CHESHIRE, CT (WFSB) – A group of parents screaming for the governor to “unmask our children” interrupted a school meeting in Cheshire.
Gov. Ned Lamont joined educators and public health officials on Wednesday for a discussion about the new school year.
The meeting was meant to unify a plan to get students back in the classroom, but it ended abruptly after parents who don’t want their children to wear masks showed up to express their opinions.
At the beginning of the meeting, it appeared parents came to listen, but then it started to get disruptive as some started yelling.
When it got to the part of the meeting where people would be able to ask questions, it got out of hand.
At one point, Cheshire’s superintendent tried to calm things down.
“This is a reflection of how we can’t have a civil dialogue,” said Superintendent Jeff Solan.
That didn’t work. Then, more parents started yelling at the governor and the group of educators.
The meeting ended about 30 minutes early.
Some of the parents then followed Lamont out of the school and started calling him a criminal and accusing him of sending children to a concentration camp.
“These bullying tactics will not change what we all know to be true and agreed upon by both the scientific and academic communities,” Lamont said after the meeting. “Masks work and they help to keep our communities safe, especially young children who are not yet eligible to be vaccinated.”
Last week, Lamont announced that there would be mask mandate at schools until Sept. 30 because of the increase in COVID cases and the Delta variant.
“I see what’s going on Georgia. I see what’s going on in Florida. I see what’s going on in Texas. I see a lot of kids being sent home and quarantined, not having a chance to be in the classroom. I am here to listen how we can best keep our schools open and kids in the classroom,” Lamont said.
Parents expressed their opinions on Wednesday.
“It’s out of their scope to try to keep children on a healthy course, while policing their mask-wearing all day,” said parent Amy Bourdon, who has four children at Highland Elementary School in Cheshire. “We are simply trying to re-establish the right for us to choose what’s best for our children, and restore parents’ rights.”
Susan Zabohonski’s group, “Parents Choice,” was at Wednesday’ roundtable in Cheshire to protest the statewide school mask mandate.
“We believe that masking of children should be left to the parent,” Zabohonski said. “We believe that every health decision should be left to the parent.”
Children 11 and younger cannot get vaccinated.
“Masks are a very valuable stopgap as we wait for vaccines especially for younger kids,” said Dr. Luke Davis, a pulmonary and critical care physician.
Davis was among several medical professionals in Fairfield who sent a letter to the state Board of Education weeks ago, urging it to adopt a mask mandate in schools.
Physicians said that without masking, there could be high risk of transmission in classrooms, simultaneous infections among children, and further risk of breakthrough infections among vaccinated teachers and staff.
“When you’re talking about classroom settings when you have children crowded together and with teachers and other staff in schools, that’s a setting where there’s greater risk,” Davis said.
Zabohonski said if school mask mandates remain in place, they’ll continue pushing boards of education to let parents decide.
“Let’s get these decisions for parenting back into the hands of parents,” she argued.
Several state politicians responded to the disrupted meeting.
“What you all should know is that teachers are ready. These are rock solid professionals,” said Katie Dias, president of the Connecticut Education Association, the state’s largest teachers union.
However, what teachers’ may not be ready for is getting infected with COVID, which is why many educators are supportive of masks in schools, Dias said.
“We know families have their concerns, and we are basically saying please work with your district, have an open line of communication, learn all the things they‘re doing,” said Connecticut education commissioner Charlene Russell-Tucker.
Later in the day on Wednesday, the Connecticut Democrats issued a statement:
The Connecticut Republicans like to say they are past the extremism of the Trump era. But mask protests like today’s in Cheshire are happening across the state. Disagreeing on policy is part of our process. But this behavior, and similar protests at recent Board of Education meetings in Bristol and Fairfield, has no place in political discourse. Local officials are increasingly concerned for their safety. Today, I am calling on the Chairman of the Connecticut Republicans exercise his leadership and to denounce this disruptive and hostile behavior.
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