A Texas school district said that a parent ripped off a mask from a teacher’s face during a confrontation, multiple news outlets reported.
CBS Austin affiliate first reported that an altercation took place at an Eanes Independent School District (EISD) “Meet the Teacher” event in Austin where a parent physically assaulted a teacher by ripping her mask off.
Other parents at the event followed by shouting at another teacher to take off their mask at the event because they couldn’t hear them speak, according to CBS Austin.
In a statement to parents, EISD superintendent Tom Leonard confirmed that altercations between parents and teachers happened, saying that the school district wants to make sure that students are safe returning to school.
“The last few days leading to the start of school have been a whirlwind of information and action from governors, attorneys general, judges, mayors, superintendents and even principals,” Leonard said in his statement.
“While many may not agree on the particulars (i.e., masks or no masks), we all want students to be safe and we all should treat each other respectfully,” he added.
Barnes also said that “this type of behavior” parents displayed at the event isn’t tolerated in the district, asking parents to be kind toward the district’s teachers.
This comes amid various school districts across the nation have implemented their own mask requirements for their schools, defying executive orders from GOP-governed states.
The U.S. is dealing with a surge of coronavirus infections due to the highly contagious delta variant.
Parents continued to protest the school district’s mask mandate outside of the EISD administration building on Tuesday, CBS Austin reported.