Letter to the editor: Disciplinary policy makes students sad

November 21, 2021

Dear Editor,

I would like to print my speech to the Manchester Board Of Education I made during public comment last Monday, November 15, 2021. It was cut short and I was not allowed to finish which is a violation of my Freedom of Speech guaranteed to every United States Citizen Under the First Amendment Bill of Rights of The Constitution of this great nation. I want the Manchester Community to know what is happening inside the school to my and other’s children while the mask mandate is ruthlessly being enforced. The mental anguish caused by the superintendent's enforcement is not being addressed by the Board of Education. I don't know how much longer I will leave my children in this kind of environment.

I am very disturbed when my children come home in bad moods, have headaches or cry over the stress that has been placed upon them with this mask mandate. It is hard to answer your child when they ask, "Mom, why are they doing this?" What is happening in Manchester Schools is ABNORMAL! I remember enjoying school, being with my friends, playing sports and cheering on the team. I looked up to my teachers because they made learning fun. They were role models and acted like adults. I'm sure you have the same treasured memories that make you smile. The atmosphere in the Manchester classrooms and schools are anything but enjoyable. Some memories my children are making? There is an undertone of oppression with constant enforcement of the mask mandate. My eighth grader said she has had panic attacks when the phone rings after the new mask mandate disciplinary structure was handed down. The room falls silent as all students fear that phone call. Her stomach had butter-flies, her chest tightened and she got a lump in her throat in fear of being called to the office. A phone call to the room should not elicit this fight or flight adrenaline response. However, your new policy has done just that. Children do not want to live being threatened and disciplined for trying to breath fresh air by taking a break or simply having an ill-fitted, stretched out mask from frequent washing, accidentally slipping down. Every child psychologist will tell you children thrive on security, fairness and routine. This mask mandate policy is over the top threatening, unfair and enforcement still breaks the routine in the classrooms.

Your impersonal form letter response to my and other parents' formal complaints against a few teachers also reinforces your lack of personal attention and frankly covering up and denying a problem in your schools. The communication break down I saw at the last Board of Education meeting was disturbing too. If there is a problem in your school, it should be all hands on deck to solve it. A big red flag went up when the Superintendent turned the Board of Education president down when he offered his help at the meeting between the teachers and Superintendent. As I said in the last Board of Education meeting, the Board gave too much power away in the wording of Policy 8450.01. You, as board members, were elected to be the voice of parents in the decisions made in the schools. Stand up and take control! There has been a unilateral decision made to unjustly punish children with detention and suspensions for some foolish masks. I thought the students were there to learn and now they are disciplined in the same manner as students who commit worst offenses in school. This makes no sense and I ask you to question why this mask mandate policy is being held equivalent to bullying, aggressive behavior and vandalism that have the same punishment? If the goal is to teach students, taking them out of the classroom and out of school for a mask defies logic. The only lesson taught is fear and submission to tyranny.

Another issue I have is with the superintendent looking at my child as a paycheck. More than once student enrollment and the amount the school budgets and receives per student has been stated. A shallow, impersonal devaluing view of my children. I will happily go back to packing lunches or paying for hot lunches at school if it frees the school from all the strings attached to the Cares Act. If my children are viewed as just doing business, I will take my business elsewhere.

Over the last 9 years, I have had nothing but good experiences with teachers, staff and administrators when a problem has come up with my children, up until this point. The issues have been addressed with face-to-face meetings, personally, on a one-on-one basis. Recently, I have felt pushed aside and ignored. The distance and confusion this mask mandate has caused is beyond frustrating and taxing. According to the State Public Health Department, it is YOU as a school district to determine mandates, not our county health department. I am tired of policy being quoted. Policies our County Health Department Officer Jemina Loveluck should be fired for making. I have a Freedom Of Information Act email stating she has not sworn an oath to uphold our constitution as a public official serving us. Let me quote LAW. Constitutional Oath of Office 15.151 states: "All People employed by, or in service of, the state must take oath as condition of employment." Let me quote the consequences of breaking that LAW: Vacancies Creation 201.3 states: "Sec 3. Every office shall become vacant, on the happening of any of the following events, before the expiration of the term of such office: 7. Refusal or neglect to take the oath of office." Should our school district be taking orders from an official that should lose her job for breaking the law? Big food for thought Superintendent Bezeau, as you lean heavily on Washtenaw Public Health Department orders and constantly say you don't have a choice. I and many others disagree.

Governor Whitmore signed Senate Bill 82 on Wednesday September 29, 2021. This Bill took effect October 1st, 2021. Article 6 Department of Health and Human Services, Part 1, Section 250 on page 180 of 356 states:
“The director or a local health officer shall not issue or enforce any orders or other directives that require an individual in this state who is under the age of 18 to wear a face mask or face covering.”
Again, Jemina Loveluck is violating the LAW by issuing and enforcing the masking of our children. I question why our school district is upholding an illegal and unconstitutional mandate!! Someone needs to answer these questions immediately!

I have to comfort my children from the bad feelings this has caused only to send them into an unfriendly, volatile environment again the next day. As you know, I have not participated in BOE meetings and have quietly volunteered at the school, participated in fundraisers and been respectful of the teachers, staff and administrators. However, I would not be doing my job as a concerned parent to not complain when I see my children's education being diminished by inconsequential masking. My children still come home sick from school because masks do not stop aerosol transmission of viruses. Have you looked at the numbers of absences pre-pandemic versus post-mask mandate? I would encourage you all to ask for those numbers and evaluate the mask mandate's efficacy. Be your own critical thinking scientist rather than hiding behind your policies and distancing yourself behind computer screens. I would also want to know the number of students reported for mask mandate violation by teacher. I'm sure if the board asks for those numbers, they will find teachers that are still hypervigilant in their reporting to the principal. Numbers that will explain the formal complaints you received. Where are your hearts? With the students' mental well-being and learning or with a dollar amount student bounty? Stop trading principle for a paycheck and do what is right, solve this problem!

Kara Hieber
Freedom Township

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by Sara Swanson

Sara Swanson is an editor, writer and founder of the Manchester Mirror.