Watch Loudoun County Children Deliver Baskets Full Of Affidavits To A Frightened School Board
The Loudoun County Public Schools (LCPS) board in Virginia is no stranger to controversy. What took place at the most recent school board meeting might be one they don’t wish to see again in the near future, if at all. This new controversy saw Loudoun County children march into the meeting carrying baskets with signed affidavits opposing the LCPS mask mandate. Both children and parents had had enough.
The Loudoun County Public Schools (LCPS) board in Virginia is no stranger to controversy. What took place at the most recent school board meeting might be one they don’t wish to see again in the near future, if at all. This new controversy saw Loudoun County children march into the meeting carrying baskets with signed affidavits opposing the LCPS mask mandate. Both children and parents had had enough.
“We are therefore here today to serve you an affidavit which you must respond,” Rene Camp said, a parent of an LCPS student, via WUSA 9 News. “Showing us where in the constitution you have been given the legal authority to trample on people’s rights.” Camp was standing at the podium as a public speaker to the board when several students marched in with baskets containing the affidavits. Some attendees of the meeting could be heard telling the school board that they have been served. The interaction was posted on Twitter, which you can see below.
One parent, Megan Rafalski, said she was part of a group of 65 parents and concerned citizens who signed the affidavits presented by the Loudoun County children. According to Rafalski, the parents have tried to engage in conversation with the LCPS school board, but to no avail. This was their next step.
“We’re parents who want to be parents and look after our children,” Rafalski told Fox News Digital. “We’ve tried to talk to them, they will not listen, so it’s essentially a list of demands, a list of grievances.” The list of grievances Rafalski is talking about includes the mask mandates, teaching critical race theory in schools which the LCPS continues to deny is happening, and to establish bathrooms for males, females, transgender people, and staff.
Part of the affidavit “demands that the Superintendent and the LCPS remove mask mandates since the science shows that these are not necessary for the protection of children and since the schools do not comply with the other CDC Guidelines as claimed.” This also comes from the fact that Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin, on his first day in office, didn’t waste any time in signing an executive order that banned Loudoun County children and the rest of the state from having to wear masks. Four days later, Loudoun County Public Schools Superintendent Scott Ziegler, wrote a letter to the parents of Loudoun County children, informing them the school mask mandate would remain in place.
After that, seven Virginia school districts, including Loudoun County, filed a lawsuit against Gov. Youngkin challenging his executive order. A judge then ruled for the school districts, putting in place a temporary restraining order halting Youngkin’s order and thereby allowing the school districts to keep their mask mandates. Since then, three parents of children within the school district filed a lawsuit against the Loudoun County School Board. Gov. Youngkin has also joined in on the lawsuit.
As the procession of Loudoun County children delivered the affidavits, LCPS board chair Jeff Morse called for an immediate recess. After order was returned to the meeting, parents and students were allowed time to address the school board during public comment. One student said, “I listened to our governor and now I’ve been banned from going to my own classroom since January 24. Last Wednesday I was officially suspended.” This student refused to wear a mask.
Although there was plenty of support for the parents and the Loudoun Country children, there were some dissenting viewpoints as well. “I will keep showing up because I don’t want a small group of ignorant people who equate wearing a mask to oppression, tyranny, and segregation making decisions for our school and my children,” said a parent during public comment. The majority, though, were in favor of dropping the mask mandates.
As for when they see the mask mandate going away for Loudoun County children, Ziegler relayed the plan to loosen the iron grip. It includes the number of staff and students in isolation to drop under 50 and remain there for 14 consecutive days. The plan would also require transmission within the community and its positivity rate to fall below substantial. Currently, though, Loudoun County data shows that over 6,000 students are in quarantine and the community positivity rate is high, though the death rate is low. It’s particularly low among children where, as it is nationwide, the death rate is nearly zero.
