When students in Oakdale, a city in California’s Central Valley that identifies itself as the “Cowboy Capital of the World,” stood up to California’s onerous student mask mandates this week by showing up to school mask-free – just as their Governor did to the NFC Championship Game in Los Angeles – the school district retaliated in a completely unconscionable and abusive manner: by barricading students into an unheated high school gym and only relenting after law enforcement was called.
Reopen California schools reported Thursday’s barricade incident.
Reports indicate that today’s protests, which included hundreds, were against yesterday’s school-mask mandates. @OakdaleJUSDAny student found not wearing a proper mask was barred from the gym. The heat also refused to be turned on. A wellness check was conducted by police and the heat turned on. https://t.co/FMxFTvmxHe
— Reopen California Schools (@ReopenCASchools) February 4, 2022
Thursday saw the third day protests taking place in the District, home to 5,200 students. On the first day, Tuesday, Jennifer Poth’s 8-year-old son went to school maskless. The school called her about it, according to Sacramento’s KCRA:
“They called me to ask me to pick him up, and I refused. I said, ‘No. It is your job to educate my son, and he has every right to be there,’” Poth said.
She was upset when she learned what happened next — to her son and another maskless student.
“They forced him to go outside in 43-degree weather and sit there and try to do schoolwork,” she explained.
Poth would have been charged with child endangerment if she had left her child and another child, in freezing temperatures, alone, for a few hours. But Superintendent Dave Kline was simply allowed to say, “My bad.” Kline told the news station:
“That was a mistake. It was my mistake and I accept responsibility. Both parents are deeply sorry for this. We do not want this to happen. We still want to be respectful.”
By Wednesday, more students joined the protest – several hundred, according to Kline. This time, they were more “humane,” in his estimation.
“I respect their right to protest. However, we’re under a state mandate and the state mandate carries the force of law,” Kline said.
Schools found indoors where students who are not maskless could do schoolwork independently, such as a gym or cafeteria. Kline explained that it was a group of students from different classes and grades, so the teachers are not present.
“They are missing out on their instruction with their teacher, and we have excellent teachers here. They’re doing a great job considering the circumstances, and we want our students in the classroom,” Kline said.
A state mandate is not legal. It will not be used to charge anyone. According to the California Department of Public Health, a mask is “required” but enforcement is up to each district. The district could simply allow unmasked students to sit in a separate area of their existing classroom, even though that approach isn’t supported by The Science™.
However, students continued to peacefully protest, to support their right to determine what happens to their bodies.
Oakdale CA schoolchildren are refusing masks in the whole district. The gym has been filled with high school students who have refused to wear masks.
These kids are following the governor’s example and we are here to legally support their rights. pic.twitter.com/6cDZOkWvpv
— LET THEM BREATHE (@letthem_breathe) February 2, 2022
It seems that Superintendent Kline didn’t learn his lesson, because students who showed up maskless on Thursday they were reportedly barricaded in the gym and administrators refused to turn on the heat until the police were called. It was the police who switched on the heat.
How would a student heat the room with a stove? Clearly that’s not the smartest idea, but we’re talking about kids here, and kids who have some experience in the outdoors (the district lies at the base of the Sierra Nevada range). It’s not out of the realm of possibility that one of them would think, “I know how to set a fire and keep it contained.” Then you have students barricaded somewhere with an open fire. It’s reckless, potentially deadly, and against fire codes and other laws.
How will administrators be treated? Are they going to be punished?
Why would they do that? KCRA interviewed Superintendent Kline Wednesday to find out if there is a reason.
According to the superintendent, the district could lose funding if it violates the state mandate. He also stated that the district’s well-being cannot be compromised.
You are correct, Superintendent Kline. Its well-being could also be affected by a mass exodus from the district of its students. Its well-being can be also threatened by hundreds of federal civil rights lawsuits. Perhaps simply keeping your students’ well-being first – by joining forces with the students and their families to fight against unscientific and ineffective mandates – is the way to go here?
Both the inane and ineffective efforts of COVID panicdemic control are being challenged. This is why Californians living in conservative areas should not be surprised by this incident. The headlines focus on the insane policies of the large cities, but once you get away from concrete and steel Babylons, the vast majority of Californians will be good people who are hardworking and love their country as much as the heartland Americans. This is where we call home and will continue fighting to protect it. God bless Oakdale cowboys who did the same.
(RELATED: School Forces 9-Year-Old to Sit Outside Alone for Hours, Deems Him a ‘Clear and Present Danger’ for Refusing to Wear Mask)
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