RICHMOND, Va. -- In the week Governor Glenn Youngkin's executive order took effect making masks optional in Virginia schools,CBS 6 has heard from dozens of parents reacting to the change.
“I don't understand the huge problem with it being a choice," said Josh Shepard in Chesterfield. "That's all it is. It's just a choice.”
Shepard said he's ecstatic to assert what the governor touts as his parental rights.
Meanwhile, others like Scott Lasowitz, who was denied a request that his masked child be allowed to social distance from unmasked students in the classroom, questioned if they have too have rights as parents to protect their kid from COVID-19.
“If this is about choice, then it has to be about choice for both sides," Lasowitz said.
Dr. Bob Holsworth, a political analyst for CBS 6, said the issue boils down to two questions. One involves whether the parents who are being granted choice are the majority or the minority.
“We now get into this question of what parents matter, and how many parents matter," he said.
The other question involves what options parents who disagree with Governor Youngkin or their school board have.
For example, he said most school systems allow parents to opt out of certain materials in the classroom that they deem inappropriate.
“The challenge, however, is that folks who, which tend to be the majority, want their kids wearing masks, don't have the opportunity right now to opt out," Holsworth said.
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Democratic State Delegate and educator Schuyler VanValkenburg said parents should always have a say in their kids' education, but there must be limitations in order to reduce the amount of instruction disruption.
“If you're allowing people to opt out of the rules that we have created as a locality or as a state, where does that end," he said.
He added that the democratic channels for parents to make their voices heard have always existed and that's where they can make the most change.
"This can be through the vote, it can be by being active at board meetings or at the state level committee meetings, it can be through working through groups like the PTAs, it can be through the curriculum process," Delegate VanValkenburg said.
Republican State Senator Amanda Chase said she believes the premise of parental choice should benefit parents on all sides of the issue as long as they're not putting too much burden on teachers.
“We should be just respectful of the wish and desire of children and their parents, and teachers should do the best they can to accommodate these requests," Senator Chase said.
She added that requests should remain sensible and emphasized that data shows COVID-19 does not have a significant health toll on children.
"This is not a virus that is causing death and hospitalizations in children," she said.
Data from the Virginia Department of Health shows that out of more than 315,911 cases of COVID-19 among people under the age of 20, 2,011 were hospitalized, and 18 have died.
RELATED: A closer look at the study Youngkin cited in mask decision
