Trash the mask protests take place at Warwick schools

Shortly after eating lunch, some Warwick Valley high school students threw out their masks along with their lunch. Approximately 100 students, parents, and other community members protested on Wednesday, Feb. 16 against mask-wearing mandates in schools.

Protesters gathered outside Sanfordville Elementary, Park Avenue Elementary, Warwick Valley Middle School, and Warwick Valley High School. “Protests were held outside and without incident,” according to a letter published on the school district’s website. The letter said additional security and police were present on the grounds and in the schools.

About a dozen students went outside to join the protest, while others went up and down halls yelling that they no longer had to wear masks and told others to take their masks off. Still other students stood outside windowed classrooms and displayed obscenities. Asked if the protest seemed peaceful, one high school student told The Warwick Advertiser “it would’ve been peaceful if it didn’t take place at school while there were so many students there. There was banging and people pressed up against the doors looking into the school and holding their signs up to the glass, including young children, one of {whom} was sticking up the middle finger at us students inside.”

A school official went into at least one classroom to tell the teaching staff to close the blinds to avoid class disruption.

The protestors carried signs that read “Free the smile,” “Mask-optional now,” and waved American flags.

The protests were promoted ahead of time via a social media post and flyer. A website called WarwickParentChoice.org circulated links to a petition demanding the end of mask mandates in the district, effective immediately. The petition had collected 449 signatures as of Feb. 16.

The Warwick Board of Education sent its third letter to state officials on Feb. 3 asking that the district be permitted to make mask-wearing optional for students and staff. The issue was discussed at their Board of Education meeting on Feb. 4.

In a district message posted later in the day of the protests, the Board called for a special meeting and work session on Feb. 17, at which time the Board plans to vote on a resolution to end the requirement of face coverings for Warwick Valley students, employees, and visitors.

New York State has ended the mandate requiring face coverings in most indoor public settings, but the masking rules are still in place in schools for now.