OVIEDO, Fla. — Since late this summer, school districts have seen school board meetings last hours with parents wanting to speak during open comments. Their stance on masks and mandates is why they wanted to voice their opinion, and for some, an easier decision was just to have their children leave the classroom.
What You Need To Know
- Arguments about mask mandates in Florida schools continue in nearly every school district in the state
- Some parents, like Oviedo resident Kelsey Smit, it was easier, and safer, to just keep her children out of the classroom
- A former teacher, Smit said she was frustrated by what she saw as a refusal by the state to protect children who are learning in the classroom
For third grader Aubree Lewis, the inside of her Oviedo home is a learning space.
“My mom would write all the things I have to do, like science and social studies,” she said, flipping through her binder.
Down the hall in a home office is her sixth grade sister Rylie.
“I always have three tabs open,” she said, pointing at the computer. “My lessons, my workload, my assignments.”
At the far end of the kitchen you’ll find their mom and former school teacher, Kelsey Smit. As someone with asthma, she felt the safest choice was to remove herself and her children from brick-and-mortar learning.
“I gave that up to be able to stay at home, of course, to protect my health,” Smit said. “More specifically, to protect and reduce (risk to) the health of my children.”
It’s a choice she feels confident in, as she watches the back-and-forth, tennis-match arguments between families in Florida who want mask mandates and state officials who don't.
“It’s frustrating to live in a state where our children are are not being taken care of and protected,” Smit said.
There may be no mask mandate inside Smit's Oviedo home, but these students mask up any time they leave.
Rylie admits wearing a mask is not her favorite thing to do, but she always has one with her when she leaves her house.
Smit is deciding to play it safe by controlling who comes in contact with her children.
For many, there are just too many unknowns when it comes to the pandemic, and tough choices and decisions similar to those at the district and state level continue to be debated and made.
While numerous Florida school districts, including Orange County, have instigated school mask mandates without the option to opt out, masks currently remain optional for students in Seminole County.
