While some parents are happy with the Charleston Country School District mask mandate in place, others are protesting together with their children, students

While majority of parents are happy with CCSD mask mandate in schools withing the school district that will keep their children safe from the virus, other parents were protesting against this measure together with their children Wednesday morning at Cario Middle School.

According to the latest measure enforced by the school district, those students that won’t wear masks in schools as required will be refused entrance in classroom and in-person teaching.

“I am not anti-mask. I am about freedom of choice. I am about what my family should do, for my children,” said Rick Fabrizi, who has four kids at CCSD.

The enforcement of the mask mandate started Wednesday. Charleston County School District voted the mandate in place and will last at least until October 15. Student who are not going to comply with the mandate, will be sent home to virtual learning.

“This is where they want to be, with their peers. They want to be here. Interacting with faculty, with their peers,” said Fabrizi.

Following the mandate, Fabrizi is now considering other option like homeschooling.

While Fabrizi and other parents were protesting in front of the school opposing the mask mandate, majority of parents welcomed the mandate saying that is should have been enforced at the start of the school year.

“I fully support Charleston County School District,” said Jacqueline English. “I think they are absolutely doing the right thing by mandating masks in our schools. I feel like any extra added layer of protection to protect only students but staff, parents, and grandparents.”

The whole mask mandate thing is difficult for the students. On Tuesday, those who were not wearing masks in schools were transferred to other classroom for virtual learning. Those students felt like don’t belong to the school and they say they felt left out.

“They can’t hear you, or we can’t really hear them. Like today mine (computer) froze, and I couldn’t hear. So every time I tried to talk, they muted us,” said Cash Hoffman, a student at Cario Middle School.

“When I first joined the zoom I said hello, and nobody answered. I kept saying hi and no one was answering,” said Maddox Hoffman, another student at the school.

On Monday, the school officials informed the parents of those children who decided not to wear masks that the transition period is about to end.

We reached out to CCSD about the issue. “Parents informed school administrators at Thomas C. Cario Middle School about their concerns about the virtual learning inside the school yesterday, and the staff is addressing those concerns,” said CCSD spokesperson Andy Pruitt. “Moving forward, we will continue to work with our teachers and faculty about the process to provide live virtual learning for every student and family that chooses that option.”