property (to include the buildings, school buses and other school provided vehicles) when the CDC COVID-19 Community Level for Fairfax County is high,” the email read. “The current level for Fairfax County is medium. The Code of Virginia allows parents/legal guardians to elect for their child not to wear a face covering while on school property.”
“In alignment with the Code of Virginia, the parent/legal guardian of any child enrolled in an FCPS school, may elect for such child to not wear a face covering while on school property (to include FCPS buildings),” the document continued. “No parent/legal guardian making such an election shall be required to provide a reason or any certification of the child’s health or education status and no student shall suffer any adverse disciplinary or academic consequences as a result of this election.”
The Fairfax County Parents Association labeled the memo”baffling,” while still others said they believe the board is trying to extend mask mandates for any reason it can find.
“Baffling recent email shows that, but for state legislators, FCPS would still be potentially requiring masks (despite no other mask mandates in effect anyplace else),” said the parents association in a tweet that contained a facepalm emoji.
"FCPS requires all students to wear a face covering..when the CDC COVID-19 Community Level..is high."
Baffling recent email shows that, but for state legislators, FCPS would still be potentially requiring masks (despite no other mask mandates in effect anyplace else). 🤦 pic.twitter.com/3FYstGf7y1
— Fairfax County Parents Association (@FFXParentsAssoc) August 15, 2022
Rory Cooper, managing director of Purple Strats who has three children, was one of several who found the mask memo highly ironic and contradictory.
“Lol. Fairfax schools guidance for the new year says they may require masks and then acknowledges that by law they cannot one sentence later,” he wrote on Twitter.
Lol. Fairfax schools guidance for the new year says they may require masks and then acknowledges that by law they cannot one sentence later. pic.twitter.com/o6tys9Pnqg
— Rory Cooper (@rorycooper) August 15, 2022
In response to an inquiry from Fox News about the mask memo, the FCPS said: “Parents/families can opt out of any mask requirement. Nothing has changed since the last school year.”
The outlet added:
Stephanie Lundquist-Arora, a mother of three, accused FCPS of playing politics earlier this year after her sons were suspended for not wearing face masks to school and violating a dress code. They were among 24 FCPS students suspended Jan. 25 for failing to wear masks. The mother explained at the time that the masks had given her sons headaches and “they didn’t like wearing them.”
She again stepped up her criticism of the district following Monday’s memo.
“It is unconscionable that Fairfax County School Board members don’t seem to understand that Virginia law applies to all of Virginia, even Fairfax County,” Lundquist-Arora told Fox News. “I guess I shouldn’t be surprised. They’ve already defied Executive Order 2 and SB739 when they suspended my sons in January and February 2022 for multiple days on ‘dress code’ violations for not wearing masks.”
She went on to cite the timing of the memo and the mask requirement, which she suggested coincided with a favorable court ruling for the district.
“Fairfax County Circuit Court dismissed my lawsuit against the school district for the illegal suspensions because the mask mandate was no longer effective,” she told Fox News. “The school principals subsequently denied my requests to expunge my sons’ records of those suspensions – a current stain on their records. FCPS Board members drafted the new mask mandate (detailed in an FCPS email sent on August 15, 2022) on March 3, 2022.”
Several health professionals have said studies prove that endless masking and remote classes caused a great deal of emotional and mental harm to millions of children over the course of the pandemic.
