CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Charlotte Mecklenburg Schools students and staff are preparing for the possibility of going mask optional.
The CMS school board will vote on the mask mandate Tuesday night.
Eve Weiss and her mom Brooke Weiss spoke at Wednesday's Mecklenburg County Board of County Commissioners Meeting about the impacts they say masks have had on her education.
“It has gone on long enough. People will still wear them even if we are told we don't have to. If they want to they will," Eve said.
The board of commissioners voted unanimously in favor of rescinding the county-wide indoor mask mandate, paving the way for Charlotte Mecklenburg Schools to do the same.
Eve said she was proud she spoke up.
“I put something on my Instagram Story stating how I had spoken out at the board meeting and how I think the message should be optional," she said.
Kids at school had mixed reactions.
“There have been some people supportive and thanking me. I've gotten people thanking me for speaking out because they're either afraid to or just don't know how or where," Eve said. “I have also gotten people who are just they do not listen to my side. They'll start saying things calling me things, cursing me out."
Eve’s mom, a vocal critic at school board meetings about masks, says she too has also received criticism for her stance.
"We just ask that our choice is respected the same way that anyone else's choice would be," Brooke said.
Eve and her mom want the school board to listen to local and state officials who say it’s safe for everyone to make an informed personal choice on masks in public and in schools.
North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper encouraged schools and local governments to end mask mandates Thursday, citing widespread vaccine availability and decreasing COVID-19 metrics statewide.
“I have been kind of afraid in the past to voice some of my opinions, but as time goes on, and I've been surrounded by different people, I realized that that's not something that you should do," Eve said.
If CMS lifts its mask mandate, it will join each of its neighboring districts who have now dropped mask mandates for students.
Contact Shamarria Morrison at smorrison@wcnc.com and follow her on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.