Tensions Escalate Over School Mask Mandates As Kids Return To Classroom

August 16, 2021
Students and parents wait outside Perry Elementary School on the first day of school. At Perry Elementary School in Shoemakersville, PA Thursday morning August 27, 2020 for the first day of in person school of the school year. The Hamburg School District, which Perry Elementary is part of, is the only school district in Berks County that is opening 5 days a week for in person instruction during the coronavirus / COVID-19 outbreak.
Shoemakersville, PA - August 27: Students go into Perry Elementary School on the first day of school. At Perry Elementary School in Shoemakersville, PA Thursday morning August 27, 2020 for the first day of in person ... Shoemakersville, PA - August 27: Students go into Perry Elementary School on the first day of school. At Perry Elementary School in Shoemakersville, PA Thursday morning August 27, 2020 for the first day of in person school of the school year. The Hamburg School District, which Perry Elementary is part of, is the only school district in Berks County that is opening 5 days a week for in person instruction during the coronavirus / COVID-19 outbreak. (Photo by Ben Hasty/MediaNews Group/Reading Eagle via Getty Images) MORE LESS
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August 16, 2021

Many schools around the country are kicking off the academic year this week, and local officials are finding themselves at the center of a culture war over COVID-19 protection measures as GOP governors work to ban school mask mandates and angry anti-mask parents hijack school board meetings to rail against the policy.

Texas officials in Dallas and Bexar counties are fighting against Gov. Greg Abbott’s (R) mandate ban, and several of those officials have upheld their mandates today even after the Texas Supreme Court temporarily blocked their ability to pass mask rules at the local level.

Meanwhile, extra police officers have been dispatched to Eagle County School District schools in Colorado today “due to the tensions in the community, related to the new mask guidelines.” And in California, at least one teacher was reportedly physically injured during a dispute with a parent over masks.

Follow our live coverage below:

More Less

Many schools around the country are kicking off the academic year this week, and local officials are finding themselves at the center of a culture war over COVID-19 protection measures as GOP governors work to ban school mask mandates and angry anti-mask parents hijack school board meetings to rail against the policy.

Texas officials in Dallas and Bexar counties are fighting against Gov. Greg Abbott’s (R) mandate ban, and several of those officials have upheld their mandates today even after the Texas Supreme Court temporarily blocked their ability to pass mask rules at the local level.

Meanwhile, extra police officers have been dispatched to Eagle County School District schools in Colorado today “due to the tensions in the community, related to the new mask guidelines.” And in California, at least one teacher was reportedly physically injured during a dispute with a parent over masks.

Follow our live coverage below:

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