As school year approaches, families urge LCSD1 Board of Trustees to listen to concerns

Aug. 18—CHEYENNE — Anger, frustration and fear ran high during the Laramie County School District 1 Board of Trustees meeting Monday night.

Families packed into the small board room and whispered among one another in anticipation of Friday's school board decision on back-to-school requirements. Some held signs with the words "no masks on my child" written across poster board, while others clutched their children on their laps while wearing homemade face coverings.

This was just the beginning of a three-hour meeting with a passionate public comment section. More than 30 parents came forward to discuss two topics: masks and critical race theory.

LCSD1 Superintendent Margaret Crespo announced the Smart Start plan, which includes policies like masking up for certain portions of the day, heavy sanitation and a contact tracing system for families. She said these policies are what kept schools open for in-person learning during the 2020-21 school year, and that was the goal for the next year, which starts Monday.

It was met with backlash from both sides of the argument, however. Some parents expressed frustration that masks would be required for children at all, while others argued for a non-excusable mask mandate for the entirety of the school day.

Missy Spier, a parent of three girls in the district, began to cry while addressing the board on the issue. She urged the board to reconsider a mask requirement. She said she couldn't believe that she had to make the choice between sending her children to school and wearing a mask.

"I don't understand how this is going to make such a big difference," she said.

Another parent, Liberty Robins, said she didn't feel the masks made a difference when it came to COVID-19, but rather had an impact on her children's ability to function.

Her son suffers from a speech disability and struggles to communicate with masks on. She asked the board how her son was supposed to learn to speak properly if he wasn't able to see how other people talk.

"We've muzzled our children," she said.

Both Spier and Robins were part of the majority opinion in the fight against mask mandates, but there were other parents who argued that masks would have an impact on the virus' spread.

Chris Brown was one of five parents to speak in favor of masks. He looked down at his notes and read out to the room that as of Sunday night, there were nearly 2,000 children hospitalized with COVID-19 nationwide, according to data from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

"I agree completely that that number, comparatively to the amount of folks that have gotten sick nationwide, is small," he said. "But if we can take simple preventative measures to make sure that not one of the children or parents in this room gets sick or has to be hospitalized, why wouldn't we do that?"

Brown was booed and families yelled as he walked out of the room after his remarks. Other parents who spoke for a mask mandate met with the same response, being called "child abusers" and against civil liberty.

While some parents were more aggressive in their argument against masks, there were those who clarified their issue wasn't with parents who wanted to send their children to school with masks, but rather the possibility of a lack of choice.

Michelle Hayes, a parent who has been asking the board for more than a year to rethink its health policies, said she wants to decide what is best for her children alone.

"This is Wyoming," she said. "We want our rights."

She was supported by more than parents in this sentiment. Clarence Styvar, a Republican state House District 12 representative, made an appearance and participated in the public comment section to demand the power of choice for constituents.

He cited Wyoming Statute 14, Article 206, which covers the protection of parental rights.

"The liberty of a parent to the care, custody and control their child is a fundamental right that resides first in the parent," he read from the Wyoming Constitution.

The room burst into applause afterward, and Styvar reminded the board that they needed to reflect thoroughly on the decision being made this week.

The right to choose also factored into discussion of the second major topic of the board meeting — critical race theory. Although there is no official curriculum including critical race theory in Laramie County, parents and their children said they were uncomfortable with books assigned for fall classes.

In a module called "Wit and Wisdom," there were books dedicated to civil rights activists that mentioned slurs once used openly. Other books being introduced in Laramie County schools broke down difficult topics like racism, suicide and child abuse.

Parents were upset that they were not made aware of the curriculum days before the new school year starts, and that there was also no option to opt out of certain lessons.

"In my opinion, teachers need to teach math, English and social studies," said local parent Jeremiah Spier. "Let us raise our kids. That's my job."

This was not the first time that parents shared these concerns. Janelle Johnson, another parent with kids in LCSD1, said she felt completely ignored when trying to address both the curriculum and health policies in the past.

Throughout the meeting, the most common question the board seemed to face from the public was "Why aren't you listening to us?"

A final decision on mask requirements and the back-to-school health agenda will be made this Friday. The next regular board meeting will be held Monday at 6 p.m.

Jasmine Hall is the Wyoming Tribune Eagle's education reporter. She can be reached by email at jhall@wyomingnews.com or by phone at 307-633-3167. Follow her on Twitter @jasminerhphotos and on Instagram @jhrose25.

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