Wayland Union Schools opened for a half day Monday, and despite the Allegan County Health Department’s order for all K-6 students to be masked up because of Covid, there were only a few negative incidents.
Regardless, the Board of Education Monday evening again got an earful from parents opposed to putting masks on their elementary-age children, with some reporting they have pulled their kids out of school in protest.
Citizen Jon Richardson told the board, “We pulled our kids because of mask mandates” and said he has grown weary of speaking in public when he believes is just doing what it wishes anyway.
Wayland school officials last Wednesday announced they would be following the Health Department’s order.
One man noted the Allegan County Board of Commissioners Friday voted to urge the Health Dept. to rescind the order and asserted that 95 percent of the public opposes imposing mask wearing.
“We had a year to figure this out. It’s time to start living with it (the Covid viral pandemic),” he said.
Anthony Winters, a local businessman talking about quarantines and classes at home on line, told the board, “I want my kids to learn from professionals, not me,” insisting students learn as much as possible in-person and in the classroom.
School officials last spring, in the wake of most often having students attend school under the hybrid model of in-person and virtual learning, said they planned to have classroom learning five days a week with masks optional.
But recent spikes in Covid from the Delta variant prompted the Health Dept. order, which also is being complied with by the Hopkins and Martin districts.
The mother of the 12-year-old boy gaveled down in a June meeting reported she has pulled her two children out of the Wayland district. A woman identified as Christine told the board she removed her six children so “my kids get learn facial recognition… My children need to see faces and learn verbal cues.”
A woman identified as Andrea said her 7-year-old doesn’t want wear a mask any more and insisting no one in Allegan County has died of Covid since June asserted, “This is not an imminent danger.”
She apparently wasn’t aware that one Allegan County resident died Monday and the Health Department is pointing to yet another surge in case numbers. The department also maintains its order is the result of children under 12 not being able yet to get vaccines.
Perhaps the most ominous comment came from a woman who said she called a private school Monday morning to inquire about enrolling. She was told nine families from Wayland already have expressed similar interest.
Superintendent Dr. Christina Hinds acknowledged, “We are experiencing a drop in enrollment. Some parents are opting for home schooling or private schools… We’re receiving a lot of requests from parents who want exemptions (from wearing masks).”
