Ongoing mask debate hits low point at board of education meeting; district adopts reopening plan

Last night’s board of education meeting put on display a common theme occurring in auditoriums across the country right now: the breakdown of civil discourse amongst parents and neighbors, with insults and accusations hurled by local residents at the district superintendent, trustees and speakers.

“This is child abuse.”

“You’re a bunch of cowards.”

“You should be ashamed of yourselves.”

“Liars.”

“This is wrong and disgusting.”

One woman, who did not give her name and could not be confirmed as a resident of the district, shouted for people to “sell your houses” before abruptly leaving the auditorium, not to return.

District parents, and attendees sitting at the back of the auditorium during the regularly scheduled board of education meeting, interrupted Superintendent Robert Banzer as he presented the reopening plans for the 2021-22 school year. After a five-minute break where board members left the stage, the presentation and public participation portion of the meeting resumed, and carried on for nearly three hours.

With a mask mandate by Governor Kathy Hochul forthcoming, the board, for better or worse, was able to take a hands-off approach, placing ownership on the guidance and rules presented by state officials. In response to Governor Hochul’s August 24 announcement that the mandates could be expected soon, Superintendent Banzer presented a plan that many anticipated, whether they supported it or not: a universal mask requirement with children sitting three feet apart in the classroom and six feet apart when eating in the cafeteria.

“We have to work within the guidelines that are set forth, that achieve the goals that we are trying to achieve, and there’s two of them: health and safety, and in-person learning,” he said.

Under the reopening plan, masks will be optional outdoors, and recommended when in close contact with others while outside. Cohorts will now consist of an entire grade, and not separate classrooms, meaning that children will be able to socialize with friends other than their classmates on the playground, and in the lunchroom. Plastic desk barriers have been removed, and students will be able to participate in all extracurricular activities including athletics, music and clubs. Students will also now travel to their specials (art, music, library, etc.), instead of those teachers visiting the children’s regular classrooms.

Mitigation practices remain similar to last year’s, with temperature checks when entering the building still in place. The daily/weekly screener used last school year will be replaced by one attestation at the beginning of the year that emphasizes basic Covid guidelines and safety practices.

“I know this is difficult and that each one of us is riding the emotional wave, but we have to persevere through this to get to the point where this is behind us,” said Superintendent Banzer. “If you compare it to where we were a year ago, we are miles ahead. We want to continue to move forward,” he added.

But the meeting attendees, many of whom came to make a stand in the face of an impending mask mandate, presented a range of concerns regarding mask wearing and how it may impact the emotional and physical well-being of their children.

“This is child abuse,” said East Northport resident Robert Misa. “I hope somebody can honor the men who serve our nation and fight for our freedom around the world, while our little girls are being masked up and sitting three feet away from their friends, thinking they are going to die.”

Rob, who likened walking into the BOE meeting (which required that each attendee fill out a Covid-19 questionnaire and have his/her temperature taken) to Nazi Germany, begged the board “man to man” to “stop the madness and abuse to our children.”

A vocal proponent of the “Unmask Our Kids” movement, district resident and parent Meghan Stone approached the board with one question. “I know that in your reopening plan you put a lot of emphasis on time spent with peers,” she said. “I do want to know, what does time spent with peers look like when you have a mask on, and you’re sitting six feet apart in the cafeteria?” She added, “Do they pass notes? Do they wave?”

Meghan repeated the question numerous times, to a mostly silent board.

“They will be around their classmates, in school,” replied Mr. Banzer. “Is it perfect? It’s not perfect. Is it ideal? It’s not ideal.”

When challenged about the district’s mask mandate, Mr. Banzer returned to the reopening plan’s focus: “We want our students in school. We want them to have in-person learning every day. We want them to have opportunities to participate in clubs and activities and athletics and take part in special events... and be with friends and their classmates.”

Audience members said that anticipating the governor’s mandates were not enough, demanded the board make its own decision, and suggested the board did not know the difference between a guideline, a mandate, and a law.

District resident Janice Conte recommended giving parents a choice regarding masks in some aspects of learning. “We need to weigh the risks and benefits for our kids,” she said. “There’s still room to give parents a choice, even with a mandate of masks in our schools.”

She presented one idea for lunchtime, suggesting that the board can “adopt, potentially, some freedom of choice in the lunchrooms. And if there are children who come from immunocompromised families or with issues that parents feel more comfortable having the kids six feet apart, maybe those overflow classrooms that will have to house people anyway, can be for people who would like to be six feet apart.” She then noted that hospitals “from NYC to Long Island” were not overrun and that pediatric units had “plenty of room.”

Banzer deferred numerous times throughout the meeting to recent guidelines for contact tracing and avoiding quarantine when in close contact with a positive case – wearing a mask while three or more feet from an infected person would spare a student from quarantine, he said. If masks were taken out of the equation or distancing not followed, more students would be subject to quarantine.

Anyone who tests positive or is quarantined will have the opportunity to “access their work asynchronously,” said Banzer, and would have the chance to receive live extra help from staff, though not from their own teacher.

But what happens when parents don’t “go along” with the mask mandate, asked East Northport resident Paul Kokell. “We’re going to have to all get together and have the kids refuse masks, and let you drag out 100 kids every day,” he said. His remark was met with a round of applause.

Another speaker, Casey Austin, had Covid-19 in March 2020, as did her husband and kids. “The worst symptom for my two-year-old was pink eye,” she said. “This doesn’t affect kids, let’s just stop.” Casey argued that the masks typically worn by kids are not medical devices and ineffective for blocking the virus. She ended her comments by saying to the board, “Point blank, you all are failures.”

District resident Christina Yacobellis spoke about the effects of mask wearing on mental health before providing a self-proclaimed “history lesson” on the Tuskegee Experiment, which began in 1932. After being recruited by the promise of free medical care, 600 African American men in Alabama, all who believed they were enrolled in a study to treat their ailments, were used to conduct research on the progression of syphilis. The participants were not treated for their disease, but only offered placebos, such as aspirin and mineral supplements. Christina quoted former president Bill Clinton to highlight this part of America’s “shameful past,” as well as the mistrust of the U.S. government and CDC, who did not hold public hearings on the experiment until the 1970s.

Stacy Kinirons, a scientist, healthcare professional and teacher at Columbia University, spoke in favor of the mask mandate and its ability to keep the community safe as it enters another wave of spread. “As I listened to all the anti-maskers speaking at the last board meeting, and tonight, I kept thinking that ignorance really is bliss, but it’s never, ever going to allow us to get out of this pandemic,” she said.

One audience member called “bullshit” when Stacy cited a recent study on the efficacy of masks and limited side effects of mask wearing, and another suggested that she’s the one spreading the virus. Another attendee held onto a flier, given to him while in the building, he said, by a member of the Northport Alliance, a newly formed group of “likeminded” locals concerned about, according to the handout, government overreach, medical tyranny, human rights and freedom of choice. “If you recognize the importance of joining forces on a local level for safety and security measures, as well as a united voice, then we are your community,” the flier read.

“To be clear, we are experiencing a fourth wave in large part because of individual choices,” Stacey continued. “People choosing to not get vaccinated and/or to not wear masks. As a mom, I really want my daughter to have a normal senior year, without masks and social distancing. However, wanting doesn’t make it so.”

Justin LaCorte, a pediatric emergency medicine doctor, said he was so affected by the dialogue at the meeting that he left his home, where he was watching virtually, to speak to the audience in person. Justin said that he’s frustrated by community members who aren’t vaccinated or wearing masks, but want to send their kids to school without a mask on. He said there are no ICU beds in the children’s hospital right now, and that’s before another possible rate spike this winter. “You have the responsibility to keep our children safe,” Justin said to the board. “ You’ve done a great job so far and need to keep doing it. I wear a mask every single day, not just for me, not just for my children, for all of you.”

While speaking, Justin was accused by audience members of fear mongering, and not knowing science.

Ocean Avenue mom Melissa Baker, admitted to not being a medical expert. She asked that the board consider “thinking outside of the box” and find ways to include events, field trips and experiences that allow the kids to feel like it’s a normal school year. “Last year, we said we can’t because of Covid,” she said, “but this year we should say ‘How can we?’”

The full Northport-East Northport UFSD reopening plan can be found here.