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After California politicians were caught maskless at a variety of crowded events, and with studies showing mask mandate states have not proven beneficial in combating Covid when weighed against states without mask mandates, California Gov. Gavin Newsom finally lifted the statewide mask mandate for indoor settings effective this week — with one glaring exception: schools.
In a press conference last week, Newsom acknowledged that the state’s powerful teachers’ unions are still demanding school mask mandates, and he asked that the public give those unions “a little more time” to agree to lifting the mask mandate.
An increasing number of parents, students, and community leaders say time is up — and they are calling for an immediate removal of mask mandates in schools.
Some students are even taking matters into their own hands. Across San Diego County school districts this week, there are reports of increasing numbers of students refusing to wear masks in schools as a way to protest the mandates.
In some districts, school officials are looking the other way. In other school districts, parents are reporting what they consider to be retaliation, threats, and bullying by school officials.
“We’ve seen a spike this week in the number of parents reporting school officials threatening students and parents over their opposition to these mandates,” reported Carl DeMaio, chairman of Reform California and host of the DeMaio Report on NewsRadio 600 KOGO in San Diego.
Some of the retaliation is subtle. As a rare rain storm hit San Diego on Tuesday, February 15th, angry parents reported that their children were forced to sit outside in the rain because they refused to wear masks.
“Carlsbad High School students are sitting out in the rain doing their homework because they would not wear a mask — this is crazy,” Jan Dunlap wrote in an email to DeMaio.
“There are 45 students sitting outside at Twin Peaks Middle School in Poway. It’s 55 degrees and raining! The students are being told they won't be allowed to enter campus tomorrow if they remain unmasked,” emailed Jessica Reimer.
Other forms of retaliation by school districts have been more menacing — including the use of threats against parents.
Some school districts are orchestrating situations to put maximum pressure on parents to force their children to wear masks. For example, a school district may instruct a maskless student to sit outdoors, which gives the school officials the ability to claim that the student is absent from class and not attending school. They then call parents — many of whom are at work — to come immediately to pick up their child or the school will report the parents to Child Protective Services for “abandoning” the child.
Last week, a principal in Ripon Unified School District handed parents of protesting students a letter stating that not masking could result in "contacting Child Protective Services and request that they remove your children from campus as they have been abandoned on campus by you." The letter also threatened parents that the school district may declare their children to be “truants” and that parents may face “criminal” action as a result.
The school district later commented that the threat in the letter is “part of the general legal guidance that was prepared for several districts.”
On Monday, Poway Unified School District did the same thing to Reimer when her son refused to wear a mask as part of his protest.
“The principal called me and said if we did not come pick him up from school, that he would call Child Protective Services on us to report an abandoned child,” explained Reimer. “I think it’s an intimidation factor …. He said that he’d been given that direction by his supervisors at the district,” she continued.
Reimer identified that supervisor as Dave LeMaster, who told her that he had “been given the advice by their legal team.” He also had few answers for her as to what the district is doing to end mask mandates and represent concerned parents.
The school’s principal also told her that her son’s actions warranted his exclusion from all indoor and outdoor activities, some of which don’t require masks at all.
On Tuesday, Reimer’s son returned to school — maskless— and was joined by dozens of other students in protest. Parents also showed their support for the student protest, with Reimer reporting “parents brought them hot chocolate, coats, and donuts throughout the day.”
“Forcing kids to sit outside in the rain? Threatening to call Child Protective Services on parents? Give me a break! This kind of retaliation is absolutely outrageous and simply reflects how unhinged some school officials have become on the issue of Covid mandates,” DeMaio noted.
“They know the science and the hypocritical behavior of politicians have refuted their mandates and as a result public opinion has shifted dramatically in favor of dropping the mask mandates, but some of these union-dominated school districts refuse to wake up and accept reality,” DeMaio noted.
“The real problem in some of these school districts isn’t just the staff, it is the school board itself,” DeMaio explained. “If the school officials know the school board members are all owned by the labor union and support mandates, then the school officials will be aggressive against the parents and the students — so blame the school board members,” DeMaio said.
DeMaio and his organization Reform California are leading the campaign to support concerned parents, like Reimer, and restore the accountability of local schools and school boards. DeMaio says this begins with the 2022 elections, where he is actively recruiting and training reform-minded candidates to run for school boards.
“We’re on a mission to flip as many school board seats as possible and elect common-sense school board leaders who will listen to parents and run the schools with professionalism,” DeMaio said, “We’re calling on all concerned parents, students and community members to join the fight today,” concluded DeMaio.
Learn More: Reform California Campaign to Elect New School Board Members
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