This week's meeting at a Southern California school board was almost derailed when nearly 100 demonstrators showed up to protest a rule requiring students and staff wear masks when in-person classes resume later this month. None of the protesters were wearing masks causing school board members to walk out of their own Wednesday night meeting.
After the protesters were cleared from the chambers at the Palos Verdes Peninsula school board, the meeting was held on Zoom as most of the board members had already gone home.
The school board’s president, Matthew Brach, agreed to stay and listen to the protestors’ concerns over the objections of some other board members.
“I know people are mad that that was allowed to continue. To me there is an importance in listening to people even when you don’t agree with them,” said Brach.
But board member Linda Reid flatly rejected Brach’s reasoning. She said mask-wearing is a matter of safety during a pandemic, not about a difference of opinion.
"We listen to everyone all the time. Don’t say we don’t listen to people. That’s ridiculous," she said.
"That’s all we do. That’s our job."
The school board meeting disruption took place only an hour after another protest against masks at a park near the district’s headquarters. The protest was led by the statewide organization Let Them Breathe, according to The Daily Breeze.
Let Them Breathe, a group that formed during the coronavirus pandemic, claims that face coverings and social distancing rules are harmful to children’s mental and physical health. The group, along with Reopen California Schools, said it would sue Gov. Gavin Newsom and health department officials over the statewide requirement for schools that children must wear masks indoors regardless of vaccination status.
The founder of Let Them Breathe, Sharon McKeeman, said state officials are ignoring the recommendations of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The Wednesday rally took place at the corner of Palos Verdes Drive and Via Corta in Palos Verdes Estates, according to the paper. Young children and protesters chanted, “No more masks! No more masks! No more masks!”
About a half an hour before the school board meeting was set to begin, protestors marched from the park to the board’s chambers and descended upon the meeting.
The paper reported that Brach attempted to continue the meeting despite the demonstration. He “asked for and received a motion from one of his colleagues to approve the agenda, but received no second.” Without a second, Brach could not start the meeting, so he “recessed the gathering.”
Districts across California face a number of challenges as the new school year begins. Students in the Los Angeles Unified School District will receive weekly COVID-19 tests and be required to wear masks regardless of vaccination status. Statewide, Newsom’s vaccination mandate for all public and private school staff gave employees until Oct. 15 to be fully vaccinated.
But, interim Superintendent Megan Reilly said she believes the nation's second biggest school district can bounce back from the pandemic.
"In 2020, COVID-19 controlled so many aspects of our lives and this year we seek to retake the reins."
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