Edwardsburg Public Schools starting the year with masks optional

EDWARDSBURG, Mich. -- By a vote of 6 to 1, Edwardsburg Public Schools voted on Wednesday to keep masks optional to begin the 2021-2022 school year.

More than 70 parents and community members attended Wednesday’s school board meeting.

At the meeting, parents voiced their concerns for and against beginning the school year with a mask mandate in place for Edwardsburg Public Schools.

“The people who want to wear a mask can wear a mask, they can double masks, triple masks if they want to. I just feel like we’re giving up a lot of our freedoms by telling someone else that it’s their choice about what we can do with our kids or not,” one parent said.

Other parents want to side with the research of medical professionals.

“I am pleading with you all to listen to the medical professionals, who I know you’ve all heard from. They are people with knowledge. Masks suck, but I feel they are still necessary given what's going on,” another parent said.

This vote to keep masks optional in Edwardsburg Public Schools comes on the same day as the Berrien County Health Department mandated masks to be worn by students and staff members at all schools in the county. See More.