AUBURNDALE, Fla. — For more than a month, 10-year-old Polk County student Lola Smyth has been breaking the dress code at Clarence Boswell Elementary to make a point about the school board’s unwillingness to enact a mask mandate.
"They care more about, like, children showing their shoulders than they do about a person carrying, or passing around a deadly disease,” said Smyth.
Smyth said she wondered how a school district could demand students dress a certain way, but refused to make everyone wear masks to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
Administrators initially took recess away from Smyth and disciplined her with referrals.
"She's had multiple personal meetings, actually, one-on-one with Superintendent [Frederick] Hyde, and the school board, where she's talked to people individually. And the issue became that she was missing recess," said Lola’s mom, Tsi Smyth.
Last week, Lola says she got recess again and the school stopped writing her up. However, with 3,694 total confirmed cases of COVID-19 among students and staff, 20,742 quarantines and more than 38,000 related absences since Aug. 23, Lola says giving her recess again misses the whole point.
"Everyone's talking about like how, like, I'm missing recess and stuff. And I think that's not important...teachers in Polk County that I know of have died,” she said.
“And I rather sit out for recess my entire life to have those people back and to protect, like, my classmates. I rather sit out for recess forever, than have anybody else die."
Lola regularly attends school board meetings and gives speeches to the board during public comment. Her speeches have caught lots of attention on social media platforms like TikTok, where various clips have amassed tens of thousands of views.
Lola plans to be at the next school board meeting, which won't happen until Oct. 26.