New Canaan community clashes in heated forum over student mask-wearing mandate
NEW CANAAN — Cheers, boos and interjections filled the auditorium at Saxe Middle School Thursday when a public forum was held to gain insight from parents in the district, who felt their voices had not been heard on the issue of mask mandates in schools.
Organized by State Rep. Thomas O’Dea, a New Canaan resident, he and three other elected officials heard the concerns of a few dozen parents, residents, students, teachers and medical professionals.
The debate centered on whether mandatory mask-wearing should continue in school buildings with an extension of Governor Ned Lamont’s pandemic executive orders, whether each school board should make this decision for its student body or if the choice should be left to the parents. The vast majority of the public present was in favor of the latter.
James Basch, a New Canaan resident and deputy member of the Planning and Zoning Commission, said the city “must go beyond local control” and establish parental choice.
“A superintendent, or BOE, should not be dictating a child’s physical and mental health with mandatory masks,” he said.
P&Z Commission member John Kriz reiterated the importance of face-to-face interactions and “social and emotional learning” as essential life skills.
“It seems indisputable that masks interfere with everyone’s social and emotional learning. Is it a price worth paying? Kriz asked.
Students from New Canaan High School also echoed. Sophomore Jacob Kosar, who was competing in a track meet during the reunion, prepared a letter which was read aloud by his father.
“I think the teachers have been very lenient with the masks, and I think we have to respect that they’re doing their best to keep us safe,” Kosar said in his letter. “The more we stick to the rules and work together, the sooner we can get out of the current COVID crisis and get back to normal mask-free life.”
Another student, who did not identify himself before making his comments, said he felt ‘intimidated to do something that does more harm than good’ and asked elected officials to vote to end the mask mandates in schools.
Dozens of other people sent their opinions and criticisms to the elected officials, the superintendent of schools and, sometimes, to the other participants.
A number of speakers were heckled or booed as they spoke, forcing forum leaders to call to order.
‘Boo to us, not to each other,’ said Democratic Sen. Will Haskell, asking parents to ‘show the kids in the audience’ that while disagreeing, the room can still be respectful each other. O’Dea also repeatedly asked the room to “not agree without being disagreeable” and to be respectful.
Haskell said on Friday that he felt “demoralized” not by the way he was treated, but rather by the way the neighbors treated each other.
“Boos and jeers have no place in civic gatherings like this,” he said. “And that was particularly surprising because there really isn’t much that we disagree on.”
Haskell said he supports local control of school masking and that “we no longer need a one-size-fits-all approach for each school district.”
On Friday, Republican Senator Ryan Fazio noted that “the frustrations of so many parents and children have not been heard in a long time,” adding “it was especially important that they could be heard.”
He said he fully understands the parents’ frustrations and hopes his “colleagues beyond New Canaan hear the concerns.”
“I think it benefits me to listen more than talk, and I always welcome opinions from my constituents and colleagues who disagree with me,” Fazio said. “We are all Americans and Nutmeggers.”
During the forum, State Representative Lucy Dathan thanked the district and its staff for keeping students in the classroom, before saying she “supports local control, provided there is parameters, measures and guidelines in place to monitor the virus.”
These metrics, she hopes, would focus on vaccination rates and community hospitalizations and not exclusively transmission numbers.
O’Dea said Friday he wanted the speech to be treated with more respect, while appreciating the passion of residents, especially parents and students.
As a district parent, O’Dea said his first choice would be parental controls on mask wearing in schools and wondered if consultative, nonmandatory guidance from the state would be beneficial if such a control was carried out.
An extension of the governor’s executive orders, he said, was “the nuclear option” and his last choice.
Citing a phone call with Lamont on Thursday, O’Dea said the governor listens to people and forums like New Canaan are integral.
