“I can’t sit on the sidelines and watch a lot of the things that have happened,” he said.
Sturtevant said he attended a meeting on Thursday of the Chesterfield School Board, which retained a requirement for students to wear face masks, despite Youngkin’s executive order, scheduled to take effect Monday, to ban the statewide mask mandate for public school students and give parents an opt-out from local school mask mandates.
His wife, Lori, teaches first grade at Robious Elementary School, and his three children, ages 8 to 12, attend Chesterfield public schools.
“I support getting rid of the mandate,” he said.
Sturtevant said he is vaccinated against COVID and encourages vaccinations for Virginians, but not under government mandate, especially if it could cost people their jobs.
“It’s great that we have all of these vaccines,” he said. “People should be vaccinated if it’s the right decision for them, but it shouldn’t be mandated.”
Sturtevant also took aim at critical race theory, which was central to Youngkin’s campaign and those of House Republicans. The theory, centering on institutional racism in the U.S. dating to slavery, isn’t taught in Virginia public schools, and he said he aims to keep it that way.
