West Islip Parents Outraged Over Mask Mandate

WEST ISLIP, NY — West Islip parents, outraged after they said several students within the district were “segregated” for refusing to wear masks in the classroom, are expected to express their concerns at Thursday’s board of education meeting.

Claudia Worley, co- admin of the Facebook group “West Islip Parents For Choice” told Patch that several parents received phone calls from their school’s principal, explaining that their child had been, in Worley's words, “segregated” after not wearing masks.

Worley said that about 20 parents received a letter dated February 2. The letter, addressed from superintendent Bernadette Burns, stated that their child was no longer to attend school if they did not wear a mask.

“We're fighting for the choice to be our kids’ parents, again; they're stripping us of the rights that we have as their parents on making decisions for them,” Worley said about the Facebook group. “We're trying to take back the control from our board, and bring it back to the people of our town.

The controversy erupted after Gov. Kathy Hochul’s statewide mask mandate remained in effect after an appeals court judge issued a stay last week — despite a ruling by a Nassau County Supreme Court judge that declared the mask protocols to be unconstitutional.

The state immediately filed an appeal, and New York State Attorney General Letitia James filed a motion to stay the ruling. On Monday, a judge ruled to grant the full stay as the appeals process continues, which could keep the mask mandate in place until March.

Last week, the West Islip School District announced that masks were optional. The district then retracted that statement, saying that the mask protocols were still mandatory

However, many parents feel that wearing masks should remain a choice. In the week following the mandate reversal, Worley said,more than 100 people have joined the Facebook group.

Worley said that when her five-year-old daughter refused to wear a mask in class, she was separated from her peers and was forced to stay inside her school’s computer room.

She claims that her daughter wasn’t allowed to eat lunch in the cafeteria, go to recess, interact with other students in the room, or leave her seat except for using the bathroom. Her daughter, who normally receives extra reading help throughout the week, did not receive it. Worley said she was appalled at the school’s actions.

“It's disgusting that they would even think to do this. A five-year-old is still learning her basic things,” Worley said. “You're isolating and segregating a kid — a toddler, essentially.”

One West Islip parent who wished to remain anonymous told Patch that their daughter also went to school without a mask last week. The child was told she would be put in a room by herself away from her peers for the entire day if she did not wear a mask. Outraged, the parent instead picked her up from school.

“You're going to put her in a room all by herself without any peers?” the parent asked administrators. “Prisoners, they're not — they're not treated that way. That’s terrible.”

In the days that followed, about 16 other students refused to wear a mask, and were all put in one classroom together, the parents said. They claimed that a teacher had the windows closed all day and stood by the door in between periods.

On Tuesday, the parent received a letter and notification from their daughter’s middle school, saying that she would be “truant” if she continued to wear a mask.

“My job is to protect my children,” the parent said. “I feel that the board of education is overruling my feelings about what I think is best for my child's health. They're not giving me an option.”

Another parent, Diana De Lorenzo, said that when her daughter and other students attended school without masks, the group was forced to spend the day in the auditorium. De Lorenzo claims that those students were also not allowed to have lunch with their peers.

At one point, she said, the school band came into the auditorium as the group was attempting to do school work. The principal, she said, later apologized.

“It was just disgraceful that our kids are there, you're already having them in a bad situation. And now you're making it worse,” De Lorenzo said. “Is this deliberate? Was this a way to break them — to make them feel horrible?”

De Lorenzo said that the mask mandate has been emotionally challenging on both of her children. Her younger daughter, who is in elementary school, has become anxious to wear masks in school, she said.

Her daughter in middle school, she said, has dyslexia, and the mask distracts her from school work. She returned to school on Monday wearing a mask but felt defeated, De Lorenzo said.

“She was definitely visually depressed and kind of broken,” she said.

De Lorenzo told Patch that she had emailed the superintendent and Udall Middle School about this issue, but has yet to hear back. She said that she understands that a state mandate is still in place, but believes the school should have been more accommodating with students in terms of mask breaks and consequences .

“I completely understand they're in a tough place. But carrying out the discipline is the district's choice, “ De Lorenzo said. “There's nothing written, there are no standards on what you're supposed to do to a child.”

The children, De Lorenzo said, are the true heroes for standing up for what they believe in.

“It’s very heartbreaking to know that my kids are stuck for six hours, but I'm free walking around doing whatever I want,” she said. “No adult is taking responsibility for themselves.”

The district has not responded for comment.