A group of parents gathered across from Lakeview Academy's exit Monday morning to speak out against a mask mandate at the school.
A yard sign said "Make LA mask optional" and the group also held signs encouraging a "mask optional" policy and for drivers to honk to show their support.
"Simply put, we're here for family choice," said Eric Grover, a Lakeview parent in the group. "We want this to be a mask optional school and have the choice to do so or not."
The demonstration occurred during morning drop-off. Monday was the first day of school for Lakeview Academy.
A spokesperson for Lakeview Academy said in a statement that they respected the rights of those who chose to peacefully protest, and that the Board of Trustees, a COVID-19 task force, and school administration decided together to require masking indoors, but would be reevaluated as the school year progressed. Their full statement is below.
Lakeview Academy's Administration and Board of Trustees continue to work with a specially created COVID-19 Task Force to open our school safely. In light of the Delta surge, and the imperative to keep Lakeview Academy open and safe for in-person learning, Lakeview Academy’s Board of Trustees, COVID-19 Task Force, and School Administration voted unanimously to require universal masking indoors for faculty, staff, students, and visitors to the school. This decision will be reevaluated weekly based on data from local hospitals, testing positivity rates, quarantine/positivity rates among Lakeview student/staff and faculty, and on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Georgia Department of Public Health (DPH), and the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) guidelines (information on how we came to our decision for this week can be found on our website). We had about 10 people who came out today to peacefully protest our requirement for wearing face masks this week while indoors. We respect their right to protest, appreciate their viewpoint, and we are providing opportunities for them to be heard. No one wants to wear a mask. Lakeview Academy safely opened for in-person learning every day in the 2020-2021 school year, and we believe that inperson learning is the most optimal environment for our students’ success in the 2021-2022 school year. This was made possible because we had a plan in place for how to approach the year, a community in support of the plan, and a Task Force dedicated to consistently monitoring local conditions. We plan to do the same this year as we believe that in-person learning is the most optimal environment for our students’ success
