Eight-year-old Fiona Lashells walked onto her elementary school campus Monday with a pink backpack and the fanfare of a homecoming war veteran. Family friends waved signs and cheered. A state legislator strode proudly alongside.
It was, in a sense, a return from battle. For two months, the second-grader and her mother had waged an increasingly high-profile standoff against the Palm Beach County public schools over their mask mandate.
Refusing to wear a facial covering, Fiona amassed nearly 40 days of suspensions in September and October, requiring her to spend weeks doing her classwork at home. She and her mother spoke out at school board meetings and posted videos online, winning plaudits from conservative media and political leaders.
To seemingly everyone’s relief, the standoff is over. Amid falling COVID-19 cases and an unfavorable court decision, the school district last week made masks optional once more on its campuses, clearing the way for Fiona to return, for the first time in more than two months, to her classroom.
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