Around 30 parents and concerned citizens showed up to Wayland Union Fine Arts Center last night for a school board meeting. Many took the time to speak for 3 minutes about some of what they’ve been experiencing in the last year during the pandemic.
All who spoke were adamantly against mask mandates, and were hoping to show the school board reasons why they believed next year, their students should not be required to wear masks. They shared their personal experiences, referred to studies showing how masks do not work, and tried to explain why they believed their kids should not have to deal with this next year.
The school board had put out information before the meeting that masks would be required. We were worried that they were going to enforce it and it would become something like what we saw at Hudsonville school. Luckily, they did not enforce this “rule” and allowed the parents to enter the board meeting without masks.
These parents really care about their kids. And they really do not want their children to suffer by being forced to mask up. Many have said they are willing to remove their children from the district if the rules do not change. The Superintendent said they were waiting on the health department to determine how they would move forward.
Here’s what the parents had to say:
As you can see, these parents are willing to fight for their kids. They won’t be told how to handle their children’s health and are willing to speak out and show their reasons for coming to that conclusion. The school board again was asking that all speakers give their full names, addresses, emails and phone numbers on a slip, which should not be allowed as many parents are afraid to speak out due to potential consequences. They don’t want to get cancelled. This is an intimidation tactic. Nevertheless, these parents were not going to be bullied and made sure to say what they had to say.
Many believe the pandemic is over, but these kids are still being subjected to rules most adults do not have to follow. They come home with filthy, dirty, wet masks, that they’ve been wearing all day. We know this is not healthy for them. They’re still waiting on the health department who doesn’t even have the authority to require that in schools. It’s a common theme we’ve noticed. The school board acting as if their hands are tied and they have to do whatever the health department says.
Parents must come together, point out the fact that the school board was elected and must follow what their constituents want them to do. They swore an oath to the Constitution when taking their positions. They must be willing to stand up to this corrupt medical tyranny. There was not a single person there willing to speak who supported the masks. The community will support the school board when they do the right thing.
We were contacted by a woman named Stephanie Tromp and unfortunately the audio to her speech was really bad so we weren’t able to share it in the video. Stephanie said we can share her speech in writing so that’s what you’ll see below. She was the first speaker and the one to ask us to come cover the event. We appreciate her and other parents for standing up and speaking out.
Here’s her speech:
Hi my name is Stephanie. I live in Caledonia and we are in the Wayland school district and have 2 children that go here. No way did I want to stand up here and speak. I am no good at this, but our kids are important. I am here to let you know what we parents, as a group, have decided we wanted to discuss with you tonight.
There are 3 main topics so some of the us will be mentioning these. We would like a “return to learn” promise letter by the next regular board meeting July 12 or sooner. This is plenty of time since the mask mandates are supposed to end July 1st. We would like this letter to include no mask and vaccines requirements and no more guaranteeing those that are healthy. We also hope to see no vaccine discriminations.
Ostego, Hopkins, and TK schools have already sent out their letters stating that there will be no mask requirements for the 2021 22 school year. We need to hear from you so that we know how to plan for next school year. There’s many of us Parents that will not send our kids to school if they are forced to wear a masks. We are going to share some personal stories with you, of how this school year has gone.
This will show you how your decisions affected families. We will talk about all the unnecessary and ineffective rules that were forced on our children this year… quarantines, testing healthy athletes, wearing masks, which is child abuse. Did these things actually do any good? If masks worked, why would we have to quarantine? Why social distance? And the fact that the children’s masks are usually disgusting by the end of the school day. How can this be healthy or good hygiene? How is this more sanitary than breathing fresh air?
Short summary of how this school year went for my family. My middle schooler did not like going virtual or hybrid at home. It was a fight to get him to do his school work, and in the evening his Dad would have to teach him so he could complete his assignments. I personally didn’t like my son doing his work and learning on a screen, he loved the screen time. My daughter at Pine Street did not like that during recess she had to stay in her “zone” and wasn’t able to choose where she could play on the playground. Also that she could not play with or talk to any other friends that were not in her class, yet on the bus she was sitting with other children every day for over an hour and a half.
This is not the education or social environment that our children deserve. Thank you for your time. And an especially BIG thanks to the board members that have stood up for us throughout this year. Let us know what we can do to help you. We are here to support you if you do what is right for our children.
Written by: Adam Boyd