Parental perceptions of COVID-19 mitigation measures: Analysis of mis- and disinformation shared during school board meetings within Tennessee’s five largest counties

Abstract Background The COVID-19 pandemic has affected healthcare systems and significantly strained educational systems nationwide. When school districts returned to in-person learning in the Fall of 2021, measures such as mask mandates, social distancing, and frequent hand washing were introduced to mitigate the surge in COVID-19 infections. However, these policies related to disease prevention measures, the COVID-19 vaccine, and mask mandates were often met with varying levels of opposition from parents and caregivers. To express their concerns, parents and guardians attended community school board meetings as an open forum to debate and voice their opposition to these COVID-related policies. In some of these meetings, mis- and disinformation, misconceptions, and conspiracy theories became a dominant theme. The proliferation of misinformation poses significant challenges to vaccination behavior and, as a result, impedes efforts to prevent the spread of diseases. This study investigated how parents perceive pandemic-related policies such as vaccine and mask mandates. It also explored the misinformation, misconceptions, and conspiracy theories shared regarding COVID-19-related policies during school board meetings (SBMs) held within Tennessee’s five largest school districts during the Fall of 2021. Methods From August to September 2021, the largest school districts in Tennessee uploaded a series of publicly available recordings of school board meetings (SBMs) to YouTube, and comments made by participants were extracted. To gain insight into parents’ perceptions regarding pandemic-related policies and the spread of COVID-19 misinformation within statewide educational settings, audio recordings were transcribed verbatim. The analysis was conducted using a rapid qualitative analysis framework, guided by the grounded theory and inductive approach. Overall, six recordings were obtained representing SBM recordings from the following counties: Hamilton (Chattanooga Metro), Knox (Knoxville Metro), Montgomery (Clarksville Metro), Shelby (Memphis Metro), and Williamson/Davidson (Nashville Metro). Results Our study highlights that parents’ perceptions shared regarding COVID-19-related policies during Tennessee SBMs contributed to the dissemination of varying patterns of misinformation. These misinformation-related topics were categorized into nine major themes: (1) enforcing pediatric mask usage was child abuse, (2) masks were unsafe and (3) ineffective, (4) COVID-19-related statistics were being erroneously reported, (5) pediatric COVID-19 vaccines were unsafe and (6) ineffective, (7) use of alternative therapeutics were more effective than COVID-19 vaccinations, (8) COVID-19 infections were not severe in children, and (9) governmental agencies could not be trusted. Conclusion This study underscores the importance of facilitating evidence-based, culturally appropriate COVID-19 education to combat misinformation that negatively impacts vaccination behavior. We expect these findings will help guide the development of comprehensive digital interventions, including targeted educational campaigns among vaccine-hesitant populations and those who spread misinformation.