An estimated 60 Mount Vernon parents and students gathered outside of Mount Vernon High School on Friday to discuss their objections to the requirement for masks in the classroom.

Schools Superintendent William Seder Jr. told the Mount Vernon News he spoke with the gathering for an hour on Friday and heard its desire not to have a facemask requirement. He said the concerns centered on individual rights and medical and emotional concerns. He indicated he would take the group’s concerns “to heart” but offered no definitive commitment to change the policy.

“It was many of the same concerns that have been shared in the past, relative to having to wear a mask,” Seder said. “I think it’s fair to say that none of us wants to be wearing a face mask. I just don’t think anybody would choose that on a normal basis. These are not normal times.”

Seder said among the biggest challenges educators face is discerning credible information on the spread of the virus and the impact of wearing masks. School districts around the nation are grappling with the same issues.  

“I’m just really trying to discern where the credible information is coming from,” he said. “You can find information through medical journals and through social media. You can find it on Facebook. You can find it off websites. You can find it specifically from physicians. To work your way through that and understand where you fall, that’s one of our greatest challenges.”

Seder, meanwhile, said he was unaware of a different gathering held several miles away at the middle school where a handful of middle school girls protested what they call a toxic, biased environment related to the dress code. 

“The walk-out was planned for young girls who feel like their rights are being violated by the school,” said Jessica Mitchell, whose daughter, Lanhija, was part of the protest.

Seder said he was aware of an incident at the middle school involving two students over a year ago, but that the case had already been dealt with.

“You want to treat everyone with respect and treat everyone fairly,” he said. “There’s a dress code policy, and it’s in their student handbooks. Whatever situation might come up where someone would be violating that, I would hope that we could look toward our policy and make a judgment based upon that kind of a policy.”