Editor, Gazette-Journal:

I would like to thank the citizens of Mathews County who came out to the school board meetings, and those that sent emails. At the Jan. 18 meeting, 15 people spoke—all in favor of lifting the mask mandate. I received 79 emails and 52 were in favor of lifting the mandate … approximately two to one.

I am a person who likes to see parents come to the school board meeting and make their concerns known. I want to see teachers, administrators, bus drivers, cafeteria workers and the people who take care of the school … and not just when there is an important issue like the masks.

We all need to be working to improve the teaching, better instruction, improvements to the schools, better environment and the participation of the student.

I look at the mask issue differently than most people, having spent 22 years in the military dragging a gas mask around with me. Unless you have a complete seal on a mask like a gas mask uses, you’re fighting lost cause. If t...