Mask protests start derailing state’s school board meetings

The anti-mask confrontations that are hitting school systems around the country started appearing in Connecticut recently, with the Bristol and Region 17 school board abruptly shutting down their meetings amid protests.

There were no arrests or scuffles at either incident, nor at a Fairfield meeting where police were called. That’s unlike what’s happened at several similar disputes in other states, were individuals or small groups have disrupted meetings to protest mask mandates.

Police in Joliet, Illinois, arrested an unmasked man Monday when he repeatedly refused to leave a school board meeting where masks are required.

Earlier this year, 11 anti-mask protesters were arrested after screaming obscenities and disrupting the school board in suburban Salt Lake City, and others have been charged after deliberating refusing to wear masks at Rhode Island and New Hampshire meetings.

CNN this week aired video of anti-mask protesters without masks screeching at Louisiana’s state school board, ultimately that board simply ended its meeting. The Mount Vernon, Washington, school board took its meeting online after an unmasked protestor persistently refused to follow rules.

In Bristol, a few dozen people arrived without masks when the school board convened at Bristol Central High School and refused repeated requests to put them on, The Bristol Press reported. Several said they were there to speak against the mandate that all students wear masks when classes resume.

Police were called, and officers told the crowd that masks were necessary inside the school.

“Our officers told the crowd that the board would stop the meeting if they didn’t put on

masks. We’re always looking for compliance and not to escalate,” Police Chief Brian Gould said. “But the crowd refused to mask up.”

Superintendent Karen Carbone told police she wanted no arrests and did not want anyone physically ejected from the building, so officers stood by as several board members walked away from their chairs and ultimately decided to suspend the meeting.

Gould said police will be available at the board’s next meeting, and are prepared — if Carbone wants — to remove people who don’t comply with rules.

Carbone would not answer questions Friday, but said in an emailed statement “There was no indication that our families and community members would not follow the statewide mandate that all individuals wear masks in school buildings, regardless of their vaccination status.

“We have held regular board meetings, as well as committee meetings, throughout the pandemic without any issues. I have the utmost confidence that our Bristol community will continue to demonstrate civility and kindness towards one another in these unprecedented, challenging times,” she wrote.

The Wednesday night incident triggered social media complaints from local Democratic leaders, who blamed the Bristol Republican Town Committee for promoting an “Unmask Our Kids” rally at a local bar and pizza lounge two nights earlier. The local GOP denied it orchestrated what happened, and wrote “We do not instruct people when it’s okay to make public comment and when it is not. We do not demean them when we disagree.”

The Region 17 school board earlier this month abandoned its meeting after nearby protestors with bullhorns made enough noise to disrupt conversation. State troopers were called, but the board decided to leave the building.

Fairfield Patch reported that police were called Tuesday night when a small group disrupted a Fairfield school board committee discussing mask policy. The meeting went on, however.