A video has gone viral showing a group of Arizona parents attempting to form their own school board to revoke the district’s mask mandate.
On Tuesday the Vail School Board, which covers a district near to Tuscon, ended up having to phone the police after more than 100 parents descended on the event, rallying for the area to drop the requirement to wear masks in schools.
Local news outlet, KGUN 9, reported that the group, who were holding signs and not wearing masks, arrived just before 5:30pm.
Owing to the commotion, the board made the decision to adjourn their study session, and not hold the meeting that they had scheduled for 7pm.
This prompted the protesters to incorrectly assume that they had quit their positions, and hold their own election for a replacement school board.
This election is illegitimate because school board members actually need to be elected by a members of the public, so the mask mandate still stands in the area.
The footage, which has been posted to Instagram by user @davidjharrisjr, shows the protesters nominating five parents to replace the Vail School Board.
The person filming the video announces: “We are hearing they have all quit”
Next the group of parents nominate the final of five representatives to form their own governing body, before multiple people in the crowd say: “Here’s the new board!”
One of the new ‘board members’ then tells the crowds: “I motion that the entire Vail School District will be free of mask policy and it will be optional to all teachers and students alike with no fear of retribution.”
Another in the group then seconds the motion, before all five vote in favor and the crowd cheers.
The video, which is titled ‘Parents are fed up!!!!’, has been viewed nearly 584,000 times, and has garnered 4,775 comments.
It has also been posted via multiple other social media accounts.
Newsweek have contacted the Vail School District for comment.
iStock
The protesting followed the announcement on Monday that Arizona’s Republican governor Doug Ducey had rescinded an executive order for students to wear masks at K–12 schools.
Ducey tweeted: “Teachers, families and students have acted responsibly to mitigate the spread of the virus and protect one another, and our school leaders are ready to decide if masks should be required on their campuses.”
He then added: “We will continue to work with public health professionals and Arizona’s schools as more students return to the classroom and our state moves forward.”
The governor also explained that his decision was “in alignment with [CDC] guidance.”
However, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention currently still encourage universal mask-wearing in schools.
As a result of Ducey’s announcement school districts are able to make their own decisions on whether to keep the mask mandate in place.
