this is "nightline." >> tonight, masking: the debate. tempers flaring across the country. parents pitted against each other. >> we actually need masks now more than ever. >> a small, loud minority disagrees. >> you want to put a mask on your kid, that's great, you do it. but don't mandate this for everyone else. plus curtains up. ♪ it's up to you ♪ >> the big lights are back on in new york, new york. ♪ new york ♪ we go behind the scenes as the circle of life comes full circle. (vo) for over 50 years purina cat chow has been helping cats feel at home.

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cacique. your auténtico awaits. ♪ good evening. thank you for joining us. there is no debate that covid cases among america's children are at an all-time high, with more than 2,000 in the hospital right now. but as young people return to the classroom, the furor over whether or not to mandate masks is raging. here's "nightline's" ashan singh.

>> if you're abusive, off topic, obscene, your comments are not relevant to the business of the board and the district, you may be asked to leave. >> reporter: west gioga middle school in ohio, home of the wolverines. tonight -- >> five minutes, thank you. >> reporter: home to the latest fiery school board meeting over the district's mask requirement for all students and staff. >> this isn't about me. this is about we. >> every elected official needs to realize that you work for us. we don't work for you. >> these anti-maskers, they are not a majority in this community. >> masks are effecteffecteffect serve no purpose. >> we're trying to give our kids as close to a normal school year as we can, we think masks is a small price to pay for that. >> reporter: "nightline" went inside the battle. one state, two families, very different views on masking. >> you can't tell me that the

kid down the row from my daughter, who may or may not have covid, that their choice to not wear a mask doesn't impact my kid, because it does. >> when it comes to school, you don't think masks make a difference? >> i don't think they make a difference, no. >> reporter: the deafening debate raging. a small minority raising their voice against masks. others try to drown them out. >> the school doesn't own our bodies, the school doesn't own our kids, the school doesn't own our rights. >> masking, social distance, ventilation systems -- >> reporter: our presence didn't go unnoticed. >> don't give them anything. they're not your friends. they're not our friends. >> you're being extremely rude. >> reporter: ohio is not alone. as millions of students return to in-person learning, to mask or not to mask is on top of the agenda. >> our children and our children's children will be subjugated! >> you should be embarrassed and ashamed with the agenda that

four of you are letting happen in this town! >> no more masks! no more masks! >> reporter: some states have gone as far as banning local districts from enacting mandates. >> you can't go above the law and take away people's rights and that's what they're doing, taking away parents' rights. >> there are a multitude of factors contributing to why we're seeing the rise in pediatric cases. they're back in school, sports, school activities. seeing their friends that they haven't seen for months because they've been doing remote learning. it's a prime, prime breeding ground for covid. >> reporter: back in ohio, jonathan and tiffany broadbent were hoping this school year would be different for their two children after months of virtual learning. >> it became very important to me to find a place where our kids could just heal from the isolation, the scariness, the

loneliness, the upheaval, that they can start to heal from all of that. >> tell me how you've fared, especially from the beginning of the pandemic. >> it was scary at first. i have some heart issues. i was super cautious, you know, really worried about it. i'd seen some reports coming in. we masked, we did lots of -- you know, all the mitigation things. >> reporter: the broadbents' perspective on covid-19 has changed. they no longer mask unless they're required to. just a week before school, the district announced a mask mandate for the first quarter. >> that masking email, i have never seen her that mad. in 20 years, i've never seen my wife as mad as she was. >> you want to put a mask on your kid, that's great, you do it. don't mandate this for everyone else, it's a medical intervention, and the school board shouldn't be between the parents on this issue. >> reporter: the school superintendent helped make that issue. >> nobody likes masks, i don't like wearing them, the kids don't like wearing them. it's just something that we feel as a community can add one more

layer of precaution. we saw cases rising and we assessed the information we were receiving from the american academy of pediatrics, the centers for disease control, and the various health departments. >> reporter: the broadbents filed and received an exemption for their kids from the mandate. >> they just said, your exemption request will not be contested. >> reporter: about 5% of the west gioga student body have been granted exemptions for medical or religious ropes. >> in our case the most popular choice seems to be religious objection to masks, based on a verse in second corinthians, 3:18, which speaks of believers with faces unveiled being transformed into the image of the lord. and that is apparently many of our families experienced some sort of religious conversion over the summer. >> you don't need a doctor's note? >> no. >> reporter: while some parents may fight to exempt their kids, the latest polling from the ap

shows nearly 60% of americans support masking in school. jonathan and tiffany believe that mask wearing could harm their kids, something the medical community has disputed. >> we have everything from increased acne to upper respiratory infection to staph infections, nasal -- >> fungal infection. >> fungal infections. people are getting -- >> social impacts. >> social impacts and early childhood development is another one we're just starting to discover. >> a lot of the reasons people are citing for not wanting to wear masks are just factually incorrect. maybe masks can cause a little bit more acne. they definitely don't cause an increase in upper respiratory infections. a mask is not going to cause your child to lose their life. a mask is not going to cause your child to wind up on a ventilator. covid, however, will. >> reporter: two hours down the road from the broadbents,

meredith ripley is a mom of three. two of her kids have special needs. because of that, she supports mandatory masks. >> for me it is about caring more for others than myself. and i think that that's something that's important in my faith, that's something that jesus taught, is to love others more than you love yourself. and so i think that that's where it comes from. and so my hope is that we could just look at common decency and just care more about our neighbor than ourselves. >> reporter: when covid began spreading across the country, meredith worried about her little girl. 5-year-old hannah. >> for her, colds are a really big deal. when she was 1, she got rsv, a respiratory virus. and she was on a ventilator for 2 1/2 weeks. coded, and she was in the hospital for a total of six weeks after that. respiratory viruses are a big deal in my house. >> reporter: hannah was born missing a lung and lives with a

genetic condition called 22q. >> it's been quite the journey with her, but she is just the most delightful child. just super fun, just has the best little outlook on life. >> reporter: meredith's sons, adam and sam, participated in a hybrid program last year, doing virtual schooling part-time. hannah went to a special needs preschool. >> virtual learning is really challenging when you have a child with special needs. my son with autism receives 500 minutes of instruction every day, 300 in math, 250 in executive functioning, 200 in writing. and those as well as the occupational therapy that he receives, those are not effective over a virtual setting. >> reporter: this year she's grateful for her kids to be in the classroom full-time. to get the services they need. they sent them to school with masks, even though there was no mandate in place. hannah was exposed to covid and had to quarantine. >> there was a lot of anxiety

about that. so she was exposed at lunch. so we spent seven days watching for symptoms. and thankfully, by the grace of god, she didn't get covid. i think as we've seen delta come out and be more pervasive, the effects on children have become more severe. >> reporter: meredith recently spoke up at her local school board meeting to demand a mask mandate. >> for all the people who say, i can't breathe in a mask, or my kid can't breathe in a mask, my daughter has one lung and a teeny, tiny airway. and she has been wearing a mask every winter since she was 2. if she can breathe in a mask, so can you. >> reporter: if hannah can do it, your kids can too? >> uh, yes. >> all right, guys, you have your mask on? >> reporter: a mask mandate went into effect after the board meeting. although certain exemptions are still allowed. do you sympathize with parents who say, their kids have mental health issues when they're

wearing a mask, or they just hate it? what do you say to them? >> i think at the end of the day you have to decide, what is more important? my comfort? or my and others' safety? >> this is not it there call, this is a public health nightmare at this point. and we all have to do our part in order to do what's best for our country. not just for ourselves. >> you feel caught in the crossfire? >> schools have been made a battleground. it's absolutely a distraction. there's so many things we should be working on, yet we're spending time answering parents who, in some cases, want something that we're not able to give. >> our thanks to ashan. up next, inside broadway's big return. the circle of life. ♪ ♪ tomorrow on "nightline," the best boxer on earth punching down barriers, celebrating his heritage.

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the great white way went dark in march of 2020. the magic of broadway shut down as the pandemic raged. this week the curtain finally went back up on some of the biggest shows. abc's deborah roberts was backstage as the preps were under way. >> reporter: for the first time in a year and a half, the doors to the minskopf theater

open. and with the latest accessory, a mask, in line to see "the lion king" from abc's parent company, disney. backstage, an overwhelming feeling of excitement in the air. we're with two of the stars who play nala and simba. >> i am feeling so many emotions. i'm full of excitement, full of joy. >> this is my broadway debut. it just feels like such a surreal moment. >> reporter: one of brandon's preshow rituals, a quick facetime with his young daughters. >> i love you. daddy got to go be simba. >> simba? >> i'm simba, that's right. >> reporter: inside the theater, seats filling up. here in the wings -- >> i hear the audience, i see my castmates getting ready. all i can say is, it's here. >> i want to put the nerves away and just really try to enjoy it and soak it in. >> reporter: as the lights dim and the curtain rises, the moment everyone has been longing for. ♪

>> reporter: broadway is back. ♪ >> after 18 months, can you believe it? >> this is my first time on the stage. >> really? >> is it really? >> yeah. >> how does it feel? >> you see me, don't you? >> yeah, i think somebody's feeling a little nerves. >> oh, wow. >> reporter: we were invited to their first face-to-face rehearsal. >> you've never worked together before. >> no. >> your first time on stage, as you said, you've got goosebumps, i've got goosebumps for you. what do you think you're going to feel? >> i'm looking forward to the love from the audience, you know? i'm looking forward to feeling that love and that support. because they know what kind of year artists have had, you know? a lot of us have been out of and so the love and the support.

that's what i look forward to the most. >> as a performer, you do rely a lot on the energy of the audience. it's a give and take. and so i'm thrilled, because i know that every single performance, there's going to be so much energy out in this audience. just pouring on us. >> it is 8:15, and i am headed to rehearsal. ♪ >> reporter: they've been documenting their journey back for weeks now. >> i am walking up to the stage door. this never gets old. >> it is happening! >> reporter: the new protocols. >> you can hear the orchestra rehearsing over there, but i am up in the lobby to get tested by charmaine and linsey. >> reporter: the cast tested and vaccinated. rehearsing, dancing, in masks, but on stage they'll come off. >> makeup is on. we're about to hit this act two. >> do you have any worries about

restarting during this period? we're still not out of the pandemic. >> there are unknowns, and this is our first time doing this. but i feel very confident because we are vaccinated and that the audience will need to be vaccinated, that gives me confidence that everything will be okay. >> reporter: finally getting to this night meant cooperation from audiences as well. masks required. and everyone 12 and older must be vaccinated. >> i think many of these protocols will be with us forever. >> reporter: thomas shoemaker is the president of disney theatrical. he's helped reopen shows around the globe. >> broadway has survived all sorts of stuff. i'm not worried about the long-term, i'm focused on the short-term and doing everything i can to make sure that not just disney thoubut the whole system growing and back. >> reporter: this weekend, new york, new york -- ♪ new york new york ♪

>> reporter: "hamilton." ♪ take a shot take a shot ♪ >> reporter: and "wicked." ♪ i know about popular ♪ >> reporter: also welcoming audiences back hours before reopening night, we caught up with lin-manuel miranda, the "hamilton" impresario, julie taymor, director of "the lion king," and steven schwartz, director of "wicked." >> i can't wait to bring my kids back to see glenda say -- >> it's good to see me, isn't it? >> and then, you know, at our show, i think it's going to be so electric. these actors have been waiting for their last collaborator, and the last collaborator is you. >> i'm excited for all the people in the audience who have never seen theater. i say people, because they might be little but they're people. i've invited some. i'm really thrilled for that new audience. >> i'm just incredibly moved

about this opportunity to do what we loved and maybe took a little bit for granted until it was taken away from us. and to have it back is unbelievably meaningful. >> why is this important for us to get back on broadway? >> it's very important that we come back in here to show perseverance. theater is -- it's an escape route from just the outside world, period. people need to get back into laughing and feeling that joy. getting back to life. as we knew it. ♪ ♪ it's a circle a circle of life ♪ >> reporter: and once again, a reminder of the invincibility of the circle of life. for "nightline," i'm deborah roberts in new york. >> our thanks to deborah. up next, celebrating the life born after a family's sacrifice. need long-lasting freshness? try new febreze unstopables touch fabric spray.

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♪ finally tonight, the family of a fallen marine is celebrating the birth of his child.

levi raleigh rose mccallum was born earlier this week, the daughter of 20-year-old lance corporal riley mccallum, one of the marines killed in the bombing at kabul airport. the family announcing the arrival on social media. many in the marine corps family echoing the warm welcome. and that's "nightline" for this evening. you can watch our full episodes on hulu. see you right back here same time tomorrow. thanks for the company, america. good night.