By David Bass
Carolina Journal
Mask wars have once again erupted in Buncombe County after the school board voted during a specially called meeting last week, without public comment, to require all students and staff to wear masks while inside, regardless of vaccination status.
The unanimous 7-0 vote came days before Buncombe County public school classrooms will open Monday, Aug 23.
The board’s initial vote earlier in the month exempted the vaccinated from the mask mandate. At that meeting, school board members faced a blistering backlash from public speakers opposed to the mandate, including a group of parents who disrupted the meeting and tried to “overthrow” the existing school board, as reported by the Asheville Citizen-Times.
Local parents are concerned that mandating masks for students — a move meant to stave off infections from the delta variant of COVID-19 — will do more harm than good.
In a letter-the-editor in Tribune Papers, local parent Tamara Parker wrote that parents want to be the final arbiter of whether their kids should wear masks, not the public school system.
“It appears that the school board has lost touch with the reason it exists,” Parker wrote. “At the very least, its members should be respectful to the parents of the children they represent and at least listen to what they have to say. It is obvious that this board does not. Unfortunately, these members will have to face up to a lot of legalities down the road, which will cause further division of hostilities and nothing to benefit the students.”
A group of Buncombe County parents commissioned the services of a lawyer to pressure the school board into reversing course. In a letter, Raleigh lawyer Matthew Ceradini says the school board had participated in “certain improper and potentially illegal conduct” regarding imposing masks on students as medical devices and failing to properly notify the public of its Aug. 4 meeting and for limiting public access and comment during the meeting.
On July 21, Gov. Roy Cooper, a Democrat, issued new guidance for K-12 public school districts recommending universal masking for all students more than 2 years old and for all staff and visitors. The recommendations leave the final decision up to local school districts.
As of mid-August, about half of North Carolina’s 115 school districts have mask mandates in place, according to the N.C. School Board Association. The remaining districts are leaving the decision up to parents.
Lawmakers in the General Assembly have taken up a measure — Senate Bill 173, the “Free the Smiles Act” — certifying that local school systems have the authority to set masking policies, not the state government or the governor. S.B. 173 passed the House in a largely party-line 66-44 vote on June 23 and is currently in a conference committee between the two chambers.
This is what we need to do in JOCO! Rise up to remind these people who elected them and who they are supposed to represent! Time to fire them all!
What ever happened to Zukowski and the money she owes the county? Was Sutton investigated as to what he knows? Why hasn’t anyone on the board pushed this issue? Our tax money pays for these illegal activities!! We need to stand up and hold them accountable for their actions and words! Stop letting them sweep it under the rug and forget about it.
Want to see if they were all legally elected to their seats in 2020? Join us in pushing for a full forensic audit of NC! We need to right this state before it becomes a complete communist takeover!
Join NC first audit channel on telegram.
You sound like every other grifter claiming to work “for the people”.
I don’t just claim it, I am doing it! How many legislators, state representatives, senators, school board and commissioners have you called/emailed/written lately? I call 3 daily because they need to know we are in charge, paying them and they work for us.
The other board member who called her out is a cop. I’m sure if there were enough evidence of criminal activity that she would have been charged. Unfortunately it’s totally legal to use public office for private gain these days.
Also, there’s an entire audit process in NC and it’s run by one of the people you’re calling a communist, so even if your claim of a “takeover” is true, you’re talking nonsense. Sounds like you need to crack open a book or two. I bet you don’t even know who you voted for in the State Auditor election do you? You just look for the party affiliation I’d wager every dime I have.
I am fully aware of who called her out and the evidence presented. I also know it’s the people’s responsibility to hold our elected officials accountable since they are paid by us. The mentality of trusting our elected is what has led to the corruption and fraud seen in elections today.
Yes there is an audit process but do you realize that process is basically counting the same ballots over and over to see if they get the same count. It does not actually look at the ballots to see if they are legal, if the person who voted is alive or still lives in the county/state/district, etc.
And I absolutely know who I voted for all the way down the ballot. I also know it makes absolutely no sense in the world how the state went hard red except in key positions that have anything to do with the election (AG, Auditor, SoS, Gov). I haven’t spoken to a single person, even in the GA, who can explain the above voting. A true forensic audit should be championed by all to insure our votes count. If one side can cheat than so can the other so who’s to say we will ever truly elect anyone again?
Lady, you can’t see the Forest for the Trees.
You should be better educating yourself for a few things for the betterment of humanity, in general.
Never underestimate the power of STUPID people in large groups.
Like large groups saying we need to mask our kids or they will die even though statistically that’s unlikely to happen.
Haha, yeah, so revolutionary. How’s that “revolt” going? The Chump Train gets more pathetic every day.
Too bad the residents of Johnston County don’t have the balls to do this. Just look at how disrespectful Sessoms and Sutton have been to the audience in attendance of the board meetings. And the people take it because we have to “respect our elected officials.”
Michael, Just because a few show up at a board meeting, doesn’t mean that’s the view of the many. That doesn’t mean the squeaky wheel always gets the grease.
Yes I’m willing!
I’m sure it’s just a coincidence that the board member who made that motion regarding mandatory face masks just happens to sell masks and gives out the vaccines. Keep it simple and just follow the money folks.
Parents, look at the mesh masks on-line and they are as effective as any other mask that are not N-95. They are very breathable and you can actually see the conversation through them. These mesh masks makes the perfect protest masks to offend the “Squad of CRT Cult” JOCO school board members.
Another CRT Can’t Re-elected Trump supporter