Parents blast board in Victor as masking looks likely in schools this September

Parents blasted the Victor Central School District Board of Education on Thursday after the New York State Department of Education released reopening guidance for the 2021-22 academic year.

“We allowed the state, this country, to put our children in this position to scare the living daylights out of them where they are still believing that they can die if they don’t wear a mask, or get a vaccine,” Michele Haarr said.

She’s a parent in the district who disagrees with mask mandates for students.

“I will be holding you liable on many levels if you even think about asking my children to put a mask on,” Haarr added.

Another parent, who was happy about students returning to full-time, in-person learning said that families should be able to decide about masking.

“Let the parents have a choice whether their child needs a mask, or not. If the parents want their kids masked go for it. Wear 10 masks, I don’t care. If that’s what you feel is necessary, you go for it, but if my kid doesn’t want to wear a mask, or I don’t want my kid to wear a mask we should have the choice,” Ann Rine said.

Other parents said that they’d like to see masking continue until vaccines are available for everyone. However, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has said repeatedly that those who are vaccinated should also wear a mask where transmission of the Delta variant is high.

Staff Report

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