Group of Fox Chapel Area School District parents continue push to make masks optional

Protests against masks for Fox Chapel Area School District students continued Wednesday outside of the administrative offices, marking the third such gathering against the district’s policies this month.

About 13 protesters, including two children, gathered along Field Club Road about 2:30 p.m. during dismissal at the high school. They later moved to O’Hara Elementary School to continue show their feelings there, too.

They are lobbying for administrators and elected school board members to amend the district’s health and safety plan to make wearing covid masks optional.

Last month, the school board made masks optional provided certain criteria be met.

Masks remain mandatory “when there is substantial transmission or high transmission of covid-19 in Allegheny County as defined by the (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention),” the safety plan read.

The updated plan was posted to the district’s website, fcasd.edu.

Covid cases in the county skyrocketed in December with nearly 2,000 cases being reported in a single day.

County and state officials have said case numbers dropped significantly in recent weeks.

However, the CDC still has Allegheny County listed as being “high transmission.”

The district reported it has had 819 covid cases from the start of school in August through Feb. 16, including 465 in January.

January’s numbers include cases reported during the 10-day winter break.

Organizer Emily Glick of O’Hara said she and a group of about 50 district parents in a group on social media are behind the protests.

“Our goal is mask choice, quite simple,” wrote Glick in a post on a private Facebook group called The Not So Fox Chapel Community Lounge on Wednesday before the scheduled protest.

Protester Heather Bell of O’Hara brought her son Jason, 6, along for his first protest.

“End the masks,” said Bell, adding she took her son out of the district because of the mask policy. Jason is enrolled in kindergarten at a nearby private school.

Glick said some parents have expressed frustrations with what they said is a lack of communication coming from the district, specifically the school board members.

“I feel, at this point, the district is ignoring the parents that are speaking up who are requesting mask choice for their children. I feel protesting visually is the next step to get their attention,” Glick said. She said she has not received an email response from school board members.

“I send an email out about once a week, and board members don’t respond,” Glick said. “The superintendent has responded back to me once in two months.”

Emails sent to board members by the Tribune-Review Wednesday afternoon were not immediately returned.

Right now outside Fox Chapel Area High School…about 13 parents in the FCASD are protesting the mandatory mask policy currently required in the district. It’s their third planned peaceful protest this month. @VNDNews @TribLIVE pic.twitter.com/lPeRb3Ch8b

— Joyce Hanz (@hanz_joyce) February 16, 2022

Some protesters held homemade signs that included messages such as “The Sky Is Not Falling,” “End The Mask Mandate,” and “Face Facts, End Masks,” “No Masks For Kids,” and “Unmask My Child.”

Protester John Michael Sakoian Jr., 47, of Fox Chapel has three children enrolled in the district. He participated in last week’s protest.

Sakoian said he’s protesting because it’s time to end the mandate.

Sakoian, an architect, said he endured heckling last week from high school students and other drivers but said most people driving by honked and gave a thumbs up in support of the protest.

“I’m for peaceful protesting to fight for our parental rights in making conscious decisions regarding the health and safety of our children. The school board should exercise restraint before infringing on this individual liberty,” Sakoian said.

Glick was the sole protester Feb. 3 for the first scheduled protest.

A second protest last Friday drew about six people. During Friday’s protest, Glick said a school official approached the protesters and requested they move across the street.

Glick said they have a right to peacefully protest on the public sidewalk. She said she serves as an alternate zoning hearing board member in O’Hara and notifies the township in advance of every protest.

Glick and a couple of other parents were at Monday night’s school board meeting pleading for an end to all mask mandates.

Board president Marybeth Dadd said after the meeting the district is required by law to reevaluate its health and safety plan every six months but might revisit it sooner.

“We can and will revisit it whenever we feel we need to,” Dadd said. “We’ve chosen our metrics to use, and right now we feel those are the best metrics.”