A school superintendent in Kentucky has hit out at Governor Andy Beshear’s reintroduction of a statewide mask mandate at schools, calling the Democrat a “liberal lunatic” in a voicemail left for parents.
Jimmy Dyehouse, of Science Hill Independent Schools, vented his frustration after Beshear imposed a mandate requiring Kentucky students and school staff to wear masks inside of buildings and on buses for at least 30 days, regardless of their vaccination status.
Beshear announced the mask mandate on Tuesday, a day before students at Science Hill school were due to return to classes. The decision was made as more and more children are becoming hospitalized with COVID-19 because of the Delta variant.
Health officials in Kentucky said more than 660,000 children aged 11 and under are still not eligible for the vaccine, with only around a third of children aged between 12 and 17 having received their first dose.
The same day the mandate was announced, parents in Pulaski County received a voicemail from Dyehouse in which he criticized the governor and apologized to those who may not want their children to cover their faces in school.
Before the new mandate, masks had been recommended in schools for students but not required.
“As you already know and probably have already heard, this liberal lunatic that we have up in Frankfort has signed another executive order mandating masks for all students and adults in school,” Dyehouse said in the voicemail.
“What this means is the professional opinion of your superintendent doesn’t matter. The opinion of your school board doesn’t matter.”
Dyehouse adds: “And you as parents, your opinion doesn’t matter because I know exactly how you all feel about your children wearing masks. And believe me, I’m as frustrated as you are over this. Starting in the morning, all students will have to wear masks on the bus and inside the building, as well as adults inside of our buildings will have to be masked tomorrow.
“We’re hoping this will be fought in court this week and we’ll get this overturned. I’ll let you know as soon as I hear something further. I’m sorry. Thank you.”
This graph, provided by Statista, shows the states requiring or banning mask wearing in schools.
Speaking to the Louisville Courier Journal, Dyehouse said that after hearing about the announcement from Beshear, he immediately pulled over in his car and left the voicemail.
“We’re very small here—440 students—a real community-oriented school. So my parents don’t have to listen to a voicemail to know how I feel about anything. All my parents have my number,” he said.
Dyehouse added many parents have thanked him for taking a stand against those who are imposing mandates, especially as the district, which includes Science Hill, a town of about 900 people, only had 10 coronavirus cases at the peak of the pandemic.
“I think I said things in that voicemail that a lot of people want to say,” he said. “I know there’s frustration with superintendents across the state. So many of them want to voice their opinion and maybe they’re afraid to.
“But I’m tired of being told what to do … by someone in Frankfort or somebody mandating that we do things a certain way, or to do things just like Fayette County or Jefferson County. I’m not at those schools.”
Getty Images/Jon Cherry
Dyehouse also told the Lexington Herald Leader that his frustration and anger towards the governor over the mask mandate is not politically motivated.
“I wasn’t saying anything that my parents in Science Hill don’t already know about me. It wasn’t a political comment at all,” he said.
“Had it been a Republican governor in office, I would have been upset with that governor as well and that decision. Because I think it was the wrong decision.”
Beshear has announced that there were 2,961 new COVID-19 cases in Kentucky on Wednesday, the highest number of new cases in one day since January 23.
A total of the 611 new cases on Wednesday were children aged 18 and under.
Dyehouse and Beshear have been contacted for further comment.
