High schooler refusing to wear mask taken home by cops. Missouri district explains why
A student refusing to wear a face mask as a COVID-19 precaution while at school was taken home by police in a decision that the Missouri district has since defended.
The Herculaneum High School student refused to wear the mask starting on Wednesday, Jan. 26, and that noncompliance continued into Thursday, according to a statement from the Dunklin R-5 School District.
In an interview with KMOV, the student, identified as Tristan Watson, said he “wasn’t going to wear a mask.”
“We eventually had to send the student home,” a district spokesperson told McClatchy News.
Because nobody was available to pick up the high schooler, and because the school resource officer was sick that day, the district says Herculaneum Police Department “got the student home safely.”
Neither the district nor police enforced any other disciplinary action, according to the statement.
Tristan’s father, Michael Watson, confirmed to KMOV that the school asked him to pick up his student, but he says he refused to do so.
Missouri Rep. Mary Elizabeth Coleman tweeted out a photo of Tristan as he exited the patrol car in his neighborhood after he was taken from school for what she described as trespassing.
“In what was clearly an attempt to humiliate Tristan, and intimidate other students, (Superintendent Clint) Freeman made sure Tristan got a perp walk so all students could learn the consequences of not wearing a mask,” she said, adding that “Tristan is a good kid” with a 4.125 GPA.
“The goal is to go to school,” Watson, a senior football player, told KMOX. “And I’ve been told if I don’t wear a mask, I will be escorted out and charged with trespassing.”
Dunklin R-5 School District began enforcing masks on Monday, Jan. 24 — two days before the student’s refusal to wear one. This requirement came as part of a COVID-19 Response Plan approved by the Board of Education on Tuesday, Jan. 18.
“Our primary goal is to keep kids in the classroom as much as possible while maintaining a safe environment for all students and staff,” the plan says. “A layered strategy that uses multiple prevention and mitigation practices together is the most successful way to minimize viral transmission.”
Those practices include social distancing, routine cleaning and facial coverings. The district also said it would follow recommendations by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for isolation of the vaccinated and unvaccinated, along with other public health guidelines.
The CDC recommends “universal indoor masking” for all students who are at least 2 years old, along with staff, teachers and visitors.
And while the district plan says there are “overwhelming benefits to in-person instruction,” it would also offer online instruction for students through an application process.
“We have options for students that are uncomfortable attending school, including going virtual using our teachers, being homeschooled, or using an online program called Launch through the Springfield School District,” the spokesperson told McClatchy News. “None of these options were acceptable to this particular student.”
Fellow students of Herculaneum High School held a lunch break protest over the mask mandate on Monday, Jan. 31, KSDK reported. More than 50 students and community members showed up.
Herculaneum is about 30 miles southwest of St. Louis.
This story was originally published February 1, 2022 at 9:58 AM with the headline "High schooler refusing to wear mask taken home by cops. Missouri district explains why."