At next Tuesday’s meeting, Charlotte Mecklenburg Board of Education members will consider changes to the mask mandate our schools have had in place since the COVID-19 pandemic began.
It’s a highly controversial topic which has seen school board meetings around the country turn into something resembling the Jerry Springer Show, complete with regular references to “face diapers” and ill-conceived Nazi Germany analogies.
Missing from almost all of these conversations about masks have been the voices of the individuals who are most impacted by our policy decisions: those of our students.
Generation Nation, Charlotte-Mecklenburg’s largest student organization, surveyed members of the CMS high school student advisory council last week, finding that 81% of them believe the CMS Board of Education should NOT lift the mask mandate at this time.
Students also indicated they were worried about the potential for bullying of students who opt to continue to wear masks in the absence of a mandate and about the increase in stress on students by lifting the mask requirement.
Tune in on Tuesday to see how our elected officials respond to those concerns.
Instead of tuning in to see how elected leaders respond, I would strongly encourage people to show up to the school board meeting. Why watch someone else show up and shape the narrative ? Be seen and heard