A group of roughly 50 demonstrators gathered for a third time at last night’s meeting of the Morongo Unified School District board of trustees to protest the district’s mask mandate and other policies implemented for public safety. As open session was scheduled to begin, several individuals entered the building unmasked. When the group refused to comply with the mask mandate, the meeting was adjourned while the group remained in the multipurpose room. San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Deputies, who were on site, attempted to intervene, informing the crowd that the meeting would not commence until everyone in attendance complied with the mask mandate. Once the unmasked individuals exited the building, open session resumed. In response to protests against student masking, MUSD has cited a letter issued by the California Department of Public Health which details the legal requirements to implement universal masking in K-12 schools. Per the letter, “[schools] do not have discretion or authority to opt out from enforcing the requirement,” and schools and employees may face financial liability and civil lawsuits for failure to implement these policies. The District believes that masking and other mitigation strategies will maximize the number of in-person instructional days by reducing the risk of COVID-19 outbreaks.
