Several dozen individuals took to the street corners of Main Street and state Route 503 in Battle Ground on Aug. 19 to stand against the statewide mandate for facial coverings in schools.
Holding signs decrying the mandate, protestors participated in an “Unmask our kids” rally organized locally to bring attention to the issue.
Students and teachers in K-12 education are required to wear facial coverings inside educational buildings for the upcoming school year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, drawing the ire of families like those taking part in Thursday’s event. The Battle Ground demonstration happened the day after similar events took place statewide.
Organizer Jenna Grace said she wasn’t aware of the demonstrations across the state when she began planning her own event.
“I was just hoping our family would come. (Then) all of a sudden I’m seeing it on different Facebook posts and community pages. It’s just kind of grown from there,” Grace said.
Grace taught for Battle Ground Public Schools before the mandates for schools caused her to take time off, she said. She said she and a number of other families have decided to homeschool their students next year until the COVID-19 requirements like masking end.
“This is just another way to reach out for our community and stand up for what our community doesn’t believe in (which is) having our kids masked all day at school,” Grace said.
In June, the Battle Ground Public Schools Board of Directors sent a letter to Gov. Jay Inslee, requesting that mask guidance in school buildings match the recommendations and requirements for the state in general. Several weeks later, Inslee made changes to the state mask mandate, requiring all individuals wear masks in indoor, public settings, regardless of vaccination status, starting Monday, Aug. 23.
“I’d like to see Inslee grow a spine and take down the mandates. Our kids should not be masked,” Grace said.
She also addressed Inslee’s mandate for all school employees to be fully vaccinated by Oct. 18 or lose their jobs, which she is also against.
“Vaccines shouldn’t be mandated for anyone. This is America. We have a right to choose what goes into our body,” Grace said.
Among those demonstrating was Jennifer Heine-Withee, of Parents’ Rights in Education Washington.
“Parents have the right to decide what is getting injected in their child’s body (and) if their child is wearing a mask or not. That should be a personal choice,” Heine-Withee said. “We’re not against people deciding to wear a mask or people deciding to get the vaccine. What we’re against is the government deciding for us.”
Heine-Withee, who has a child in BGPS, said the Washington chapter of Parents’ Rights in Education formed to push back on the implementation of comprehensive sexual health education, first at the local level then statewide. Demonstrating against the mask mandate made sense for the group given its overall stance on parental control.
Heine-Withee said demonstrations like the one on Thursday, Aug. 19 brought awareness to the pushback against statewide mandates.
“There are a lot of parents who are very concerned about this issue,” Heine-Withee said.
