In the latest display of the heated debate over COVID-19 policies related to children, a Texas parent ripped a teacher’s face mask off during a confrontation, the school’s superintendent said Wednesday.
Tom Leonard, the superintendent of the Eanes Independent School District of Travis County in Texas, sent an email asking community members not to engage in mask wars after an altercation in which a second teacher was yelled at by others for wearing a face-covering meant to stem the spread of the coronavirus.
“A parent physically assaulted a teacher by ripping a mask off her face, others yelling at a teacher to take off her mask because they could not understand what the teacher was saying while her face was covered,” Leonard’s email said. “This type of behavior will not be tolerated in Eanes ISD.”
District officials said no charges were filed, according to the Austin American-Statesman.
“Our staff are on the front lines of this pandemic; let’s give them some space and grace. Please, I am asking everyone to be kind … Do not fight mask wars in our schools,” Leonard added.
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The debate over mask mandates in Texas schools has intensified as the school year gets underway. Two counties attempted to defy Gov. Greg Abbott‘s ban of mask mandates. Although they were defeated in court, one school district found a loophole by adding masks to its dress code.
The Eanes school district, pending a possible Texas Supreme Court ruling, requires students, staff, and school visitors to wear masks while on the property of Travis County schools, per a county order. The mandate “leaves any exceptions to the discretion of district administrators. In Eanes ISD, we will not require masks of staff or students if developmentally inappropriate, when eating meals or snacks indoors, when participating in extracurricular activities (including P.E.), and during any outdoor activities,” Leonard said.
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COVID-19 is still largely present in Texas, as over 20% of the state’s population has tested positive for the virus. The state’s vaccination rates currently are 55% with one dose of the vaccine, with only 45% fully vaccinated, according to the Mayo Clinic.
