{"id":1248195,"date":"2022-01-27T16:53:38","date_gmt":"2022-01-27T21:53:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1248195"},"modified":"2022-01-27T16:53:53","modified_gmt":"2022-01-27T21:53:53","slug":"exclusive-video-loudoun-student-confronts-principal-over-mask-mandate-why-are-you-segregating-us","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/exclusive-video-loudoun-student-confronts-principal-over-mask-mandate-why-are-you-segregating-us\/","title":{"rendered":"EXCLUSIVE VIDEO: Loudoun Student Confronts Principal Over Mask Mandate: \u2018Why Are You Segregating Us?\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">28<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fexclusive-video-loudoun-student-confronts-principal-over-mask-mandate-why-are-you-segregating-us%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1248195&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>\u201cMs. Ross, why are you segregating us like this?\u201d Chance Harcrow, a freshman at Loudoun Valley High School, asked Principal Susan Ross on Tuesday.<\/p>\n<p>School officials relegated Harcrow and several other students to the Virginia school\u2019s auditorium Tuesday, barring them from attending class and placing them back on online learning for the second consecutive day. The students took their lunch at a different time than their classmates and were not allowed to mingle with their peers outside. Inside the auditorium, students were forced to separate by at least six feet to stay out of \u201cclose contact,\u201d Harcrow and his parents told The Daily Wire.<\/p>\n<p>School administrators placed the auditorium students in something similar to in-school suspension after each one refused to wear a mask in violation of the Loudoun County Public Schools (LCPS) universal masking policy. The school board<a href=\"https:\/\/www.lcps.org\/ReturnToSchool2021#:~:text=All%20students%20and%20staff%20will,the%20Loudoun%20County%20Health%20Department.\"> reaffirmed<\/a> the policy last week in response to a January 15 executive<a href=\"https:\/\/www.governor.virginia.gov\/media\/governorvirginiagov\/governor-of-virginia\/pdf\/74---eo\/74---eo\/EO-2---School-Mask-Mandate-Executive-Order-Exception.pdf\"> order<\/a> by newly-elected Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin granting parents the right to opt their child out of any school mask mandate. Youngkin\u2019s order went into effect on Monday.<\/p>\n<p>Parents of students at Loudoun Valley told The Daily Wire that the school has refused to grant their opt-out requests. Parents complained of the administration, particularly Ross, saying she is difficult to reach and offers little information to parents upset over the treatment of their children.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cEvery other principal in this county, whether you agree with them or not right now, is at least facing their students and parents. Sue Ross is hiding behind [assistant principals], she\u2019s not speaking to the students, and she\u2019s not speaking to any of the parents,\u201d Harcrow\u2019s mother, Lisa, told The Daily Wire.<\/p>\n<p>Parents attested to the negative impact masks and online learning are having on their children\u2019s mental and physical health and education. The masks caused shortness of breath and headaches. The detention, Harcrow said, was threatening to impact his grades as he could not adequately complete classwork in multiple subjects.<\/p>\n<p>LCPS did not respond to a request for comment. The Daily Wire\u2019s request for comment to Ross also went unanswered.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSo since the mandate is for people to wear masks because of safety, those who don\u2019t want to wear masks \u2013 would be what?\u201d Ross prompted Harcrow Tuesday, according to a recording of the conversation obtained by The Daily Wire. \u201cYou\u2019re old enough to think that through,\u201d Ross added.<\/p>\n<p>Harcrow pressed, contending that the school\u2019s actions amounted to \u201cactively discriminating and segregating\u201d students who refused to wear masks.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s not discrimination,\u201d Ross responded. \u201cYou are making a choice,\u201d she added before reprimanding Harcrow for being \u201caccusational [sic].\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The LCPS board mandated universal masking across the district last summer ahead of the 2021-2022 school year. Earlier that spring and under pressure from lawmakers and parents, then-Governor Ralph Northam signed into law<a href=\"https:\/\/lis.virginia.gov\/cgi-bin\/legp604.exe?212+ful+CHAP0456+pdf\"> Senate Bill 1303<\/a> mandating Virginia schools return to in-person learning. The law was the result of a bipartisan effort to reopen schools after Northam ordered them closed to in-person learning in March 2020.<\/p>\n<p>Data points began surfacing several months into the pandemic<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2020\/06\/05\/us\/coronavirus-education-lost-learning.html\"> suggesting<\/a> that students on remote learning were falling behind academically while suffering mentally and emotionally. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnbc.com\/2021\/03\/19\/parents-cope-kids-virtual-school-cdc-study.html\">warned<\/a> in March 2021, a year after school shutdowns began, that virtual learning \u201cmight present more risks than in-person instruction related to child and parental mental and emotional health.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Virginia lawmakers crafted SB 1303 in response to that research and mounting calls from parents to restart in-person learning. Ironically, the bill designed to return students to in-person learning last year is being used by LCPS to keep students who refuse to mask out of the classroom.<\/p>\n<p>The<a href=\"https:\/\/lis.virginia.gov\/cgi-bin\/legp604.exe?212+ful+CHAP0456+pdf\"> law<\/a> states that schools must reopen to in-person learning in a manner that \u201cadheres, to the maximum extent practicable, to any currently applicable mitigation strategies \u2026 to reduce the transmission of COVID-19 that have been provided by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The<a href=\"https:\/\/www.cdc.gov\/coronavirus\/2019-ncov\/community\/schools-childcare\/k-12-guidance.html\"> CDC<\/a> \u201crecommends universal indoor masking by all students.\u201d LCPS has said that the CDC recommendation and SB 1303 together mean the school district must mandate masks.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>SB 1303 \u201crequires school boards to adhere to mitigation procedures, like mask-wearing, to the extent practicable as recommended by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC). In order to comply with this legislation, masks must be worn by students, staff and visitors in LCPS facilities,\u201d LCPS said in a<a href=\"https:\/\/www.lcps.org\/ReturnToSchool2021\"> notice<\/a> to parents last week.<\/p>\n<p>State Sen. Siobhan Dunnavant (R), one of the authors of the bill, said in a statement last week that some school districts are misrepresenting her legislation to keep mask mandates in place. \u201cSB1303 has been used against our children and against its intent this school year to advance an agenda. SB1303 does not mandate the use of masks in school because the CDC does not mandate masks,\u201d she<a href=\"https:\/\/www.dunnavantdelivers.com\/post\/press-release-statement-of-senator-dunnavant-on-sb1303\"> said<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Ross told the auditorium students Tuesday that what authority the LCPS board falls under \u201cis a<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>\u201cMs. Ross, why are you segregating us like this?\u201d Chance Harcrow, a freshman at Loudoun Valley High School, asked Principal Susan Ross on Tuesday. School officials relegated Harcrow and several other students to the Virginia school\u2019s auditorium Tuesday, barring them from attending class and placing them back on online learning for the second consecutive day. &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2315279,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1248195","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1248195","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1248195"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1248195\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2315279"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1248195"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1248195"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1248195"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}