Protest Over Masks Shuts Down Clarkstown BOE Meeting

NEW CITY, NY — Yelling, cursing and talking over each other and district officials, parents who oppose the Clarkstown school district's decision to follow CDC guidelines on universal indoor masking ended the Board of Education meeting before it began Thursday night.

A video of most of the roughly 15-minute incident can be seen here.

The school community learned Aug. 5 that Clarkstown would require masks when the school year starts in September. Superintendent Martin Cox sent a letter to parents quoting the state's position, announced Aug. 5, which said school districts had control and recommended they follow guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and local health departments.

In that letter, Cox reminded parents State Education Department Commissioner Dr. Betty Rosa informed school districts on July 29 that CDC guidelines should be the basis of preparing for the 2021-22 school year, and that those guidelines included universal indoor masking.

"Based on the aforementioned recommendations from the CDC and the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), students will be required to wear masks in school and on buses as the new school year begins. Our plan is to observe three-feet social distancing when people are masked and six-feet social distancing at times when face coverings are not practical (e.g. while eating)," he wrote Aug. 5.

At the meeting, many audience members who had not brought masks refused to put on ones they had been given. When the school board said the meeting wouldn't start until everyone in the audience was masked, many began yelling, often over their own supporters. "It's not a law," they said, and "you're fools." They said masks hurt their children. They laughed at a school official who mentioned the delta variant and interrupted him repeatedly.

After the board voted to adjourn, an impromptu parking-lot gathering followed. In addition to the mask mandate, speakers also criticized the district's diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives.

The community erupted on social media both during and afterward. Some people supported the disruptive parents, saying that Clarkstown school officials never listened. Some were horrified. Some repeated misinformation about the coronavirus and masks.

Several brought up the town of Clarkstown's concert July 14, scheduled for outdoors but moved to Clarkstown High School South because of bad weather, a town event in a district building at which they said no one wore masks.

On July 14, the statewide coronavirus positivity rate was 1.08 percent, there were 349 New Yorkers hospitalized with COVID-19, and two people died.

Yesterday, New York's positivity rate was 3.11 percent, there were 1,561 people hospitalized with COVID-19 and 13 people died.

The CDC updated its guidance July 27 on the need for urgently increasing COVID-19 vaccination coverage and a recommendation for everyone in areas of substantial or high transmission to wear a mask in public indoor places, even if they are fully vaccinated. CDC issued the new guidance after seeing COVID case and hospitalizations rise around the country at a rate they called "rapid and alarming." Delta, currently the predominant strain of the virus in the United States, is more infectious.

Nationwide, rates of children hospitalized with COVID-19 have reached an all-time high, Business Insider reported.

The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that everyone older than age 2 wear masks, regardless of vaccination status. "A significant portion of the student population is not yet eligible for vaccines, and masking is proven to reduce transmission of the virus and to protect those who are not vaccinated," they said in July.

"There are many children and others who cannot be vaccinated,” said Sara Bode, MD, FAAP, chair-person elect of the AAP Council on School Health Executive Committee said in an announcement about the updated guidelines. “This is why it’s important to use every tool in our toolkit to safeguard children from COVID-19. Universal masking is one of those tools, and has been proven effective in protecting people against other respiratory diseases, as well."

It's essential to prioritize getting children back into schools, said Sonja O’Leary, MD, FAAP, chair of the AAP Council on School Health. "The pandemic has taken a heartbreaking toll on children, and it’s not just their education that has suffered but their mental, emotional and physical health. Combining layers of protection that include vaccinations, masking and clean hands hygiene will make in-person learning safe and possible for everyone."

The Clarkstown school board did hold a meeting Friday morning.