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It’s months and years into the pandemic, but schools are still being threatened by both anti-maskers and anti-vaxxers. In the most recent incident, Page County Public Schools in Luray, Virginia, said they would increase police presence at schools Monday after a mother made a perceived threat during a school board meeting Thursday night, ABC News affiliate WJLA reported.
The threat followed the announcement of a mask requirement. The mother, identified as Amelia King, not only said her children would not be wearing masks to school, but that she would “bring every single gun loaded and ready.”
“My children will not come to school on Monday with a mask on, that’s not happening,” King said. “And I will bring every single gun loaded and ready … I will call every …” While her comments were cut off due to the three-minute allocated time per person, she walked away saying, “I will see you Monday.”
A joint statement was released by Page County Schools Superintendent Antonia Fox and School Board Chair Megan Gordon Friday acknowledging the incident and noting that it would not be taken lightly.
“Not only do comments such as these go against everything we wish to model for our students, they go again the very nature of how we as a community should interact with each other,” Fox and Gordon said in the statement.
“Violence and threats are never acceptable or appropriate. This kind of behavior is not tolerated from our students, faculty, staff, nor will it be tolerated by parents or guests of our school division.”
According to WJLA, school officials are in communication with local law enforcement on the issue. Extra officers will be provided at all schools in the district.
Mask debates across Virginia follow an order by Gov. Glenn Youngkin that will reverse school mask mandates from Jan. 24. In his order, Youngkin also claimed that masks were “ineffective and impractical.” The order, supported by anti-vaxxers nationwide, makes masks voluntary for students in the state.
“As we battle COVID, it’s parents that should decide the health measures taken for their children. That’s why I signed an executive order that allows parents to opt-out of mask mandates in schools,” Youngkin said. “This is a matter of individual liberty.”
After the incident, Democratic state Del. Schuyler VanValkenburg also commented on Youngkin’s order, noting that the words the governor used prioritize politics over school safety, Court House News reported.
“The way he wrote it he also encouraged conflict in every locality,” the state lawmaker and high school civics teacher tweeted Friday morning. “It’s unfortunate it’s gone this far. Schools should be safe.”
VanValkenburg is not alone: Multiple parents across the state are against the order. Some are even suing Youngkin over his order because they believe it puts their children at risk, CNN reported.
“This obviously a scary thing for some parents. I’m not somebody who sues the governor very often, as you can imagine, but I have my kids to think of,” Matthew Castillo, who has two children in Chesapeake City Public Schools, told WJLA. “The health and safety of our children is the number one priority, so we want to make sure we’re doing everything we can to mitigate any risk of COVID or infection.”
But while many are protesting the new order, some schools are planning a “Mask Off Monday” protest to show their support of Youngkin’s new order.
After King’s comments went viral, she tried to retract her statement and spoke to law enforcement. See the statement made by law enforcement officials below.
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