On Monday, September 20, the Union County Board of Commissioners voted 3-2 that they had No Confidence in the UCPS Board of Education (BOE). In voting no confidence, Commissioner Helms told BOE Member Merrell "I was not in favor of throwing caution to the wind and doing no contact tracing, no quarantining, no nothing", it's "like playing Russian Roulette with our children". This vote comes after a legal standoff with the NC Department of Health and Human Services where the BOE was ordered to rescind their recent vote removing quarantining and contact tracing from our schools or face the State taking control of the county health department. We the voters and parents of Union County have lost all confidence that Merrell, Sides, and Bention will make decisions that are in the best interest of the health of our children and community and it is time for them to step down.

The people of Union County deserve a fair and balanced board that is able to interpret and institute factual and scientific recommendations presented by health experts instead of their personal opinions. Merrell, Sides, and Bention directly oppose community health standards and continue to exalt their personal opinions over those of the CDC, the AAP, the WHO, the NC Department of Health and Human Services, and the Union County Department of Health and Human Services. They are treating our children as political pawns and have abandoned their duty to ensure our children receive their protected right to an education. The 14th Amendment requires that when a state establishes a public school system, no child living in that state may be denied equal access to schooling. Our children are being denied an equal education by forcing them to quarantine due to a lack of a mask order that would keep them in school!

With no mask mandate in place, the complete disregard for our children has manifested in over SEVEN THOUSAND UCPS students and staff being forced into quarantine in a period of just 3 weeks. In addition to recklessly exposing our children to COVID they offer no virtual option to teach those children while they are home. This same irresponsible decision has forced THOUSANDS of their parents to miss work and try to educate their children without any help from the public school system.

We demand their immediate resignations for the health and safety of our Community and the guaranteed right to an equal education for our children.