TORRINGTON – For those who opposed the mask mandate from the Goshen County School District on Thursday, Sept. 2, the decision was not the end of the conflict. It was the beginning. 

Andrielle Walsh and Kenzi Lapinski’s version of the beginning was to organize a protest. 

As the inside of the Goshen County Courthouse remained empty on Monday evening for Labor Day, Walsh and Lipinski welcomed about 20 others outside the building. 

Walsh’s main concern was the health effects of masks. 

“Masks do decrease our oxygen levels by 20%,” Walsh said. “I mean if you think about it that is child abuse to us.” 

It was a sentiment which Walsh expressed at the board meeting less than a week before the protest. Over 40 other members of the community spoke out against the mask mandate at the meeting, and over 100 more watched in the crowded auditorium at Torrington High School. Walsh said the protest was to raise awareness of the decision because many parents were upset with it. The protest was just one of the ways community members were trying to oppose the new mandate. 

Wyoming District 3 Senator Cheri Steinmetz had her own version of the beginning. Steinmetz got to work for the upset parents immediately after the meeting by trying to contact Governor Mark Gordon, specifically about quarantine protocol. The school district passed medical and religious masks exemptions but would still make unmasked kids quarantine if they are close contacts. Because of the holiday weekend, Steinmetz had not heard back from the governor as of Monday. 

Steinmetz also said she was proud of the turnout she saw at the meeting. 

“I really am very proud of the people who stood up the other night and spoke on behalf of their children,” Steinmetz said.

It is the kind of support Steinmetz said she sees when someone needs help in the community in general. The type of support she saw at the meeting was what was taking place at the courthouse. 

At the protest, Walsh thanked everyone for coming and led a march down Main Street to the corner by J&B Liquor. Protesters boasted signs against masks and the new mandate with occasional honks and cheers from cars passing by. There was a time limit to the protest, however, because there was another meeting to attend. 

The crowd of protesters joined about 100 more people at Pioneer Park as Steinmetz organized a meeting to discuss the plan of action for when the mandate took effect. Since Monday was a holiday, the school decided to enact the mandate on Tuesday. 

Steinmetz was joined by school board members Michael Sussex and Matthew Cushman. The two voted against the mask mandate along with Trustee Dylan Hager and Chairman Mark Jespersen. Cushman and Sussex, however, were the only two who voted against all six action items at the special meeting. Steinmetz commended the board members for their decisions. 

Steinmetz also created a tentative agenda for the meeting which included discussing immediate actions including a sick out and homeschool options. Most of the time instead was used for the public to ask questions to Steinmetz, the trustees, and at some points each other. 

The group utilized the end of the meeting to discuss how to go about a planned sick out including what to tell the school when calling their kids out, and possible ramifications for missing too many days. Sussex reminded everyone the district waived the absence limit for the year so there will be no consequences for missing too many days. One issue for some parents was their kids could not play sports if they were not in school and not yet in homeschool. 

The general consensus of the meeting was to hold out until the board overturned their decision on their own accord or with legal intervention. The problem was there was no timetable and little information as to how it would happen. It took about a day-and-a-half for the mandate to receive official opposition. 

On Wednesday, Goshen County Public Health Officer Dr. Ted Church, M.D., issued a variance on the districts mandate. However, according to Kim Deti, public information officer for the Wyoming Department of Health, the health order can only go into effect if State Health Officer Alexia Harrist, M.D., also signs it.

The Goshen County Commissioners are holding a special meeting on Friday, Sept. 10 where Church will present the health order. The meeting will be at the Rendezvous Center at the Goshen County Fairgrounds. 

With everything the community has experienced since the special meeting, they could be right back where they started a week ago. At the beginning.