Dozens of students join protest for Wake school board to drop mask requirement

Avery Desorbo, a sixth grader at North Garner Middle School, and Talon Hathaway, an eighth grader at Ligon Middle School, share similar experiences when it comes to the universal mask policy in Wake schools.

"When we're at lunch, we have to sit separate from each other to take our masks off to eat," said Hathaway.

"It's really hard because sometimes you're sitting in the back of the class and you're teacher, you can't really hear them because of the mask," said Desorbo. "I've gotten to the point where I've had to ask a teacher too many times to repeat herself that I just give up on it or they give up on it."

Both Desorbo and Hathaway joined hundreds of other protestors on Tuesday night to express frustration with current mask restrictions. Some protestors went as far as calling school board members child abusers over the school system's current mask policy.

"I want them to stop mandating masks and to make sure everyone gets fair treatment — not just different counties but for the entire state," said Desorbo.

But, school board chair Lindsay Mahaffey doubled down on her position to keep the vote on March 1 during Tuesday's board meeting.

"The guidance continues to reccomend universal masking in schools while cases remain high in the community," Mahaffey said during the meeting.

Among the large crowd asking for masks to become optional was a smaller group of protestors supporting the mask mandate. One woman said she supports the mask mandate as the COVID-19 rate remains high in the state.

"Right now, it does not seem like the time that we're ready," said Becky Showalter. "I think we should follow CDC guidelines about whether children child be in class with or without a mask."

Showalter despite the larger crowd demanding masks be removed, the majority of Wake parents want the mandate to stay in place.

"This isn't really a good representation of what the entire county feels," Showalter said about the rally against masks.

The district's mask policy wasn't on the Tuesday night agenda, although one board member wanted to revisit the discussion to talk about quarantine protocols and face coverings.

Although the topic was not officially on the schedule, 103 out of the 130 of the public comments submitted for the meeting were related to COVID-19 measures and masking.

"I just don't get the point of why we have to wear masks because it's school, and the whole point of being in school is to be with friends and to learn, but you don't really know anyone because you can't see their actual face when you're talking to them," said Desorbo.

While most central North Carolina schools are keeping mask mandates for now, several have decided to make masks optional in the coming days, including Cumberland, Johnston, Harnett, Moore and Sampson counties.

State law requires school districts to vote on masks monthly. Edgecombe and Northampton Schools voted to extend their mandates on Tuesday night, while Franklin County delayed the vote until Feb. 28.