FULTON – The Fulton City School District Board of Education met last night, August 24, and Fulton residents addressed the BOE regarding their thoughts on face masks in school.
Chuck S. – Discussed that Governor Kathy Hochul has made face masks a mandate in schools, and asked what options does the school have with this mandate.
“Nationally, there’s a lot of objection to the masks and a lot of parents and groups are very much opposed to it and even our illustrious leader of the CDC can’t seem to decide how many masks you should wear, and when you should wear them and when you shouldn’t wear them,” he said. “What options do we have, in my case a grandparent, with the concern in health of my own grandchildren and children’s well-being? What options do we have that we could address to the school board?”
He also asked about Fulton’s curriculum regarding race.
Lastly, he talked about long term health from wearing a face mask at school all day, and if the district has a plan for when staff who do not want to be vaccinated decide to leave if the vaccine becomes mandatory.
Samantha K. – Said she has looked on the CDC’s website for statistics and data regarding children 12 and under wearing a face mask, and called the CDC, but got no information.
“I don’t understand how these strong recommendations masking kids 12 and under become a strict rule in our schools when the CDC and the schools themselves don’t have any studies or data that shows masks for this specific age group are safe and effective,” she said. “I don’t understand how it is legal for a school to deny an education for children who don’t comply with the mask rule.”
She said studies have shown that children in that age group are inefficient transmitters of the virus. She also said, her six year old child who has asthma, has already had COVID-19 and therefore the decision for him to wear a mask should not be the school district’s. She asked the district to reconsider the mask mandate.
Tracy D. – Read aloud a letter written by a friend, Sarah F., who was unable to attend the meeting. Sarah, a grandparent, parent and former teacher in the district, said she is concerned with the number of parents attempting to overturn the mask mandate vote for the district.
“I’m in favor of the mask mandate for one reason – masks save lives,” she wrote in the letter. “The science and the professionals have more than proven their point on this.”
She said parents have choices to make for their children, like what they eat and the route they take to school, however choice (of wearing a face mask) becomes a false argument when it affects others. She said she does not want to see the schools return to virtual learning, which could happen depending on the decision the district makes.
“If we don’t mask up, we run the risk that the one student sitting next to our child will come from an unvaccinated home and will carry the COVID variant,” she said. “It only takes one and the spread begins. Are we really willing to sacrifice a school day wearing masks or another year of virtual classes and no sports?… All votes and decisions will not please everyone, but some decisions will save lives.”
Sarah V. – Said the death rate points to a .079% in the county’s population of 117,000+. As of the last time she checked the data, there were 94 confirmed deaths related to COVID-19 in the county in 18 months. She said the survival rate of the general population has to be taken into consideration.
“Our world will not be without sickness or death or pain, and to infer that we can play God and control life and death by the hands of an elect few is a dangerous precedent,” she said. “The school mask mandates are one of the many examples of unnecessary restrictions to the residents of Oswego County. Children are the least at risk of hospitalization or death from COVID-19 and they need to be breathing fresh air. Masks are a medical device and if you’re not a medical professional you should not be harassed, bullied or stalked. Implied consent is not informed consent. This needs to be parental choice.”
Following public forum, the speakers were asked to leave their phone numbers for Superintendent Brian Pulvino to reach out to them.
Another article on the remainder of the BOE meeting and its agenda can be found here. You may view the meeting’s video here.
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