San Diego school board infuriates parents by bringing back masks: 'The audacity is completely unacceptable'
San Diego Unified School District Board to face legal action amid parental backlash
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}San Diego parents on Thursday blasted the local school district for their "audacity" to reinstate masks and invite students to attend remote classes if they refuse to comply.
"It is completely atrocious and hypocritical for our elected officials in the school board to be requiring kids to be wearing masks while simultaneously the weekend before, there was an LGBT parade with 300,000 people [unmasked]," said Melissa Grace, mom of a 13-year-old and the founder of San Diego Rise Up, on "Fox & Friends."
"The audacity of these officials to be using our children as shields is completely unacceptable."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}DC PARENT CALLS ON MAYOR TO ‘UNMASK’ KIDS AFTER ‘IGNORING’ SCHOOL MASK-WEARING GUIDANCE
OAKLAND, CALIFORNIA - FEBRUARY 09: California Gov. Gavin Newsom speaks during a bill signing ceremony at Nido's Backyard Mexican Restaurant on February 09, 2022 in San Francisco, California. California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed legislation to extend COVID-19 supplemental paid sick leave for workers. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images) (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)
The San Diego Unified School District Board president is under fire for instructing students who won't wear masks to stay home from regular school and opt for Zoom classes instead.
Indoor masking is now required for San Diego Unified School District schools and offices until the end of summer school amid a recent rise in COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations, according to reports.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"Parents and students who don't want to wear a mask indoors in school, are there any other options for them?" "Good Evening San Diego" asked San Diego Unified Board President Dr. Sharon Whitehurst-Payne Monday.
"They can go to our school that's online," she said. "They can opt not to return to the regular school, but to go to the school where they don't have to go to school at all other than via Zoom."
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Mother Karin De Jauregui told host Brian Kilmeade she overheard a school board member express interest in giving out N95 masks.
"Are they admitting that the regular masks don't work? So, no, we don't think this is the right way to do it. And the school board doesn't have the legal authority to mandate something that hasn't even been mandated by the state of California and the health department. So we actually believe the legal course is the direction to go," she said.
Grace said she pulled her daughter out of the public school system to "protect her psychological welfare," adding these mandates will continue to come down until parents say "enough is enough."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Fox News' Cortney O'Brien contributed to this report.