MANCHESTER, MI - Around two dozen students entered Manchester High School without masks on Tuesday in protest of a mask mandate issued by the Washtenaw County Health Department.
The students entered the building on Sept. 7, which was the day the health department’s mask mandate for all schools in the county went into effect.
Located in the southwestern corner of Washtenaw County with an enrollment of about 800 students, Manchester Community Schools had been the only district in the county that made wearing masks optional prior to the health department’s mandate.
While students and parents voiced their displeasure with school officials outside the building Tuesday, Manchester Superintendent Brad Bezeau said the students without mask were allowed to enter the building.
The unmasked students, however, were not allowed into any classrooms and were sent into a separate, isolated part of the building where they completed work for the day.
“It did get vocal and students did begin pressing against the door for entry without masks, obviously not being compliant,” Bezeau said. “I wouldn’t want to block students or anything like that, so that’s certainly how they got past us, but we were doing our due diligence and making sure that they understood that entering the building without a mask isn’t in compliance.”
The district coordinated with the Washtenaw County Sheriff’s Office to ensure compliance of the order, Bezeau said.
Video of the incident that was shared on social media shows a sheriff’s deputy explaining to parents that the mask order was issued by the health department and was a policy of the school district. The officer noted, however, that he was “not putting masks on anybody.”
Parents then urged students to enter the building, saying that the district couldn’t enforce the health department’s order.
After the incident, Bezeau sent out communications to district families reminding them their children needed to comply with the health department’s order and that they were not allowed in school buildings without a mask.
Not following the mask mandate is a violation of district’s code of conduct and is an act of insubordination, Bezeau said. Students violating the code of conduct were disciplined, he said, but the incident was “more of an educational piece” in making sure they understood their behavior had to change while stopping short of a suspension or expulsion.
There were no issues with students entering school buildings without masks on Wednesday, Sept. 8, Bezeau said.
“I hope that folks are understanding the gravity of the seriousness of this - that we want to make sure that everyone’s safe,” Bezeau said. “You certainly can voice your opinion, but in the end we have to do what’s mandated of us.”
While there are civil monetary penalties, as well as potential misdemeanor charges for those in violation of the order, it is not necessarily the first step to issue tickets for those not in compliance, Washtenaw County Health Department Spokeswoman Susan Ringler-Cerniglia said.
The first level of action should be according to existing school policy and practice when someone doesn’t follow existing school protocols, she said, adding that the health department can then work with the school on managing the situation if it can’t be resolved through the school’s discipline policies.
“We’re not equipped or set up to be in all of our school buildings monitoring this and handing out tickets,” she said. “That’s just now how this works. So, does it make sense, first and foremost, for this to be a school policy and be enforced that way? Yes, absolutely.
“I think part of the issue is the expectation that once we issued orders we were going to be standing outside ticketing people - that’s just not how it happens. Does the authority exist and can we move forward with it? Yes. Is it going to be an instantaneous process? It’s not.”
Public health orders are a civil issue that the health department -- not the sheriff’s office -- can cite people in violation of, Washtenaw County Sheriff’s Office Spokesman Derrick Jackson said.
It can become an enforceable legal action if someone from the school district requests that the sheriff’s office enforce trespassing laws the school has established.
“Law enforcement is there to keep the peace, help keep people calm, de-escalate situations, to explain and to advise,” Jackson said. “We are not there to cite people for a (public health) violation.”
READ MORE:
Indoor mask mandate now required for all Washtenaw County K-12 schools
Mask mandate in the works for Washtenaw County schools
These are the mask plans for Washtenaw County schools
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