Warren County schools parents and superintendent speak out about mask mandate

BOWLING GREEN, Ky.- After a Monday night announcement by Warren County School District superintendent Rob Clayton requiring students and staff to wear masks in schools beginning Wednesday, parents organized a protest outside of the school system’s central office Tuesday morning.

One parent in attendance said this didn’t come as a surprise.

“I assumed this was going to happen. There’s pressure from the Governor’s office,” said Jett Miller, a parent in attendance.

A Facebook post from the district on this topic sparked the conversation that led to the protest, where parents voiced their thoughts that masking up is harmful to their children’s development, and they feel more freedom is being taken away.

“My opinion is, it’s wrong. I think breathing carbon dioxide all day for these kids is wrong. We could go on and on, the facial expressions that they’re not learning. Yes, we’re here to fight for our kids, their freedom, their future, but I’m here to fight for our country,” Miller said.

District superintendent Rob Clayton said the decision was not an easy one.

“There’s nobody on the board, there’s nobody in our school district that wants to have the requirement of having a face covering. It’s merely our last effort if you will, to keep our kids in school, and we’re optimistic it will help,” Clayton said.

Clayton emphasizing that the decision was made based on stats and figures, including 700 quarantines of students across the district to make this decision. For the Warren County Schools, Clayton says it’s an effort to keep students safe, all while preventing a full switch to all virtual instruction.

“As a school official, as a parent, I find it critical that we do everything that we can in terms of implementing safety measures to ensure that we’re able to continue with five days per week of in-person instruction,” Clayton said.

The face mask requirement will continue until the labor day weekend at which time, the requirement will be revisited. Clayton said the mandate could possible be lifted sooner if things make a drastic change for the better.