Jeffrey McKay is Chairman of the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors. His recent emails to the Fairfax County Community have decried efforts by the Governor and General Assembly — the people’s elected representatives — to let parents decide if and when their children should wear masks in school.
Chairman McKay’s disingenuous preening about the Board of Supervisors’ decision-making power is both revealing and repulsive.
Revealing because he wants to hold unrestricted power to mask school children, claiming local Supervisors and School Boards should make such decisions. McKay writes, “… local school boards working with local health professionals … should make decisions about local schools.” He scoffed at “elected officials in distant Richmond” being the ones to set a “one size fits all directive that will put our children and teachers at risk.” NOW he tells us, after dutifully marching in lockstep with former Governor Northam’s dictates for two long years!
Nowhere in his emails does Chairman McKay even acknowledge the role of parents in their children’s education. In fact, he sounds like candidate Terry McAuliffe. We see what this mask tug-of-war really is all about. McKay admits that the General Assembly’s actions removing local authority to require masks in schools “is about so much more than just masking.” Say it Mr. Chairman: It’s about power. Your power.
McKay’s power grab and sneering elitism are repulsive. He formulates politically skewed arguments and claims to follow “facts,” but consistently fails to cite credible medical data. Such data would contradict his “one-size-fits-all-wear-a-mask-and-take-the-shot-or-else” approach. School age children (without underlying medical conditions) are not at risk from COVID-19 as much as they are from the annual seasonal flu, and they do not transmit the virus to adults. But they are at risk for mental anguish and learning disabilities brought on by unmitigated masking.
We no longer have a COVID-19 pandemic. We have a pandemic of politicians who can’t let go of power.
Over the past two years, we’ve learned a lot about viruses, vaccines, and political power grabs. It’s time for Jeffrey McKay, his colleagues, and the school board apparatus to unclench their fists, follow the science and stand back while parents assume their rightful duty to care for their children.
