Fallbrook Freedom Fighters continues battle over school mandates

Rick Monroe

Special to the Village News

Fallbrook Freedom Fighters had public rallies on Highway 76 the past two months, but for December the group has a new plan. The growing number of parents will continue its presence at board meetings of the local school districts, to make it clear they don’t want to see students mandated to be vaccinated for COVID-19.

They also want the current mask requirement for students repealed.

The new emphasis, according to coordinators Courtney Stevens and Lindsay Jones, is through a letter-writing campaign to legislators stating their objection to the state eliminating exceptions for religious exemptions.

“We have information that a bill may be voted on in January to remove religious exemptions,” Jones said. “We recently sent more than 500 hand-written letters to local, state and federal officials stating this was something that shouldn’t be considered.”

The two leaders urged others to write to elected officials with their concerns. They said penned, mailed letters were more effective than emails.

Participants from Lake Elsinore Freedom Fighters and Let Them Breathe in San Diego also wrote letters, Jones said.

Stevens said that because of the holidays, Fallbrook Freedom Fighters’ next rally will be delayed until January.

Jones shared that she recently had a two-hour meeting with Diane Summers, president of the Fallbrook Union High School District, for a person-to-person talk about the concerns of FFF. Jones said she gave the board president a copy of a draft resolution that 25 school districts in the state that were approved by their respective boards. The resolution stated that their board felt the proposed mandates were something the board could not support, Jones said.

“We hope she will seriously consider the resolution and bring it to the school board,” Jones said. She also noted that she has taken informal surveys and found only 14% of parents want masks required at school. Jones added that many parents who have removed students from public schools said they would return to the district if mask mandates were lifted, and the threat of vaccine enforcement was removed.

Students and teachers are currently required to wear masks during the school day. Gov. Gavin Newsom has ruled that students 12 and older would be required to be vaccinated by July 1 to attend in-person classes.

Note: This story was written prior to Monday’s separate meetings of the school boards of the Fallbrook Union High School District and Fallbrook Union Elementary School District.