A California mother blasted the San Diego Unified School District for reinstating a mask mandate for students, saying the move was “political.”
“The masking of kids has been political for quite some time now,” Sharon McKeeman, the founder of the parent activist group Let Them Breathe, said in an interview. “The actual science says that these masks are not effective at stopping the virus, and they’re not necessary. Our kids are at very low risk from COVID. And it has been proven to be completely harmful to their social, emotional, and academic well being.”
EDUCATION DEPARTMENT SAYS 250K TUTORS NEEDED TO UNDO DAMAGE FROM VIRTUAL LEARNING
McKeeman’s group was formed in the middle of the pandemic and has pushed back on San Diego public school officials for keeping schools closed and attempting to implement a vaccine mandate, as well as a student mask mandate.
The district announced last week that it was reimplementing its mask mandate, which it had lifted in April.
“Kids should be getting back to normal, and schools should be focused on helping them recoup the learning loss from the past two years, not causing further damage by instituting an unscientific mask mandate again,” McKeeman said.
For the time being, the mask policy only affects students in the district’s summer programs, as classes for the 2022-23 school year do not begin until Aug. 29. The school district indicated the policy would be reviewed after two weeks.
If parents do not want their child to wear a mask, they are instructed to keep their child at home, a fact that prompted McKeeman and Let Them Breathe to provide alternatives.
“On Monday, we’re hosting any of those kids who unmask in a learning center that the Let Them Breathe communities put together to try to help these kids that are getting kicked out,” she said.
Image from iOS (20).jpg
The California mother told the Washington Examiner that Let Them Breathe also plans to fight back against the mandate through the legal system.
“We’ll be sending a legal demand letter from our attorneys, who already beat San Diego Unified in court over their unlawful vaccine mandate,” McKeeman said. “Obviously, we’re hoping that they just walk this policy back … but if not, then of course, legal action is on the table as well.”
But in the meantime, she fears the negative impacts of masking students won’t be fully known for some time.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
“We’re not going to see the full impact of this for years because kids are developing,” she said. “We’re going to see more and more students go into a downward spiral, and at the same time, adults are out there enjoying ballgames and getting together at summer festivals while we’ve got kids trying to recoup learning loss in San Diego Unified summer school — behind closed doors with masks forced back on their faces.”
The San Diego Unified School District defended the COVID-19 measures as science-based and consistent with recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
“Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, San Diego Unified School District has been intentional in implementing strategies based on science to keep our community safe and reduce illness and absences,” the school district said in a statement to the Washington Examiner. “Requiring indoor masking in schools and district offices while San Diego County has been moved into the ‘high risk level’ for COVID-19 is consistent with this approach, and is based on CDC recommendations. The district continues to closely monitor COVID-19 data in consultation with medical professionals and with the guidance of local, state and federal public health agencies.”
