April 27, 2021 will live as a day long remembered by thousands, if not millions. It is interesting, however, that this started as a typical day for all of us who wished to attend a simple VUSD school board meeting to be heard, but ended in the most surreal way.
We as parents had had enough of the events of the prior year and most of this year. Lockdowns, limitations, ugliness, loss of respect, suicides, loneliness, job loss, segregation between masked and non masked individuals, uncertainty, and fear gripped our society here and all over the world.
It was time for we as parents to speak up and let our children be heard by the VUSD board and let them know enough was enough. The instability this past year provided our children was inexcusable.
Grades, mental health and the suffering under these dreaded mask policies, coupled with plastic dividers, inability to socialize and be free to just be kids was horrendous and had terrible consequences. When we tried to deal with this early on in 2020, we were met with resistance and told “it is for the greater good”. Yet, here we are, May of 2021, and nothing had changed.
We as parents and students of this community gathered to send a message to the board that they needed to make changes immediately. It was time to end it. Yes, the parents spread the word to meet and have their children come to speak to the board that evening.
Yes, there were a lot of people there. It started early on with a group of about 50 but apparently grew to over 200, so I was told. I was one of the first and only parents in the building the whole time that evening, but never got in to the board room. The now famous video shows what happened from there on.
As we entered the VUSD board office, there was an 8 foot table directly across the main doors, practically barring entrance or any way of an exit. We were made to have temperatures taken and handed masks to wear. At this point, only about 20 people were in the building from the group. The rest were made to stay outside because they didn’t want to wear masks, and then started chanting “USA”. Last I checked, this was not against the law, but representatives of the VUSD board would have you believe otherwise.
In his article with the Vail Voice last month, Mr. Carruth erroneously misstated the facts of that evening. He wasn’t even in the hall or outside to hear what was happening, or to attempt to moderate the crowd or be reassuring that we would be heard. No one called the board or staff “murderers, child abusers, communists or nazis”. All untrue. He stated that there were outside groups attempting to “take over the meeting”. Again, untrue. Yes, there were people apparently there from outside Vail, but anyone can attend the meetings of the VUSD Board.
Had they simply done the right thing and assured everyone they would be heard, this wouldn’t have happened. They knew the crowd would be large, but didn’t plan on having an event location large enough to house all who would attend.
It is truly appalling to me that the VUSD board continually tries to play the victims. Patently false! The parents and students who were there were the real victims. To this day, parents and students have been emailing and calling the board for specific answers as to why they canceled the meeting, why they won’t answer questions about specifics being used to determine what standards they will use for the upcoming school year.
I have tried to get specific answers relating to the topic to be met with a one sentence answer and some parents have gotten horrible and insulting responses. There is proof of all of this and it will not be tolerated.
Our children are now under threat of forced vaccinations and continued suicides (attempted and committed). All being just passed off and ignored.
The Vail School Board needs to remember need to remember they answer to us as elected officials! Yes, there are ongoing recalls but rest assured, the calls are coming to replace all of them in the next election cycle. Elected officials need to be held to account, and they are not exempt from this!
The Vail Freedom Fighters were born after the sitting VUSD board walked out on listening to the parents and students about their ongoing concerns for their personal medical and social rights and freedoms in school settings. Our name came about when Mr. Carruth, during an interview with local news media, called us the freedom fighters. If we needed a name, that would be it. Thus, the Vail Freedom Fighters were born. We can be found on Facebook at Vail Freedom Fighters AZ and by email at vailfreedomfighters@yahoo.com. Our public face is Freedom Fighters of Southern Arizona on Facebook.
