Outraged parents staged their own protest in at Norco Intermediate School in Norco after their children were disciplined for protesting mask mandates. Students staged a peaceful protest on Friday over the statewide mask mandate in schools.
Parents claim the students were sent home for refusing to wear masks. The district says students were disrupting the learning process. The protest continued Monday when students returned to school. Students who refused to wear masks were separated from the rest of the student body and forced to sit outside without learning instruction. A video surfaced across social media of the principal berating students and quoting the constitution along with other rules. Parents say the principal’s quotes were incorrect.
Parents staged a protest in front of the school Tuesday morning expressing outrage with the principal and district over the discipline and mask mandates. The Norco Unified School District released the following statement about the principal: “On Monday morning, the District became aware of a video which has been widely shared online of one of our site principals discussing in an outdoor setting the current mask mandates to students participating in a mask-out protest at Norco Intermediate School.
Administration and human resources have addressed the situation with the site Principal. Due to confidentiality restrictions, we are unable to provide additional details regarding staffing matters.”
The statement goes on to say “Due to current California Department of Public Health rules, the District is unable to allow students indoors without a mask. The District has taken steps to safely allow the students to express their objection to the mask rule by providing a place and manner for students to demonstrate.”
Parents are vowing to keep up their fight with the district and will continue to protest outside of the school.
