A California dad has been banned from his daughter's elementary school after allegedly punching a male teacher in the face during an argument over the mask mandate on the first day of school on Wednesday.
The teacher was left with lacerations to his face and sent to the emergency room after defending the principal from the 'serious physical altercation' at Sutter Creek Elementary School, 30 miles south east of Sacramento.
The father - who has not been named by officials - had been an hour late to pick up his daughter, Amador County Unified School District Superintendent Torie Gibson told BuzzFeed.
But he became angry after seeing the child and the school's principal wearing masks as they came out of the school building. The school is following California's mask mandate in schools, which was announced in July.
Returning to the school later, the father allegedly began verbally attacking principal, claiming that the 'kids are treated like animals.'
'The dad went totally crazy,' Gibson said.
A male teacher - who has also not been named - then stepped in to protect the school's female principal, and the father is alleged to have got physical, punching the teacher in the face.
'The teacher was bleeding,' Gibson told KCRA 3. 'He had some lacerations on his face, some bruising on his face, and a pretty good knot on the back of his head.'
The teacher was treated at an emergency room for injuries and released late Wednesday night.
Police arrived to Sutter Creek Elementary on Wednesday after the parent left the scene and are now investigating the situation. The teacher returned to work the next day
Amador County Unified School District Superintendent Torie Gibson (pictured) said the teacher was left with 'lacerations on his face, some bruising on his face, and a pretty good knot on the back of his head'
Gibson said the incident began when the father became incensed after he saw some staff members in the teachers' lounge who were not masked.
Since the students were released from classes for the day, the guidelines allow for fully vaccinated teachers to forgo masks while indoors when students are not present.
'Dad was upset feeling like there was a double standard,' Gibson said.
The principal had walked away, which is when the father reportedly called the Amador School District's office and yelled at some of Gibson's staff members about the mask mandate.
Gibson says he then returned to the school grounds and went to the principal's office.
The male teacher who had witnessed the earlier confrontation, followed the upset parent realizing that the principal was alone in her office.
As things escalated, the teacher stepped in between the parent and principal which is when he was allegedly struck several times.
In a letter to parents informing them of the situation Gibson wrote: 'Assaulting a staff member will never be tolerated on any school campus, and will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law'
Sutter Creek Police Department was not available to comment on the situation
The Sutter Creek Police Department were called to the scene by another staff member after the father left the school.
Gibson said she offered the teacher some time off after the 'pretty traumatic' incident, but he was back at work on Thursday. 'He's all about the kids,' she said.
'We are not the ones making the rules/mandates,' Gibson reminded the parents. 'We are the ones required to follow/enforce them if we want to keep our doors open and students at school five days a week.'
'If I ask nothing more of you this school year it is this. Take a breath, pause, listen, and walk away if necessary. Assaulting a staff member will never be tolerated on any school campus and will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law,' Gibson wrote in a letter sent to parents Thursday.
The Sutter Creek Police Department in a Facebook post Thursday afternoon confirmed officers were 'dispatched to a local elementary school regarding a disturbance between a parent and a staff member concerning COVID-19 procedures and facial maskings.'
The incident is currently being investigated by the department. Findings will be forwarded to the Amador County District Attorney's Office for review and possible criminal prosecution.
Gibson told The Sacramento Bee that the district's position is that the incident 'absolutely should be prosecuted' by law enforcement. Sutter Creek Police Department was not available to comment on the situation.
The California Department of Public Health in July issued guidance requiring that K-12 schools mandate masks for students while indoors unless a doctor's note is received by the school.
The Amador County Public Schools Board of Trustees agreed to enforce the controversial decision to mandate masks in a special meeting on August 4.
On the same day of the altercation at Sutter Creek Elementary, Governor Gavin Newsom announced the requirement for teachers and other staff at K-12 schools, both public and private to either be vaccinated or face weekly testing, across the state but there is no vaccine mandate at this time for K-12 students.
The effect went into on Thursday and will go into full effect on October 15.
Most parents support mask mandates in schools but don't believe children should be required to get COVID-19 shots, a new poll finds. The survey, conducted by the Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF), that six in 10 parents agree that unvaccinated students and teacher s should wear face coverings in the classroom.
However, roughly the same share of mothers and fathers say they don't think school administrators should mandate vaccines. It come as the country's largest teacher's union, the National Education Association, says it supports vaccine requirements for educators.
A new poll finds 63% of parents of children believe unvaccinated students and staff should be required to wear mask while 36% oppose. But 58% of mothers and fathers of 12-to-17-year-olds don't want schools to require children to get vaccinated while 42% support it
Parents who identify as Democrats were more likely to support mask and vaccine mandates Republicans were more likely to oppose it. Pictured: A kindergarten student attends class at the Resurrection Catholic School in Los Angels, February 2021
For the report, the team surveyed 1,259 parents and guardians of children under age 18 between July 15 and August 2. They found that 63 percent of parents of children between ages five and 17 believe unvaccinated students and staff should be required to wear mask. The remaining 36 percent said they did not think face coverings should be mandated.
There were large racial and ethnic disparities between parents' thoughts on masks. About 83 of black parents and 76 percent of Hispanic parents support mask requirements compared to 54 percent of white parents. Parents were also split along party-lines with 88 percent of Democrats saying their child's school should require masks and 69 percent of Republicans saying school should not.
However, when it came to vaccine requirements, a majority of parents said they do not support vaccine mandates.
The survey found that 58 percent of mothers and fathers of 12-to-17-year-olds, who are eligible to get vaccinated, don't want schools to require children to get vaccinated while 42 percent support it.
Parents of teenagers who have already gotten the vaccine were more likely to be in favor of COVID-19 vaccine requirements.
'Despite controversy around the country about masks in schools, most parents want their school to require masks of unvaccinated students and staff,' KFF President and CEO Drew Altman said in a news release. 'At the same time, most parents don't want their schools to require their kids get a COVID-19 vaccine despite their effectiveness in combatting COVID-19.'
There were also racial and political divides on the subject of Covid vaccine mandates. Approximately two-thirds of Democratic parents support vaccine mandates and three-quarters of Republican parents opposing mandates. What's more, the majority of white and black parents oppose schools requiring vaccines while Hispanic parents were split about 50/50.
Three-quarters, or 75 percent, of parents of vaccinated children said they believe schools should mandate vaccines. Meanwhile, 83 percent of parents of unvaccinated children oppose such requirements.
It comes as the largest teachers' union in the U.S. said it supports policies requiring teachers to get vaccinated against COVID-19 or to get tested regularly.
'It is clear that the vaccination of those eligible is one of the most effective ways to keep schools safe,' said Becky Pringle, president of the National Education Association, in a statement.
Pringle's statement comes two days after Randi Weingarten, the leader of the second-largest union, American Federation of Teachers, said she supported vaccine mandates.
'We believe that such vaccine requirements and accommodations are an appropriate, responsible, and necessary step,'. Pringle said. About 90 percent of teachers who belong to the National Education Association are fully vaccinated.
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