DALLAS (NewsNation Now) — Only a few days into the semester, and there have already been threats and even physical violence against teachers trying to enforce mask rules.
Some districts across the country are finding unique ways to balance keeping kids safe with keeping parents happy.
A city council vote on campus masks in Charleston, South Carolina, quickly turned into chaos.
“We will not bow down to communism. We will not allow this regime to continue. We will not be silent,” said one irate mother.
In Independence, Ohio, some parents are petitioning for masking up at school.
“It doesn’t make sense to me,” said one parent. “The cheapest, easiest, best deterrent is simply this: putting a mask on.”
Fulton County Schools just outside Atlanta is turning an abandoned building into a maskless hub for K-8 students. It happened after parents were infuriated that masks were mandated.
In Paris, Texas, the school district is defying the governor’s orders by making masks a part of the school dress code. Thursday, Texas officials announced they would not enforce the ban on mask mandates while they were being challenged in court.
In Oklahoma City, NewsNation spoke to Jennifer Sourie, whose daughters are in middle school. Students there go completely virtual on Wednesdays while the campus gets a deep clean.
“Everything’s been clean and sterilized and the kids seem to be doing a good job,” she said.
She is choosing to send her girls to school out of normalcy and routine, despite a recent diabetes diagnosis for her youngest, Addisyn.
“They’ve had so much taken from them. And you’re only little for so long. It’s such a short time, it goes by so fast,” she said. “And I want them to have the best childhood they can and do everything that we did growing up.”
Some parents are also turning to homeschooling to avoid COVID-19 protocols, or pulled their children out of public schools and enrolled them in private schools that don’t require masks.