Anti-Maskers Disrupt BOE Meeting; Board Votes to Approve Staff Vaccination Policy

At Thursday’s BOE meeting, where face masks were required by state law, a group of parents who oppose mask mandates raised voices and disrupted the meeting.

Their presence was not entirely a surprise, given a truck had toured the town earlier in the day with messages including “unmask our kids,” and reminding people the BOE meeting was at 7pm.

Eighteen people signed up to speak during public comment. About a dozen of them criticized student mask mandates.

Marija Mikolajcjak said she and her 7-year-old daughter had not been allowed to enter Central Middle School to testify in person because they weren’t wearing masks at the meeting.

Testifying later via Zoom, Ms Mikolajcjak said, “Now you’ve made a 7-year old cry.”

“You are not supposed to be the arm of the Democrat (sic) party,” she said.

Mikolajcjak’s daughter testified via Zoom, saying, “I’m doing home schooling because my mom and dad didn’t want me to wear the useless mask all day. That was great because I didn’t want to wear the mask either because at school my favorite things are hugging my friends and sitting next to them, laughing and making friendship bracelets.”

At the podium, Gail Lauritsen was repeatedly told to pull her mask over her nose before she elaborated on her opinion that masks don’t work.

“Masks interfere with task performance, efficiency and can cause life threatening conditions,” she said.

Jackie Homan, who has a medical exemption from wearing a mask and is the public face of Greenwich Patriots, was first to speak.

Ms Homan, who opposes both mask mandates and vaccinations, accused the board and its chair of using bullying tactics, trying to push a “one-sided pro-vaccination point of view.”

She said the board must either fire staff who she said have broken the mandate or end the mask mandate.

She said the district should shut down vaccine clinics on school grounds and review curricular materials.

https://greenwichfreepress.com/schools/anti-maskers-disrupt-boe-meeting-board-votes-to-approve-staff-vaccination-policy-167421/