We had physical effects as well. Headaches, nose bleeds, dry mouth, constant thirst. Stomach aches from anxiety …We had my daughter in therapy. Each child had different symptoms that were never the case before masking.”

Kiela Daley

Kiela Daley and her husband have five children. Four attend Barrington schools, spread out from kingergarten to grade 7. Their oldest son goes to Bishop Hendricken High School.

The Daleys moved to Barrington in August, just days before the state enacted its mask mandate for schools. Last year, the children were enrolled in a parochial school in Pawtucket, where the family lived at the time.

Daley said the environment was “miserable.”

“They wore masks all the time, they were social distancing, they had silent lunches, even at recess they had to stay within a chalk box on the playground … It really was such a sad environment,” she said.

She and her husband spent much of the year wondering if they were making the right choice by sending their children to school. The year prior, when the pandemic struck in the spring of 2020, was horrible, too. “That was a joke,” she said, “when we had all five kids at home on Zoom. That was a disaster.”

“Last year, everybody kept saying, ‘we’re so happy the kids are back in school,’ and my husband and I kept saying, ‘I don’t know if this is worse. Are we actually making things worse?’ It was a constant question of whether we were doing the right things.”

They decided to move to Barrington — a “safe” community with a reputation for great public schools. “When I signed my kids up for school in Barrington, I think it was Aug. 8, there was not a mask mandate. We also got an email from Hendricken saying masks would be optional this year.”

Then Gov. Dan McKee issued his executive order. “I couldn’t believe it,” she said. “We had lived our lives all summer completely normal. My kids were involved in baseball and basketball and gymnastics, we went on vacation, we were walking around everywhere unmasked, and going into restaurants and doing all our sports, unmasked … I could not believe we would come back to the schools with the same masked environments, with the same restrictions.”

She joined the parents’ lawsuit a few weeks later.

Mental and physical ailments

“The reason I got involved in this, and the reason I’ve gotten so passionate about this, is from effects that I saw in my children, both physically and mentally, from wearing a mask all day, and from the environment that the school created, that made me say, this is not ok. These are not my kids the way that I know them. It’s like the light in their eyes is gone,” Daley said.

She claims the children have responded differently to the school environment. “For two of my kids, it was like they took the light out of them. They were withdrawn, they were quiet. I couldn’t get through to them. And I had never seen that with them. And then two were over-the-top acting out, like frustrated and angry and sad. When they got out of school, it was like nuts, insanely intensified.”

She continued, “We had physical effects as well. Headaches, nose bleeds, dry mouth, constant thirst. Stomach aches from anxiety …We had my daughter in therapy. Each child had different symptoms that were never the case before masking.”

Schools are scary places

Going back to last year, Daley said the schools have become unwelcoming places. “My third-grader had to stand in a square, with one toy, just standing in a square, bouncing a ball, with a mask on. They had teachers yelling at them if they got up to throw something away, that the child was endangering others … The environment they created was full of panic and fear. It was like prison.”

Daley said her children, though relatively young, have gotten fully engaged in the mask issue, in the debates about policy and procedure.

“Now it’s turned into a family conversation that we all have. Now it’s not just about the physical effects of masking, and the mental effects, it’s about your right to freedom, the right to your body, the right to make your own choices … I mean, parents know their child best, and you’ve a school committee making choices for your child when they have no idea about what is best for them.

“So it’s taken on a whole new fight for your own rights and freedom, but it all stemmed from the masking and the regulations and rules that were put in place in the schools.”

She is not a believer in the masks to begin with. “It’s been proven, over and over, that the mask does not work. We already have the science and data to show that it does not work,” she said. “In order for a mask to work, it has to be an N95, and it has to be changed constantly.”

She can’t understand why the state is enforcing this on children. “I’m for personal choice. If you believe the mask is going to help you, then you should wear it. That’s your personal choice. If you don’t think it’s going to help you, or you think it’s going to harm you, then you shouldn’t have to wear it .. We don’t wear these masks anywhere other than schools.”

Daley said she is not alone. “We have a private group of 40 families, just in Barrington, who feel 100 percent the same as us … Barrington is extremist with most things.  And there are a lot more people out there, who are not speaking publicly, but they feel the same. When the time comes, they will be ready to speak. You’d be surprised to know how many people in this town feel the same way.”

Editor's note: We understand some readers will react strongly to this and related stories. Why did we spotlight this case and the people behind it? We think the case is noteworthy for several reasons: a) the potential impact on a policy affecting more than 150,000 people (students and teachers); b) the fact that a Rhode Island court found credible evidence of "irreparable harm"; c) the fact that both sides have appealed the same ruling (this is unusual); and d) because this case has received relatively little publicity thus far. We chose to spotlight four of the families involved in the case so that readers can learn more about who is behind the case — to know some of the people who are paying out of their own pockets to sue their governor and government. Lastly,  please know that we do not share their stories to celebrate them or lift them up. We make no judgment on their opinions. We are simply sharing their words; take from them what you will.