GREEN BAY (NBC 26) — Parents with children in Green Bay Area Public Schools (GBAPS) had the chance to share their feedback and weigh on mask wearing for the upcoming school year.
The school board held a listening session Sunday night to take in input from the community.
The session lasted a little under two hours.
See below to watch the full session:
This is ahead of a Monday night special meeting where the school board expects to officially vote on mask guidelines.
Here are what some parents and community members had to say:
“Unmask everyone, it’s the freaking flu pretty much and I just want everyone to have their choice,” said one caller.
“I’m not going to beg and plead with you guys regarding the masks but what I do want to do is just point out some facts that we’ve learned over the past 18 months,” said another caller.
Sunday’s meeting was strictly for the school board to gather feedback on masks. Per guidelines of the listening session, board members were not allowed to interact with callers and had to simply listen.
“I am asking you to protect our right for freedom of choice. Protect our right as parents to choose whether our children wear masks. I feel that masking should be optional for the 21-22 school year,” said one parent.
“As a doctor I’m in very much in support of mask mandates for the 21-22 school year,” said another caller.
For one parent and teacher with the district he was one of the many who called in.
He said he just wants to create a safe learning environment for everybody.
“As a teacher I want to be in school all year with my students and I want my own children in school all year. If that means we need to mask up until students have a chance to be fully vaccinated then I’m all for it,” said Ned Dorff, GBAPS teacher and parent.
For another parent who spoke with the school board, he said while he has a child with a medical condition that doesn’t mean he wants masks implemented.
“I don’t want to see it made mandatory. I think that’s the best way to go for our kids,” said the parent. “We have one child that has a heart condition, so for her we’d want her to wear a mask but then again we don’t want to push it on other parents. We want to make sure it’s optional for everybody.”
While a diverse range of opinions were shared, parents say there was also a great amount of respect shown.
“I’m happy that the community is engaged with what we’re doing in our schools. We’re not always going to agree on everything, but the one thing we should agree on is that we need a safe and healthy place for our students to learn,” Dorff said.
