During last night’s regular session board meeting, a group of demonstrators continued to protest mask mandates and other Morongo Unified School District policies for COVID prevention. Here again is assignment reporter Chris Fleischman with more details about the demonstrations, including the response from the district…
During public comment of the Morongo Unified School District meeting last night, tensions continued to flare as demonstrators voiced their opposition to state masking mandates for K-12 students, among other policies. The meeting was adjourned due to ongoing disruptions, including one speaker who refused to adhere to the masking requirement for the public meeting, and another who erupted in profanity after claiming that the district program for social-emotional learning is “intertwined” with critical race theory. After this outburst, the meeting was briefly adjourned. During the recess, Board President L. Hilary Slotta and interim Superintendent Doug Weller spoke on the record, explaining that the mask mandate has been covered during previous meetings. Furthermore, school districts do not have the authority to opt-out of enforcing the mask requirement, and any district which violates the requirement would face legal and financial liability. Board President Slotta reiterated that the primary goal is to keep schools in the district open, and Superintendent Weller stressed that there are learning alternatives like independent study for anyone with concerns about masking.
