Letters to the Editor | Published Aug. 11, 2023 – Press Banner | Scotts Valley, CA

Support for school tax comes into question

The article in the Aug. 4 Press Banner, with Michael Schulman advocating for more money for teachers (“SVUSD Places Parcel Tax on Fall Ballot”), seemed an irony with the other article, which reported on a lawsuit brought by the parents of a 7-year-old Brook Knoll Elementary School student who protested the pandemic protocols (“School District Had Considered Calling CPS Over Boy’s Protest to Pandemic Rules”).

This 7-year-old boy, it was reported, was sent to a storage room and Schulman suggested calling Child Protective Services, to which Chief Walpole suggested they could help get involved.

I have always supported local tax proposals for both the schools and the police, but what concerns me is: 1) that the School Board President actually suggested that CPS be called in to potentially take custody away from the parents over pandemic protocols that have been shown to be harmful in more and more studies, 2) that the Police Chief would volunteer to assist in such an action is chilling to think of such a totalitarian police state, and 3) that a teacher would lock a 7-year-old child in a storage room.

I can only imagine the trauma that this child and his family have gone through.

If this is what our schools and police are involved in, I would have to think long and hard about supporting more taxes.

Diane Griggs
Scotts Valley

Lawsuit over pandemic protocols a waste of money

It was with sadness that I read about the 7-year-old Scotts Valley school student being used by his parents for their personal anti-vax agenda (“School District Had Considered Calling CPS Over Boy’s Protest to Pandemic Rules,” Aug. 4).

When the parents enrolled their child, they were given information for vaccine/Covid protocol that is mandated by the state. The fact that this child had a sign that read, “Stop This Nonsense,” indicates that the parents were pushing their agenda.

Children come into classrooms with a variety of medical issues (heart, cancer, asthma, diabetes, etc.) and may have compromised immune systems. Suing a school district for state mandates that were known is a huge waste of money/resources devoted to educating our students.

Covid struck the world with unknown ramifications. To this day, scientists still don’t know what the long-term effects may be from Covid. For the health and safety of children/adults in classrooms, Covid mandates should be followed until further “peer reviewed” research from many scientists can prove that Covid is not a serious threat to others.

Helene Tick
Scotts Valley

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