MALDEN, MASS. (WHDH) - Parents gathered for a rally on Tuesday at the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education’s headquarters in Malden to urge officials to bring an end to the state’s in-school mask requirement.
The state is slated to rescind all remaining COVID-19 restrictions on Saturday and implement new guidance that says fully vaccinated people no longer need to wear a mask or social distance indoors or outdoors except for in certain situations but face coverings will remain required indoors for staff and students of K-12 schools and early education providers.
Protesters could be seen banging on the doors to the headquarters and holding signs that read, “Medical freedom for all,” “My child my choice,” and “Stop vaccine mandates.”
Protest organizer Samantha Muise urged education officials to align their mask requirements with the updated state guidelines.
“Whether it’s masks or vaccines or whatever else, we just want the ability to make decisions for our own children,” Muise told 7NEWS. “These mask mandates and things like that are being lifted for adults across Massachusetts and there’s been no discussion about lilting them for the kids…We’ve written letters, we’ve made phone calls. They’re not being responded to. We came here today to have our voices heard.”
Some protesters threatened to take their children out of school if the mask policy remains unchanged. As of right now, education officials have no plans to change the policy.
As the protest unfolded, education officials held a meeting and released the department’s “Academic Excellence Roadmap” as it looks ahead to summer and fall.
Elementary and Secondary Education Commissioner Jeff Riley said all elementary and middle schools in Massachusetts are now offering full-time in-person learning and that 99 percent of high schools met his deadline of May 17 to also offer full-time, in-person education.
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