WEST OLIVE, Mich. — Hundreds of protesters showed up at Tuesday afternoon's Ottawa County Board of Commissioners meeting, demanding an end to the face mask mandate for local schools.
Under Michigan law, public health departments have the authority to issue temporary public health orders so the Ottawa County Board of Commissioners cannot overturn the mandate. But many people waited for hours to make their voice heard during the meeting's public comment section.
The board did not respond to any of the public comments made today as the topic wasn't on the agenda.
Protestors filled the Fillmore Street Complex in West Olive with signs, singing, chanting and even praying throughout the afternoon. Kristina Stickney is one of the parents who waited for hours to share her thoughts.
"It's so crucial that we stand up," she says. "I respect anyone that wants to wear masks. But I believe it should be our right to choose if we were to wear one."
Marcia Mansaray, Deputy Health Officer with the Ottawa County Department of Public Health, watched the meeting virtually, and while she says it's encouraging to see people standing up for what they believe in, she's still confident that the mask mandate is the right decision for Ottawa and Kent County preschoolers through sixth graders.
"What I saw today that the opposition I think is very focused on personal freedom and liberty," she says. "(Children) don't have a vaccine available to them. So you know, with that in mind, we need this to stand now. We hope that Michigan will be largely unaffected, and then we can lift this order. That would be a great outcome."
There were mostly anti-mask protesters at the meeting, but some showed up in support of the mandate.
"I ask this board not to interfere in the efforts by the public health officials' efforts to protect all of us," one man said at the meeting.
"Human beings were meant to be social creatures," one woman said at the meeting. "That's how we're built. The impact of forced isolation and forced masks are impending on the development of our kids."
Mansaray hopes parents think about what's best for their children as the school year begins.
"I think once kids are able to be in school for about a week, it'll come to be normal again," she says.
Right now, the health department says cases in Ottawa County are higher this year compared to last August.
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