Sixteen families sue FCS over mask mandate

Students express their opinions on the 16 families that sued Fulton County Schools over the mask mandate earlier this month

Photos by Gavin Chen, Staff Writer

Suhani Mahajan, Staff Writer & Carter Willis, Staff Writer

Sixteen families have sued Fulton County Schools (FCS) over the county’s mask mandate. 

Northview student response to this lawsuit and Fulton County’s mask mandate reflects the variation in opinions across the country. 

Fulton County Schools is currently operating under a mask mandate. The families suing FCS hope to incite a switch to a mask optional policy. A significant number of the people involved in the case are parents of high school students.

The families have sought legal counsel from attorney Ray S. Smith III. Through testimonies from multiple psychologists and psychiatrists, Smith has built his case on the scientific facts that state that masks can cause harm to the mental and physical wellbeing of children. Smith passionately believes that the case is based in medicine and science.

“I accepted the case because I believe parents have a right to make a decision about their children's health,” Smith said. “It is not political.”   

The mask mandate is a new policy in all Fulton schools this year. The adjustment to the mask mandate has involved conflicts, especially in classes such as gym, chorus, and band.  Northview students recount how they are adjusting to education with a mask mandate.

“I’m in the chorus, and [wearing] masks in there sucks. You’re supposed to breathe, and [masks make] it harder.” Senior Jaxon Deems said. “I think for those classes like that, like gym and chorus, masks shouldn’t be mandated.” 

Sophomore Brooke Hartmant accepts the masks mandate as the only way to stay in school for face-to-face learning. To her, the idea of going back to virtual school is overwhelmingly daunting. 

“I have a lot of mental issues, and if school goes back to virtual, I'm not going to be able to survive. I dropped out last year because it was too stressful,” Hartman said. “I honestly think that people that are refusing to wear masks are selfish.” 

While Hartman may not mind the mask mandate, the families Smith represents feel otherwise. Smith mentioned that some families felt deceived by FCS’s decision to enforce a mask mandate a few days into this school year. 

“The families were misled,” Smith said. “They were told all summer that it would be mask optional.” 

Though senior Teba Alkarwe acknowledges the existence of the mask mandate, she had her mask down for the entirety of the interview. She feels safe doing so since she is vaccinated and observes that a majority of students at Northview wear their masks.

“I don’t really like wearing my mask because it’s really stupid,” Alkarwe said. “I’ve been vaccinated, and I’ve already had the Delta variant. I think I’m done with [COVID-19].”

Senior Charlanne Zepf disagrees with this philosophy. She and a close circle of friends are vaccinated but abide by the mask mandate, concerned for the overall health of Northview’s student body. Even if Fulton County switched to operate on a mask optional policy, she would continue to wear her mask to school.

“A mask mandate doesn't really affect me. I just believe that if people are mandated to do anything, they're going to like rebel against that - regarding their own comfortability, I guess,” Zepf said. “The people who want to keep everyone safe continue wearing masks. I feel like even if they did remove the mandate, a lot of people would choose to wear [a mask].” 

Masks mandates remain a large debate with no clear precedent on how to resolve them.

“It’s possible that there are more cases like this, yes,” Smith said. “I keep on getting calls from other families - not just [from] Fulton, but in other counties - who want representation.”