Anchorage mayor speaks out against masking students in schools

By
Suzanne Downing
-
109

Anchorage Mayor Dave Bronson on Friday ended his silence about the mask mandate on all students and staff in Anchorage Public Schools.

Although his authority doesn’t allow him to override Superintendent Deena Bishop and the Anchorage School Board, Bronson came out unequivocally against the back-to-school mask policy announced by Bishop last Saturday.

On his official Facebook page, he urged the school district to reconsider its policy:

“My position has been, and will continue to be, very clear on the issue of COVID mandates: I am opposed to mandates. I am opposed to mandates masking our residents and our children. I am opposed to mandates shutting down our businesses. I am opposed to mandating vaccinations. Anchorage residents should be free to make their own decisions about their healthcare, about their families, and about their children’s education.

“Therefore, I strongly oppose the Anchorage School District’s back to school mask mandate and strongly encourage them to immediately reconsider. Masking choice has been successful in the Anchorage School District throughout the summer school session and can be successful now. Moreover, student masking remains optional in various other school districts across Alaska. This should be about parental and student choice, not top down government mandates,” Bronson’s statement said.

Teachers in the Anchorage School District begin working on Aug. 12, and classes begin on Aug. 17, with pre/kindergarten classes beginning Aug. 24.

At this stage, all will be forced to mask in schools, including charter schools, on buses and in other school district facilities. The rule applies to those who have been vaccinated against Covid-19 as well as those who have not. Kenai and Mat-Su have chosen to make masks optional.

Read: Teachers dance and clap at pep rally with superintendent, no masks

The mask is believed by the Anchorage superintendent and school board to lessen the transmission of the Covid-19 virus, which is spreading once again among those unvaccinated individuals around the country, as well as occasionally infecting those who have been vaccinated.

Must Read Alaska has learned that the projected enrollment for Anchorage Public Schools has dropped by thousands, although final enrollment numbers won’t be known until October.

Read: Parents express outrage at masking policy for schoolchildren

109 COMMENTS

  1. Bronson is treading the right path for the right reasons.
    Government has no legitimate constitutional authority to order us to wear masks…for ANY reason.
    Resist, pushback, say no or prepare for a lifetime of subjugation.

  2. Thanks Dave for speaking out against against the masking mandate, these young people should not be forced to cover their mouth & nose all day…it is ridiculous at this point.

      • I told you all a long time ago that nothing will change until someone is willing to go to jail. I don’t see any of these pinheads willing to do that

          • Probably a safe bet when dealing with people suffering the “Wetiko mind syndrome.” #lookitup #learnyourfirstpeopleshistory

          • Oh sure… you are such a pleasant and respectful chap, who only debates the facts and NEVER calls anyone a name or bullies them to do as he says….
            You claim to obey the laws of the land, yet neither the masking nor the vaccinations are actual law, decided upon by the duly elected representatives and signed into law. These are demands foisted upon the people by un-elected bureaucrats, who only see their little slice of the world and all of a sudden think they are entitled to speak and dictate to all.

      • Bill, you are correct that no one is forcing kids to go to public school. Yet all their parents pay property tax in this town in one form or another. Think of it as the city taking money out of your paycheck every month, to pay for a pottery class. However you want an electrical engineering class and have to spend more of the money you have left, because the city doesn’t care and has a deal with the potter’s union. The solution is clear:
        Let the money follow the child. Defeat the Blaine amendment!

  3. The school district enrollment will probably continue to decline as parents and students defer from school district mandates….
    Push back !!

    • Actually nobody’s masquerading as anyone except for you comrade. What’s your real name by the way or are you two chicken to divulge that? Come on grow a pair.

      • Greg, there is no reason for me to divulge my real name to you, as only an idiot shares private information with every stranger out there, particularly on the internet. The fact that YOU choose to do so, well, says a lot about you, and not for the better, either.

  6. How about an executive order, Mr. Mayor, to stop this crap?
    .
    Maybe it’s time for Anchorage’s education industry to be dragged kicking and screaming into the real world… for parent-taxpayers to find out to whom these insufferable bast… (hey!) are accountable, for whom they work
    .
    … and support Mayor Bronson by doing whatever it takes to force, embarrass, coerce Anchorage’s education industry into stuffing its mask-erading right up there with Critical Race Theory, where the sun doesn’t shine.
    .
    To Governor Dunleavy, may we respectfully request an Executive Order forbidding compulsory mask-erading in state-subsidized schools including a provision for witholding state funding for non-compliant school dstricts.

    • The mayor has no jurisdiction over Anchorage Schools and cannot do anything by executive action. The Governor needs to act!

    • The school district know little of the science here, shockingly.
      .
      They want masks that work, then the minimum standard is N95.
      .
      Those bedazzled Disney masks are nothing more than cloth placebos.
      .
      Throw some science at them Mayor Bronson, INSIST LOUDLY on proper N95 masks, stop this charade.

      • On a side note: I’m not for compulsory masking of any form, and the reason is simple, without proper application they’re actually problematic.
        .
        Complacency from wearing a mask is worse than not wearing one and using common sense and practicing proper personal hygiene.
        .
        I watched a guy, all masked-up, standing waiting for his pizza the other day, while none of the pizza cooks wore any face/head covers whatsoever.
        .
        That’s the mindset we’re dealing with here, by the way, it was the Pizza joint in Walmart, where all the shelf stockers have to wear masks!

        • Masks don’t work! Came from the horses mouth himself, floppy Fauci.

          Picture this, wearing a mask is like a chain link fence trying to stop a mosquito to pass thru. Virus’ are microscopic. MASKS don’t work! It also will affect your health by breathing in your own toxins. Does more harm than good.

          • Agreed, the cloth home made bedazzled rubbish is worthless. If you listen to our local MD Bruce Keesling, he insisted his unvaccinated staff ALL WEAR N95’s. Why? They’re horrible to wear day in day out. BRONSON should INSIST, ALL ADULTS wear N95’s in the school district who want this masking policy do the same. I’ll give those wishy-washy school employees will be passing out after 15 minutes of wearing a mask that actually has some effect on stopping a virus. #playhardballbronson

          • By your own admission you say that masks don’t work but you say masks stop carbon dioxide and other imaginary toxins in your breath. I’m thinking onions here. You can’t have it both ways although try as you might. Oxygen and carbon dioxide molecules are too small to be stopped or even slowed down by a stupid mask. We’ve gone all through this for a year and a half now. Where have you been? And I know doctors don’t think that masks work either that’s why they all wear one when they’re doing surgery and that’s why emergency room personnel all wear masks. Because they don’t work. It’s more of a fashion statement for those people than any kind of a personal protection device.

  7. Hopefully Dunleavy will learn from him: this is what a spine and a bully pulpit look like

  8. Thank you Mayor Bronson! You may not have jurisdiction, but you have a voice.
    A great example for all of us to speak up, get involved, and don’t let this happen. .

  9. “…has Dropped by thousands” *whistle

    Those children are lucky their parents are aware what is happening.
    You know what the next lesson for these children, who are privileged to leave, are to do when they ALL are adults? Show Mercy helping their peers learn what they didnt learn in k-12 public school, being an encourage showing them how to be Independent and In-control of their own life and (hopefully) future children of these young generations.

  10. Thank you Mayor Bronson !

    “When the people fear the government, that’s tyranny; when the government fears the people, that’s freedom.” – Thomas Jefferson

  11. The mayor has no say in the ASD budget due to the Anchorage Municipal Code.

    “Per the Alaska Statutes, the Anchorage Municipal Charter, and the Anchorage Municipal Code, the Anchorage School Board must submit the school district’s annual budget to the Anchorage Municipal Assembly for approval. [Not the Mayor]

    The assembly may approve, REDUCE, or increase the total amount of the school budget and the amount of the local contribution to the school budget, but it may not modify individual items within the budget. If the assembly does not act within thirty days, the school board’s budget proposal becomes the school district’s budget and local source appropriation without further assembly action.”

    The current Assembly majority never met an ASD budget it didn’t liked. Rubber stamp all the way. Good luck with forcing, embarrassing, coercing the Anchorage School Administration and their “system” to do anything they don’t want to do. Just my two cents.

      • They like to do that. Its like calling us anti-vaxers when we dont want to inject an experimental DNA changing serum into our bodies.

  13. For those parents who need financial help paying for their kid’s private education, the State of Alaska has an Education Tax Credit program which businesses, mining and fisheries can claim against their corporate taxes. Here is the link to the Education Tax Credit program FAQs: https: // dor . alaska.gov/EducationTaxCredit.aspx

  14. The unvaccinated have let us down. We thought they had common sense. All we wanted was to ease suffering, get back to healthy normal day in the life. We understand some don’t trust the government that is saving them. We understand they are afraid. We understand their stubbornness may kill them in spite of all attempt to do otherwise. Please talk to someone who knows, that you trust to make such an important decision. You may only get one chance at it.

    • You claim that those who are not injected with what the FDA identifies as an “investigative vaccine”, using synthetic Rnma, which has never been done on a large, let alone global scale, to treat a laboratory modified virus have “let us down” and to use common sense.
      Explain why in populations with 99% investigative vaccination rates the SARS-2 continues spreading.
      Explain why the viral loads are heavier in “vaccinated”.
      Use common sense, why of the tens of thousands of deaths from indiscriminate use of an unproven toxin only one autopsy has been performed? This is political and financially motivated, this is not science.
      There is not an issue with proven vaccines, its this experimental vaccine that is the problem.

    • This is a perfect example of the hyper-certainty of ignorance, i.e., the Dunning-Kruger effect, where those of lesser intelligence think they are far smarter than they really are, and lack the critical faculties to recognize their own limitations.

        • Any idea how many beat the CCP Covid, before it was even a thing. The UK had an “unknown” virus floating around OCT/NOV 2019, it killed none (on record), but made plenty sick, very sick (I contracted it there) it was very-very nasty. Its after effects lasted well over a month, vomiting and Diarrhea simultaneously (sound familiar).
          .
          The British NHS, had no clue, ER docs simply called its after effects, ‘the 100 day cough’ and sent people back out into the world, they had no clue, coughing away for what seemed like weeks and months.
          .
          When the question was raised, was this the Alpha (CCP) Covid, the Brit NHS said no, it was too soon, as the first recorded case (tested from blood samples) wasn’t until Jan 2020.
          .
          Recently, the Brits have concluded the Alpha (CCP) strain was actually floating around as early as OCT/NOV 2019 (reported last week by the US Congress too).
          .
          Of course, you won’t read any of this over here Stateside, as we have no objective journalism, when it comes to COVID, it seems.
          .
          On a side note, when the NY Governor admonished Trump over his use of the China virus reference the crap show in NY, he was probably correct in calling the New York strain, the British/European strain, as it’d been over there a few months prior to coming to the US.
          .
          The more you know right! #keepanopenmind

    • You have let us down. We all have free agency and that means we can choose what gets injected into our bodies, just like you. There is nothing wrong with a person that chooses to wait to be inoculated. We have the right to make a conscious risk/benefit analysis for ourselves. Dehumanizing individuals because they have made a choice to wait demonstrates your fear. Why are you fearful if you believe in the science? You are protected, supposedly?

  15. “The mask is believed by the Anchorage superintendent and school board to lessen the transmission of the Covid-19 virus”
    …
    Where did they ever get that idea? There is no data to support their belief.

    • Masks prevent the spread of droplets containing the Covid-19 virus thus “lessen the transmission of the Covid-19 virus.”
      Try spitting the next time you are wearing a mask and let us know how far your spittle gets Dan. Take several spits and go with your longest-you can think of this as a mini-olympics with a gold medal for anything over 6 feet. Heheh!

      • Until they have a blood test and until you see it with your eyeballs which you have not, you have no evidence that there really is a virus to start with other than the TV told you that

          • Bill, they just can’t get past the evidence that people are dying, people are in the hospital that are unvaccinated and probably going to die, and that there are those of us like myself who got two shots who aren’t going to die but the road to recovery is a long one. Some people get over it in a couple of weeks, some people get over it in 6 months. It just depends on the person and immune system. People are so stupid that I can’t even believe we’re having to have this conversation. Now mostly they just want to pick a fight because they’re too chicken crap to even divulge their real name. They’re just idiots on the interweb who don’t know a damn thing and like to play chicken little. And it’s sad really. They try to play ropa dope talking about masks and such but in reality it’s really about the shot. It’s the people who refuse to get a shot for whatever reason. You can’t save them and maybe we shouldn’t even try.

          • I’m not sure which variant I’ve had because there are two or three of them out there now and the test that I received wasn’t that advanced. I can only assume it was the Delta variant that came out of India because after I got both shots I was fine walking around in public for three or four months until the latest version arrived. But who the hell knows? The fact is because I got the shots I didn’t die and a lot of people that didn’t get the shots are dying or have died. But I trust my doctor. He knows more than me and I’m certain he knows more than you.

  16. School choice! Money follows the student, not given to pathetic bureaucracies who think they know better than parents, while making wasteful decisions. Time for a petition or initiative to bring school choice to parents!

  17. BRAVO! BRAVO! BRAVO! Mayor Bronson!
    Masks DON’T work… floppy Fauci said it himself!

    The virus’ are microscopic and can go right through it. Masks causes more harm than good to your health. You are breathing in your own toxins which leads to illness, scaring of the lungs, etc.

    On top of that children are so resilient they bounce back much quicker! Their own immune system is strong & healthy!

  18. According to the human rights commission, you can post a “white only” policy but it isn’t discrimination until someone attempts to physically “trespass” in violation of that policy and is actually stopped. You’re gonna have to break the rules and face arrest before your rights are protected. It’s your compliance that give the board their power to “force” you.

  19. A couple of things to note here:

    Why hasn’t a parent filed a lawsuit against ASD for this unscientific (and ultimately child abuse) mask mandate for kids? I swear some of the adults in Anchorage don’t know that they can actually do things too stop this. ASD is a garbage organization with garbage lawyers. Plus their money is finite. If parents start bleeding them to death with lawsuits then they will be forced to stop.

    Second – ASD has grown too bloated and is the problem. They need to be completely dismantled and burned down. ASD cannot handle the scope of providing education to children anymore and the teachers union needs to also be struck down. Teachers have shown their true colors during this pandemic and are political activists intent on brainwashing children to become party members.

    Burn down ASD, burn down the teachers union and get all of the deena bishops out of Alaska. They are garbage people with cavemen-sized brains.

  20. Liberals, go suck an egg.
    We are seeing the destruction of America and this great state by the left, I am opposed to anyone aligned with them and their commie ways.
    Its great to finally have leadership with a backbone and a pair.
    Good job Mr. Mayor, carry on.

    • You have libertarians who do nothing except for themselves. Liberals who are thieves, and everybody else who is tired of the useless fight and will just hide and watch. Gutless wonders all.

  21. Great job Mayor Bronson !

    More communication to Bishop this morning:
    ———–

    Dear Dr. Bishop,

    Good morning.

    I am writing to request reconsideration of your recommended mitigation plan that requires masks indoors. We ask that mask choice and medical freedom be permitted. CDC guidelines are just that, they’re “guidelines.” Those guidelines must be malable, to allow for, and support local control.

    Article 1, section II of the Alaska Constitution says; “all political power is inherent in the people. All government originates with the people, is founded upon their will only, and is instituted solely for the good of the people as a whole.”

    Dr. Bishop, the local people spoke at last night’s board meeting, and it is crystal clear the majority are requesting for mask and medical freedom NOT the will of guidelines from CDC and AAP or any other entity not responsible for children’s health, safety, security and emotional well being. Parents know best- ONLY PARENTS. Mask Choice keeps our children safe, extends enrollment of families in ASD instead of withdrawing, supports the majority of public testimony and supports centuries of historical United States Supreme Court precedent that preserves and protects Parents’ Fundamental authority and rights to direct the upbringing of their child, including in education.

    I have two more specific questions about exceptions for masking for the overwhelming majority of families that will request them.

    From Alaskas News Source:

    “It’s written into the plan that “Some exceptions may apply for educational purposes and for cohorting people who are fully vaccinated.” Bishop explained during the meeting that there are many potential exceptions to wearing a mask. Some are medical, others legal, and still others for educational purposes.”

    If you will not reconsider your recommendations to support mask choice and OUR inherent political power, will, and for the good of all,
    can you point to District exemption forms AND/OR procedure that families may follow for every “exception” so that we may educate the public in following medical, religious and other exemptions?

    Lastly, many families plan civil disobedience over this issue. What direction has been given or procedure will be applied at the schools WHEN children refuse to comply with a facial covering?

    I appreciate your prompt reply. These matters are urgent, as families must have time to secure funding for education outside of ASD immediately should you not reconsider our majority request.

    We are counting on you to do the right thing that supports true stakeholders and beneficiaries of Alaskan public education.

    I eagerly await your response.

    —————-

    We shall see…

  22. If we didn’t have the 2nd Amendment, it would already be game over. The fascist Left would have already won. I honestly can’t say the same thing about masks or vaccinations. There are various scenarios, but at this point, no one knows if the virus will soon be in the rearview mirror or ravage us more than it has so far. If it surges the Right will have made a mistake over something a lot less important than guns.

    I don’t understand the upside in Bronson’s position. The Leftist assembly has already proved they have no interest in allowing him to be successful on the homeless issue. If the virus is worse in the future he will have played into their hands – anything he wants to do will be framed in the context of the results of his virus policies.

  24. Impotence signaling is much funnier than virtue signaling,
    The previous mayors and the current assembly figured out a way to lockdown the whole city and take away all property rights from every person in anchorage and this guy can’t do anything but speak out against forced masking child abuse. This is what voting gets you, a lot of nothing

  25. Rather than listening to Dr. Faucci and the CDC, I recommend parents read the article :Masking Children: Tragic Unscientific and Damaging by Paul E Alexander. Dr. Alexander states one of the most starkly revealing , troubling observations came from Dr. Margarite Grieaz-Brisson Md PhD who is one of
    Europe’s leading neurologist and neurophysiologists focused on neurotoxicology, environmental medicine, neuroregeneration and neuroplacicity. She has gone on record stating. “The rebreathing of our exhaled air will without a doubt create oxygen deficiency and a flooding of carbon dioxide. We know that the human brain is very sensitive to oxygen deprivation. There are neurons for example in the hippocampus that cannot survive more than 3 minutes without an adequate supply of oxygen. To go on” symptoms of mask wearing for long periods cause, headaches, drowsiness, dizziness, reduced ability to concentrate and reduction in cognitive function. Not to mention increased bacterial and mold buildup in masks. I stand with Mayor Bronson . If parents want their children to wear masks let them. If I still had children in the public school here, I would be headed to a private
    school where I could have a choice,.

      • Too bad we don’t have any for the Wuhan Virus yet, and that the treatments/death jabs currently being administered are a) almost completely untested, and b) not very effective.

    • What science academy did you go to that taught you that oxygen and carbon dioxide molecules get trapped by a cloth mask? You do realize these things are small right, like invisible small. You can see a mask and you can see daylight going through the weave so the photons are getting through. Yes you have to launder and replace masks because they can get funky but so does your underwear. You change that don’t you? Next time, tell me the size of an oxygen molecule and the size of a carbon dioxide molecule and then tell me the size of the hole in the mask.

  26. I think he has enough to worry about and should stay in his lane while learning his new job. I’m sure that many hundreds of hours of research and work must have gone into making this difficult decision.

  27. Have faith over fear!
    We were born with no masks! Just birthday suits!
    Let’s not be judge or jury!

  29. Why do so many of these bureaucracies seem to have independence from all oversight? Instead of any kind of structure to federal, state, and local “government”, what we have is a massive assemblage of petty potentates who each claim dominion over parts of our lives. They rule over us in an ever-expanding tyranny that threatens to reduce human existance to little more than bowing and scraping to every tyrant behind a desk. And none of them are accountable to anyone above them. We used to live in a republic, but now we are simply subjects of the Bureaucracy.

  30. Masks do not work. The only thing masks slow down is the intake of clean fresh air. Stop lying to the public!!! The shots do not prevent Covid. You can still get sick.

      • Dr Robert Malone and Dr Anthony Fauci have vastly differing opinions on this subject. Happy you’re happy with your choice. #youprotesttomuchwhoareyouactuallytryingtoconvincehereheorthee

  31. Once again Anchorage has the opportunity to compare covid policies with the valley’s, but there has always been that opportunity. Certain policy makers seem to be unable to see and compare. Ideology trumps real world examples. How can the policies be so different and yet the results so similar?

    • Just ask your average Anchorage authoritarian (on the record). “How many sexes are there within the human species?” Their pseudo-science laden answer will tell you everything you need to know about their complete inability to comprehend hard science and correlate data.
      .
      #sciencedeniersoneandall #wtfisabirthingpersonforexample

  32. It seems strange to me that the Mat-Su was able to institute a Covid plan for its students last year while Anchorage kids were denied their education. My granddaughter forgot most of what she learned and will be looking forward to a huge struggle in life as a result. Meanwhile, the Mat-Su School District has continued to reasonably address Covid while keeping kids educated.

  34. Greg Forkner thy will be done ! we have free will for a reason and it isnt for anyone to tell us we have to do something against our will that Absolutely makes NO SENSE

  35. Greg Forkner thy will be done ! we have free will for a reason and it isnt for anyone to tell us we have to do something against our will that Absolutely makes NO SENSE

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