Dozens of parents with children in the Athens City school system attended Monday’s board meeting to have their voices heard on the issue of mask mandates.

Some sat silently and listened. Others simply applauded or gave the odd “amen” when they heard something they agreed with. However, some others were openly opposed to what the school board had to say, shouting various statements that echoed through the auditorium at the Athens Performing Arts Center at Athens High School.

When it came time for the board to vote on the mandate, so many audience members yelled out that people sitting on the front row had a hard time even hearing what board members were saying.

In the end, the board voted unanimously to require all students, faculty and staff inside ACS buildings and school buses be masked at all times unless covered by an exception to the rule, such as while eating or drinking, or if they had a medical condition that prevents such a covering.

Wayne Reynolds, a member of the Alabama State Board of Education, had to ask an ACS board member after the meeting whether or not a proper vote had occurred, as he could not hear everything that was said over the audience behind him, even though he was seated on the front row.

The mandate was set to go into effect Tuesday, ahead of ACS students returning to school today.

For and against

ACS Board President Beverly Malone said the Alabama Department of Public Health recommended all school districts in the state take various measures to control the spread of the COVID-19 variant, including universal mask mandates.

Superintendent Beth Patton read a prepared statement recommending the board adopt the mask mandate, saying the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, ADPH and American Academy of Pediatrics all agreed wearing masks “can and will help mitigate the spread of this virus.”

“More importantly than that, in my mind, our local doctors and nurses are telling us this is crucial right now,” she said. “Our local medical professionals are saying they are frightened by how many children are contracting this strain.”

Malone said six people who asked to be added to the meeting agenda were selected to speak ahead of the vote. Half were for the mask mandate; the other half, against. Malone also asked the audience, by show of hands, to indicate if they were for or against the mask mandate, with the majority being opposed.

Laura Lee Prater said she had many parents and even teachers backing her, despite being “told to be quiet about this issue.”

“I do not want to take anybody’s right away,” Prater said. “This is America. You wear what you want to, but I don’t want my children in masks. Five people should not be deciding the health of all our children. You are here to make sure they get an education. I am their parent. It’s my job to worry about their health.”

Prater argued that parents of ACS students should be allowed to vote on whether or not the school system should enact a mandate. She said many people she knew would be willing to sign a waiver to hold the board harmless on the issue.

Many people in the audience cheered and applauded as Prater finished her thoughts.

Dr. Samantha Ross at Waddell Center Family Medicine said she has lost a number of patients to COVID-19 over the last year, with the youngest being only 24 years old. She spoke in favor of the mask mandate.

“I’ve lost more in the last year than you can ever imagine,” Ross said. “Due to our unvaccinated rate, we are extremely vulnerable. The Delta variant is 50% more contagious than the previous strains. We have had a 1,000% increase in hospitalization rate since July 3. At my office, we’ve had a huge increase in adults and children testing positive.”

Audience members

Ross said she felt “disaster was inevitable” if children returned to schools now without masks.

Despite Malone asking the audience to be respectful to the speakers and stay silent while they spoke, when Ross tried to finish her points after her allotted time was up, several audience members shouted until she left the microphone.

Next to speak were Steven and Andrea Berry, who were against the mask mandate.

“There are not any 6-year-olds dying from COVID-19,” Steven Berry said. “I served three tours in the Marine Corps, so I know the gravity of some of the weight y’all are under. If there were kids dying of COVID-19, CNN and Fox News would be showing fear all over the TV. It’s just not happening.”

Andrea Berry took exception to the city schools holding open-house events without requiring masks Thursday, before the system announced they would be voting on a mandate.

“I didn’t get to step foot in (my child’s) classroom for a year because y’all robbed me of that,” she said. “I didn’t get to meet my kid’s teacher until after school let out, because I personally went to her house and delivered a gift. That is ridiculous. I was robbed of a whole year, and you want to take away another?”

David Owen also spoke against the mask mandate, saying the most democratic option available to the board would to be allowing the ACS parents to vote.

“Since our taxes fund the school system, shouldn’t we have a say?” he said. “This mandate violates our children’s civil rights. I believe a parent vote would shed the liability off the ACS board and back on the public where it should be.”

Many audience members applauded or yelled in agreement after the Berrys and Owen spoke.

The final speaker in favor of the mandate was Dr. Matt Hanserd, who heads the COVID-19 response team at Athens-Limestone Hospital.

“We are in a time when there is exponential spread of the virus,” he said. “The virus has taken off. We are two weeks past that. We have seen hospitalization numbers take off.”

A member of the audience yelled at Hanserd, saying young children were not getting sick.

“Here’s the point on that,” Hanserd said. “Can a 6-year-old get it? Yeah, they can. There are 30-40 pediatric patients right now (with a complication of it).”

The same audience member yelled to clarify if Hanserd meant statewide, which he said yes.

“I’m not here for question and answer,” Hanserd said. “I’m just going to give my opinion and walk out. Are you important to your child? Because if your child gets it at school and brings it to you, and you are unvaccinated, and you come see me and pass away, is that hurting your child?”

Several members of the audience became incensed after that statement and yelled at Hanserd, who said he recommended masking for now until the number of COVID-19 cases settles down.

Some audience members applauded Hanserd’s statement, but not as many as the speakers against the mask mandate.

Potential consequences

As part of her prepared statement, Patton mentioned that some school systems in nearby states like Arkansas, Georgia and Mississippi had already returned to school without requiring students to wear facial coverings. She said they are seeing large numbers of positive cases as a result.

“These schools have had to close, go virtual and come back with masks,” Patton said.

While reading this section of the statement, an audience member yelled out, “How many deaths?”

“My goal with this recommendation is to not have to see the large numbers of sick and quarantined students and employees if we can avoid it until we can get over this hump,” Patton said.

After the board went into an executive session, essentially ending the meeting, many audience members angrily yelled at the board, with one saying the system should move to an elected school board.

Vice President Jennifer Manville told The News Courier after the meeting that the board members had spent a great deal of time researching what other school systems were doing as well as the consequences of their decisions.

She said the decision to enact a mask mandate for ACS schools was not an easy decision reached lightly. She said it was centered around guidance from the CDC, ADPH and local health officials.