How school board meetings have become emotional battlegrounds for debating mask mandates

School board meetings have become emotional battlegrounds for parents and local officials who disagree over mask and vaccine mandates as children return to the classroom.

School board meetings have become emotional battlegrounds for parents and local officials who disagree over mask and vaccine mandates as children return to brick-and-mortar learning. At least nine states -- Arizona, Arkansas, Iowa, Oklahoma, Florida, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and Utah -- have laws or executive orders prohibiting mask mandates in classrooms. Those rules have triggered legal challenges and public fury as many children returned to classrooms earlier this month, at a time when COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations are on the rise due to the delta variant, but children under the age of 12 remain ineligible for the vaccine. Mask opponents say masks inhibit kids from socializing and restrict breathing.