Mundt: 'I am not willing to play Russian Roulette with our children's lives. Are you?'
To the Editor:
My name is Ashley Mundt. My husband and I have lived in Luverne for six years, and we have three children. I was going to speak in favor of the mask/face covering mandate at the public forum, but since the decision was made before members of the community were heard, I’ll speak here.
I’m not sure how the school could say there was a “lack of community support” for masking when the only members of the community that were listened to were the ones throwing a tantrum at the school doors.
First of all, when we send our children to school, we all expect them to be safe there. We expect the school to have our children’s best interests in mind.
I have never heard a parent complain about the school doing ALICE drills, fire drills, or tornado drills. I’ve never heard a parent complain that their child is asked not to bring a weapon on school property or for show and tell.
I’ve never heard parents complain that their child couldn’t bring peanuts into a room that has a nut allergy.
So why are we having such an issue with masks? I believe the end goal to all these precautions is to keep our children safe.
We don’t wait for a school shooter to open fire before putting precautions in place, so why would we wait for a student or staff member to get critically sick or die before doing something to prevent that?
I’m guessing that it is because masks have been made political when they never should have been. This is a medical crisis around the world, and it is not limited to the U.S. and just our politics, so we need to stop turning it into a political fight.
In our house we value and teach our children to be compassionate and empathetic toward others.
This mask mandate is not all about you. It affects other people around you. It affects kids that have medical conditions. It affects the teachers and staff who are trying to help your child learn.
If you want to go without a mask mandate, our COVID numbers will increase and then we will have school through ZOOM again.
Then we will be seeing more mental health issues in our children and staff.
Right now they can be in school, around friends and teachers, and they are learning in person. Isn’t that how we all want to keep it? We have a chance to by wearing a mask.
Please do research through respectable sites. Check with pediatric journals that are written by doctors or talk to your own child’s pediatrician.
Face masks do not make it harder for children to breathe, they do not harm their lung function, they do not produce harmful amounts of carbon dioxide. I guarantee there is a difference if a kid sneezes on you with or without a mask on.
And if you are worried about their mask getting germs on it during the day, send two. Face shields can help also. I guarantee it is more the parent that has a problem with the idea of face coverings than it is the actual child.
Our children deserve more credit than we are giving them. They did it last year, and they can do it again if parents and teachers give them a little respect.
I am not willing to play Russian Roulette with our children’s lives. Are you?
Ashley Mundt,
Luverne
Kracht: Kids got to school to learn, not worry about masks
To the Editor:
This letter is in response to what went on with the mask mandate for the Luverne School District last week.
At the start of the school year, the parents were told the school would go by the CDC and MDH recommendations, which are masking is recommended, but not mandated. Parents made the decision on where they would send their kids to school based on this. On Monday, Sept. 13, at 6 p.m., an email was sent out saying that masks were mandated in school on Tuesday, the 14th.
No discussion with the public. No warning. Nothing! This was the way it was going to be!
Tuesday morning, several parents and students gathered outside the school, waiting for an explanation. No one would talk to us! Finally, a school board member and a reporter came out and asked what was going on. We explained our view on masking our kids and standing up for our rights. After a short discussion, we were told our kids could go to class, and masks would be optional.
Over the next two days, some kids were told to put a mask on, and if they declined, their names were written on a paper. There seemed to be different rules, depending on the teachers.
A group of parents requested an emergency school board meeting to express our views. We were granted a meeting on Friday, the 17th, at 6 p.m. On Thursday at 7 p.m., an email went out that the school board was having a meeting at 8:45 to rescind the mask mandate. As you can imagine, with such short notice, many people couldn’t make it. However, a large group of concerned parents showed up.
What happened next was appalling! We were told we were playing Russian roulette with our kids! We were told we didn’t know what we were doing! We were told we didn’t respect the school board and their decisions! Well, respect works both ways. No data was presented, no numbers, just the parents being talked down to like we were nobody! Only one young man on the school board thanked us for our concern.
This is not your school! This is the Luverne Public School. Paid for by our tax dollars! We send our kids to school to get an education, not to have to worry about getting in trouble about wearing masks!
Could this all have been handled in a better way? Maybe some public input? Maybe a little communication? I think so!
Mert Kracht,
Luverne
Thumbs down to the Star Herald
To the Editor:
After reading the article in the Sept. 9 Star Herald about the settlement between the County and the ACLU, I understand why they might have settled without going through a lengthy court case that could cost the County much more money.
However, I am curious as to why the need to publish pictures of Sheriff Verbrugge and Deputy Hamm and not everyone else who was involved.
Since apparently it was determined that no one committed an offense worth going to trial for, why not publish a picture of the accuser and the attorney who benefited financially.
And I wonder, since no one was found guilty of any wrongdoing, couldn’t Sheriff Verbrugge and Deputy Hamm also be awarded $140,000 to share between the two of them for being falsely accused?
I want to be clear, I am all for disciplining those who abuse their authority, but I felt the way the article was written, it led me to believe that you are guilty until proven innocent.
And based on other information in the article, apparently you can win a large settlement of money by falsely accusing someone. I give this story a thumbs down.
Mike Altena,
Luverne
Thanks for insightful letter
To the Editor:
That was a very insightful letter in the Sept. 9 Star Herald.
I know about our constitution, but I had not heard of this Convention of States.
To quote John Adams, our second president of the United States, who said: “Liberty cannot be preserved without a general knowledge among the people.” This is true.
Thanks, Kristi, for the information.
Marilyn Sasker,
Luverne
Blake: The U.S. needs to protect our power grid
To the Editor:
We must do more to strengthen our power grid against an electromagnetic pulse (EMP) event. Such an event can result from an attack by terrorists or another country (e.g.
China may already have the capability – which it may use in an economic crisis,) or it can occur naturally. It could result in devastating loss of life. There is disagreement on this, but why takechances?
We should also have a ground-based GPS back-up system (like Russia has), or we could lose internet at the least in an anti-satellite attack.
Alvin Blake,
Luverne