A Tri-Cities school bars students refusing masks. They’re no longer allowed in without one
Students protesting the state mask requirement at Enterprise Middle School were told to put one on or they wouldn’t be allowed inside.
So when 30 students showed up at the West Richland school on Monday morning and refused to wear a mask, they remained outside in the cold.
Several parents said they were told that their child would be marked absent as well.
Last week, the students were allowed to stay without masks in the gym and do their school work, while a handful of parents stood outside with protest signs.
Parents received a notice on Friday that said students wouldn’t be allowed inside or to participate in extracurricular activities if they didn’t have a mask on.
The decision was made “in alignment with all other RSD schools,” according to the notice.
The ongoing protests have required teachers and paraeducators to be diverted, and required space normally used for other programs and classes, officials said.
Washington state requires students to wear masks if they are in classrooms.
Any district defying the rules risks having state and federal funds withheld by the state.
When classes started, students were led around behind the school, out of sight of the road, while their parents stood on the sidewalk with signs.
Kim Hart was one of the parents who joined her son to protest the requirement. He started his protest two weeks earlier.
She repeated complaints of other parents who have come to Richland School Board meetings, saying the masks have left her son uninterested in school.
“He’s tired of wearing the mask all day,” she said. “Washington is not in the majority. He’s a straight-A student. It’s started to take a toll on him mentally.”
She maintains they should not be required to wear masks because most children are not at risk of dying from COVID.
Protest change
Ty Beaver, the district’s communications director, told the Herald that they wanted to make sure that students could continue to protest, but the school had been dedicating space and people used for other activities.
Staff members needed to monitor the students, which took them away from the work that they would normally be doing.
“We want to accommodate student protests to the extent that we can, but we also need to make sure we serve all of our students,” Beaver said.
That matches protests that were held at Richland High School, Libby Middle School and others where students who refused to wear masks were required to be outside.
The school board has stopped short of defying the state requirement. One school board member, Audra Byrd, tried recently to make masks optional, but her motion failed to get support.
Gov. Jay Inslee has said there will be an announcement soon on easing up on the indoor mask requirement now that new COVID cases are beginning to fall again.
This story was originally published February 14, 2022 at 1:02 PM.