The Zionsville school board just voted to require students to wear masks—again. Parents are understandably outraged at the latest example of draconian, arbitrary, oppressive, politically motivated rules that have been constantly changing for the past year and a half and are just plain stupid. Sadly, the endless media campaign of hysteria and fearmongering has many Americans so terrified that they mindlessly comply with whatever public health authorities tell them to do. After all, it’s for our own “safety,” right?
Wrong. There is a mountain of scientific evidence that young, healthy children are considered extremely low risk for developing serious illness from the Chinese virus, and whatever negligible risk it may pose does not justify forcing them to wear masks at school. And no—closing our schools again is not the only alternative.
In my education law practice, I deal with parents whose children have disabilities every day. Many of them cannot wear a face mask because of their disability. Parents should not be forced to choose between sending their disabled child to school or keeping her home. These children should not be segregated, isolated, or kept at home. In fact, doing so may violate federal law.
You can find more information in the following links:
- https://fox59.com/news/education/zionsville-school-board-votes-to-require-masks-for-students-12-and-under/
- https://www.wthr.com/article/news/local/after-new-cdc-guidelines-zionsville-schools-change-face-mask-policy/531-388c0e0c-646a-4519-af69-6b8805baec42
- https://www.wishtv.com/news/coronavirus/zionsville-school-board-requires-masks-for-students-younger-than-12/
- https://youarecurrent.com/2021/07/28/zionsville-community-schools-votes-to-require-masks-for-children-younger-than-12/