A member of the community listens to a presentation during the Alamance Burlington School System board meeting in August. In that school system, and most others across North Carolina, local school boards chose to start their school years with mask mandates in place. About two dozen parents attended this Aug. 5 meeting, where many said they opposed masking in the schools. The decision to mask up has been fraught in some locations and school board meetings have become flashpoints for parent anger. Photo credit: Anthony CriderFlickr Creative Commons