Lynbrook parents gather to peacefully protest school mask mandates

About a dozen parents gathered outside of the Lynbrook School District’s administration building on Jan. 25, some holding signs, in a peaceful protest of mask mandates in schools, in the hope to push officials to make wearing masks optional.

Jen Saia said she attended the event and has a child enrolled at the Lynbrook Kindergarten Center, and that she and other like-minded parents want the school district to reconsider mask mandates.

“We understand that coronavirus is real, it is a risk, for many,” she said, “but with the availability of people to protect themsleves in other ways . . . at this point in time, people should have the choice of whether or not their children are masked in schools.”

Saia added that school officials have been receptive, but have indicated they do not have control over the mandates, and that the parents have tried to remain respectful when speaking with them. She also noted that many children may be immunocompromised, and parents want to be sensitive to that, which is why the group believed that masks should be optional.

On Monday, the Supreme Court ruled that New York’s requirement that masks be worn in schools and businesses that don’t screen for proof of vaccination would remain in place while a state court considers a challenge to it. The ruling came after the mask mandate was upended by a Long Island judge before being temporarily reinstated the next day. Gov. Kathy Hochul imposed the mandate in December amid rising Covid-19 cases due to the Omicron variant. Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman tried to override the mandates through executive orders, but did not have the grounds to overrule the State Education Department and could not force boards of education to vote on the mandate.

At the Jan. 12 school board meeting, Lynbrook officials said masks would remain in place for the foreseeable future, and that attendees at each meeting must also wear masks.

However, parents like Saia said forcing children to wear masks has had a negative impact on them.

“It’s been two years and our children deserve their childhood back,” she said. “My child is 5 and she wears glasses. We as adults know what it’s like to wear a mask with glasses. She’s trying to learn how to read and write, and she can’t see her teachers’ mouth and her teacher can’t see her mouth, and it’s hard to hear with muffled voices behind these masks.”

Saia said she discussed the issues with mask wearing with other parents, and they decided to stand outside of the administration building, but that they wanted to express themselves peacefully.

“We’ve been respectful to them and they’ve been respectful to us,” she said of school officials. “We want to continue that relationship. All we ever wanted was a choice.”