Parents and Officials Decry Masks for Schoolchildren
Nearly as long as the COVID-19 pandemic has been in place, so have government restrictions – on lifestyles, business operations, and choices.
Protests against those restrictions have been in place almost a long.
Nearly 100 parents, students, and officials gathered on the corner of Main Street and New York Avenue — outside the administration building of the Smithtown Central School District — to protest the recent edict from New York’s health department that masks be worn inside schools.
“Unmask our children” and “Free Faces” were the rallying cries. One of the parents, Michael Murphy of St. James, used those words through his megaphone — “Unmask our children” – as he urged the parents to sign petitions to be delivered to the Smithtown school board and superintendent, and to new Governor Kathy Hochul.
On her first day in office, Hochul declared that she would mandate mask wearing for students, teachers and staff, and visitors to all of the Empire State’s schools, from kindergarten through high school.
Masks, Hochul insisted, were essential to control COID-19, especially given the reported surge in cases of the virus, mainly attributed to the so-called Delta variant, a mutation said to be responsible for recent increases in hospitalizations and deaths in numerous states.
At Hochul’s directive, the state Health Department put a mandate in place for masks inside school buildings days after she was sworn in.
Some Long Island school boards, such as Locust Valley, voted to defy the mask edict. State education officials quickly issued communications and warnings that districts could face serious sanctions for non[1]compliance, including the loss of financial aid from the state, and actions to remove school board trustees from office.
Faced with the legalities from the state, Locust Valley overturned its position, and voted to accept the mandate.
Murphy and others suggested the local district should file a lawsuit against the state to reject the mandate. Reportedly, the Locust Valley and Massapequa school districts have plans for such a multi-district lawsuit. Sachem school board president Alex Piccirillo, on hand for the rally in Smithtown, said he and his colleagues were holding discussions to consider joining manda suit against the mandates.
Smithtown Opposition
Two members of the Smithtown school board were in attendance “as parents,” they said.
Noting that there was a vote at the last meeting to abide by the mask requirement, Smithtown school trustee Stacy Murphy (no relation to Michael Murphy) said she was “here as a Mom. I’m advocating for parent choice for my own two kids.”
“We don’t know what every child is going through, and parents do. It’s important that they get to have a voice.”
Board member Karen Ricciardi, said, “as a parent, we need to stand up as a community. And we want to be heard.”
Matt Rivas, attending with his son, a middle school student, said “I’m here for my son and I don’t believe the science about masks adds up.”
Officials Concur
Introducing himself and other local officials, Smithtown Supervisor Ed Wehrheim was clear: ”You parents have to be in control of your own children,” he said. State Senator Mario Mattera agreed.
“This is our parent’s choice,” he said. “This is very very important…strength with numbers wins. We need to be the voice up in Albany.”
Governor Hochul, the Senator said, “has to understand how important it is for our children not to be masked.”
“Even during the pandemic, we said the safest place was in our schools. We need to make sure that we are the voice, that our students don’t have a mask, that Kathy Hochul understands.”
Right now, [DOH Commissioner Howard] Zucker has control, not us as legislators. We have to put new laws into effect,” Mattera added.
Assemblyman Mike Fitzpatrick added a similar take.
It was “important to have others see that you as parents are very concerned.” “The science has been politicized,” he declared.
And political actions were necessary. “We have the 2022 elections are coming up. We must elect a Governor that puts the parents on the same level with the science and do what is right. Parental control is paramount.”
“The rights of parents have to be respected. The children’s rights need to be respected.”
“As far as I can see, the science shows [the children] are not at great risk with this virus.” he said.
“Let children breathe free so they can learn and live, and put parents back in the front seat,” Fitzpatrick added.
