Karen Sticht: Meredith petitioned article is about parental choice

To The Daily Sun,

At 6 p.m. on March 7, in the Inter-Lakes High School gym/auditorium, the voters in the Inter-Lakes School District will have a chance to vote on petitioned Article 7 at the Annual School District Meeting. The article reads, "To see if the registered voters in the Inter-Lakes School District will vote to approve optional school masking (indoor/outdoor/busing/sports/co-curricular) based solely on parental guidance, for grades pre-K through 12, during the remainder of the 2021-2022 school year." It seems appropriate for this article be voted by the residents of Meredith, Center Harbor, and Sandwich now, especially when so many states, cities and school districts are dropping mask mandates. The science says it's time and I say it's way past time.

I'm sure the article's discussion will be interesting and the vote will definitely be by silent ballot. The article is not about anti-masking, it's about parental choice. My youngest grandchild has not seen her teacher's smile for the majority of her three years in school. Another young grandchild had to run the track on a hot, glaringly sunny, humid day in May wearing a mask, and got off the bus with heatstroke. (I challenged the school board members and Superintendent Mary Moriarty to do the same, but they chose not to.) As I watched volleyball matches last fall, the Inter-Lakes players were the only ones in many very hot gyms fully masked-sweating, red faced, and breathing hard while playing. Some kids are scared not to mask up and believe that a COVID positive test is an immediate death sentence for all. Guess what. It's not, especially for kids.

Enough is enough. Please come to the Inter-Lakes Annual School District meeting on March 7, at 6 p.m. in the school auditorium/gym to vote and discuss the nearly $30 million budget for 948 students, and also to vote yes on Article 7, giving parents the choice to decide what is best for their children. The school board and their attorney have stated that Article 7 is advisory only, but we can still give direction if the school board chooses to accept it. Last time this issue was brought up, the school attorney cited an attendance law as basis for the board not to even accept the petition. Usually the school district meetings have only a handful of people not employed by or retired from the school. Maybe this year, a few more will show up? Don't forget to bring your mandated mask, though, or you might be delegated to the band room, which will probably be a lot more fun than the gym/auditorium.

For your information, March 8, is Election Day, with the majority of Inter-Lakes School Board seats up for grabs and all positions are contested. No matter what happens with the Article 7 vote, a majority flip of the board is something to consider for many different reasons, most of which will be covered in a future letter.

Karen Sticht

Meredith