Every regular meeting of the Cleveland County Board of Education features a time for the public to voice their thoughts or concerns. Usually, comments come in groups of two or three, but on Monday 19 people signed up to speak. The sheer volume of commenters required the board to extend the public participation portion of the meeting from the usual 15-minute period to nearly an hour. Speakers came prepared with printed letters and petitions to read or speeches to give. At issue for most is the new board majority and its perceived rush to return students to full-time instruction as the coronavirus pandemic worsens in the community.