After Idaho’s Largest School District Let 13,000+ Parents Sign ‘In-Person Opt-Out’ for Mask Mandates, They Mandated Them Anyway

Previously we reported about the largest school district in the state of Idaho making masks mandatory for kids, but with an opt-out option. This meant that, after many contentious school board meetings, parents could come in person and fill out a form and opt their kids out of school. In our last report, there were over 11,600 opt-outs.

As of now, that number has exceeded 13,000, or about 32%. Nevertheless, due to rising Covid-19 cases in the state, the school board pulled the rug out from under the 13,000 opted-out families and mandated masks for ALL children anyway. IdahoEdNews.org reported in part on August 31, about the opt-out situation:

One-third of students in Idaho’s largest school district have opted out of wearing a face covering while indoors. These family decisions come as COVID-19 numbers among younger people and children continue to rise in Idaho.

West Ada trustees decided last week that masks are optional for students as long as parents or guardians complete a mask opt-out form. More than 13,000 of West Ada School District’s 40,000 students turned in opt-out forms in seven days.

Now, the West Ada School District is canceling the opt-out option until at least September 24th. Parents in a local Facebook group are furious and feel like they are losing their rights. Many plan to organize a “school walkout” on the 10th in protest of this change.

Time will tell if the school caves, and/or how many of the 13,000 may participate in the opt-out. Stay tuned for possible updates. We take Covid-19 seriously at Media Right News, but we also take freedom of choice seriously.

We hope that case counts start dropping, and also for the people’s voices to be heard and listened to. Health should not be political, but in many cases, it gets politicized these days. At the end of the day, many are willing to take risks to keep their freedoms in the state of Idaho. As hard as that is for some to understand, this needs to be taken into consideration by leadership, rather than fear alone, in our perspective.