Page 4/The Sun and News, Saturday, August 28, 2021Mask mandate triggers protest at Caledonia schools
James Gemmell
Contributing Writer
The Kent County Health
Department issued public
health orders Aug. 20 requir-
ing masks to be worn indoors
by all pre-kindergarten
through sixth-grade students.
But the mandate is not going
over well with some citizens
in the Caledonia Community
Schools.
Kent County is one of four
West Michigan counties that
issued mask mandates for
students not old enough to
receive COVID-19 vaccina-
tions. The others are Allegan,
Ottawa and Kalamazoo
counties.
A couple dozen people
gathered along Johnson
Street in front of the Duncan
Lake Early Childhood pre-
school and the Duncan Lake
Middle School on Monday
evening to protest. Flyers
also were passed out by pro-
testers outside Emmons Lake
and Kettle Lake elementary
schools. The first day of fall
classes in the district was
Tuesday, Aug. 24.
Picketers held signs such
as “Masking Kids is Child
Abuse” and “Unmask or We
Unenroll.” One of the mask
protesters who chose only togive her first name, Lindsey,
described herself as a “con-
cerned mom.” She held up a
sign that read “Honk 4
Freedom.” She said her son
has a vision-processing dis-
order and that a mask blocks
half of his field of vision.
“Some of these kids have
ADHD and sensory-process-
ing disorders, and you’re
putting a mask on these stu-
dents who have developing
brains,” Lindsey said. “When
you’re a kindergartener
learning how to read and
write – learning the alphabet- you can’t see your teach-
er’s mouth.
“As a teacher of young
children, you can’t tell if a
child is happy, sad or strug-
gling. You can’t see if they’re
anxious or nervous, because
you can’t see their face.”
However, the public health
order says a child with a
developmental condition
may be exempt from wearing
a face mask if that child has
an Individualized Education
Plan, and it can be shown
that a mask may hinder his or
her ability to learn.
Bowne Township resident
Jason Wangerin is the father
of a student who graduated
from high school in 2020.
“Nobody wants to see our
children masked and muz-
zled,” Wangerin said. “We,
as parents, want to follow the
laws. But when laws and
mandates are unconstitution-
al, we’re not going to follow
them. We’re going to resist.”
As the Sun and News
reported Aug. 21, parents on
both sides of the mask-wear-
ing debate expressed their
views at a Caledonia Schools
Board of Education meeting
Aug. 16.
Prior to the countywide
order from the Kent County
Health Department, the
Caledonia administrators
were strongly recommending
indoor mask-wearing, but
they were not going to make
it a requirement. That plan
changed, however, once the
mandate was issued from the
health department. And,
because the county health
department edict came down
less than two weeks before
the start of school, some
school districts do not have
online (virtual) classes set up
yet as an alternative option to
in-person learning.
Meanwhile, some of the
people who participated in
the curbside protest in
Caledonia contend that sci-
ence does not support the
view that mask-wearing
helps prevent being infectedby COVID-19. A citizen who
declined to give his name
said, “I’m a student of sci-
ence, and it’s very clear from
all of the studies that I’ve
read there is zero difference
between someone wearing a
mask and not wearing a
mask, and getting COVID-
19.”
School board member Tim
Morris said at the board
meeting that he also ques-
tions the effectiveness of the
masks, and supported a par-
ent’s right to choose.
Kent County
Administrative Health
Officer Dr. Adam London
said in a news release that
the Delta variant of the
COVID-19 virus is high con-
tagious and is more likely to
cause serious illness and hos-
pitalization.
“So we need to take pre-
cautions to keep our children
healthy and in school,”
London said.
While the health depart-
ment’s order stipulates that
masks must be worn by the
pre-K through sixth-grade
students and their service
providers, the department
also recommends that school
administrators, teachers and
parents adhere to guidelines
issued by the Michigan
Department of Health and
Human Services and the
Centers for Disease Control
& Prevention (CDC).
The health department
said the mask-wearing man-
date will remain in effect
until 60 days after the Foodand Drug Administration
(FDA) authorizes a vaccine
for children in pre-kindergar-
ten through 6th grade, or
until the CDC determines
that the risk of virus trans-
mission is “low” for at least
seven consecutive days.
There are some exceptions
to the mask-wearing man-
date. Per the Kent County
Health Department, those
exceptions include:
Persons in the act of eating
or drinking.
Persons under the age of
4; however, supervised
masking is recommended for
children who are at least 2.
Persons with developmen-
tal conditions of any age
attending school for whom it
has been demonstrated that
the use of a face covering
would inhibit the person’s
access to education. These
are limited to persons with
an Individualized Education
Plan, Section 504 Plan,
Individualized Healthcare
Plan or equivalent.
Vaccinated teachers who
are working with children
who are hard of hearing or
students with developmental
conditions who benefit from
facial cues.
Persons who have a medi-
cal reason confirmed in writ-
ing from a Medical Doctor
(MD) or Doctor of
Osteopathic Medicine (DO)
currently licensed to practice
medicine in the State of
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Downtown Middleville(269) 795-People hold signs expressing dissatisfaction with a countywide mask mandate for
pre-K through 6th-graders. (Photo by James Gemmell)