Showdown over student masking in Prince William County

PRINCE WILLIAM COUNTY, Va. - A group of parents frustrated with their children's school's mask policy shared their grievances Wednesday at a contentious Prince William County School Board meeting. 

There was limited capacity inside the meeting, and only about 45 people were in the room. Many others were not allowed in.

"I would advocate that we finally come together to find common ground, common purpose, and common decency," said one parent.

The parents who were kept outside, but signed up to speak for public comment, were allowed in to speak.

A number of parents gave personal examples of how their families have been impacted by COVID and the mask mandates.

"My 18-year-old senior in high school has been removed from school to quarantine for a total of 21 days with no real-time resources to keep up with the teaching in her classes," said a parent.

"I believe most parents in Prince William County support wearing a mask and have no desire for their kids to be forced to sit in the same classroom with your kids without masks and likely not vaccinated," said another parent.

One teacher, who didn’t go in to the meeting for fear of losing her job, told FOX5 teachers are tired and confused.

"It’s been really hard to have to say you have to sit somewhere else, or be behind Plexiglas that’s hard for a teacher’s heart. This has been very difficult for teachers too … The stress."

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All of this comes as the fight over Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin’s Executive Order to give parents the choice to mask their kids rages across the Commonwealth.

The CDC currently recommends universal indoor masking in K-12 settings.

FOX 5 did ask to speak with the school board and district several times to get questions answered, but we were told they weren’t willing to talk to us.