SEMINOLE COUNTY, Fla. – At Tuesday night’s Seminole County School Board meeting, board members voted to make masks optional for the fall semester.
The previous meeting went on for hours as parents expressed strong opinions regarding masks in schools, many of them against mandatory mask-wearing.
[TRENDING: Teen killed in crash remembered | Boy Scouts find human remains | Dead turtles, dolphins wash ashore]
Michelle Burrows, a mom of three Seminole County students, was one of those parents.
“If they voted to repeal the masks last month, we’ve had to wait for 20 some odd days till tonight for them to do the final vote,” Burrows said.
Burrows said COVID-19 has already negatively impacted her children’s experiences and memories.
“My kids have freedoms, too. Period. The kids have been shut out, shut down, shut up all year. Parents as well. At the end of the day my kids’ education is being affected by the mask mandate,” Burrows said. “Kids missed homecoming, awards ceremonies, graduations, everything was different, it wasn’t the same with us.”
The Seminole County Schools’ superintendent is recommending repealing the mask mandate for the upcoming school year.
Five other school districts have already voted to make masks optional for the fall.