A slew of Virginia parents angrily confronted the Loudoun County School Board over prolonged school closures, demanding an immediate reopening plan at a heated board meeting on Tuesday.
One mother, Elizabeth Boyko, said history will look back at the Northern Virginia county’s handling of schools during the coronavirus pandemic and view it as “tragic.”
“You all should be hanging your heads in shame that students remain locked out of schools,” Boyko said, addressing the board. “If you do not step up and put an end to the damage you continue to inflict on tens of thousands of children, who, by the way, are depending on you to do the right thing, then not only will you be voted out in 2023, which you deserve, but your legacies will be tarnished and deservedly so.”
Boyko said she believes the board’s resistance to reopening schools is an admission that only children with a “competent school board” or can afford private schools are entitled to in-person learning.
“That is elitist and classist,” Boyko said. “You wouldn’t want your mask to slip to reveal who you really are, do you?”
Some parents became emotional while addressing the board, discussing their children’s struggles with virtual learning. Others clapped and cheered at some of the comments made about reopening schools.
Several parents also had their children try to speak to the board themselves. The board drew almost two hours of public input regarding the reopening of schools.
Brandon Michon, whose tirade against the board went viral in a video posted to social media, said the school board was “more inefficient than the DMV.” Michon’s wife and young son also addressed the board.
“You’re a bunch of cowards, hiding behind our children as an excuse for keeping schools closed,” Michon said.
He went on to say that “the garbage workers who pick up my freakin’ trash risk their lives every day more than anyone in this school system,” shouting that the board needs to “figure it out.”
As a parent, this pandemic has brought forth some incredible challenges.
This dad has had enough, we all have. No real metrics to safely open the schools, while the SB continues to kick the can further down the road. Many parents feel just as he does. #LCPS #openschools pic.twitter.com/Oa1GxNMzsp
— Aliscia Andrews (@alisciaandrews) January 26, 2021
The Washington Examiner was unable to reach Michon for comment.
At the end of his remarks, School Board Chairwoman Brenda Sheridan requested a deputy make sure Michon leaves the boardroom after he continued shouting that he will be back to every meeting until they “open the freakin’ schools!”
“The school board welcomes the public comment,” Sheridan said after Michon’s heated exchange. “It is very important to remember the decorum of this room when you come in. We understand emotions are high, but we ask you respect the time and, when the time is up, to please yield the floor to the next speaker.”
Peter Livingston, another parent, accused the board of ignoring expert recommendations that schools begin reopening.
“How many more children need to fail?” Livingston asked. “Get these schools open safely, following the CDC guidelines now. And while you’re at it, work to improve the trash fire that is distance learning. I can’t keep coming in here, you guys. Get this going!”
Jessica Russell, a mother of a kindergarten student, said the board took away her daughter’s love of learning and that she’s “frustrated and heartbroken.”
“She’s suffering and is miserable,” Russell said of her 5-year-old daughter. “She has daily meltdowns and doesn’t have the capacity and understanding to mentally prepare and collect herself to finish the remainder of her day. How do you expect a 5-year-old to handle this situation?”
Lisa Levine was among several parents who accused the board of keeping the schools closed for political reasons.
“A quality in-person education isn’t a privilege. It’s a right. When did you lose sight of that?” Levine said. “Stop playing politics with our kids education and open the schools for kids who need more than a virtual experience.”
Loudoun County is set to vote next Tuesday on a plan that would have prekindergarten through fifth-grade students, whose parents chose hybrid learning, back in schools by Feb. 16. If the plan is approved, middle and high school students, whose parents have opted into the model, would return to classrooms two days per week by March 3.
Parents around the country have expressed frustration over school closures. In Chicago, some parents fear a potential teachers’ strike over the Chicago Public Schools’ handling of the pandemic.
The coronavirus pandemic has infected over 25 million people across the country, with nearly 430,000 deaths attributed to the virus.
