San Diego Union-Tribune (Sunday)
GROUP PROTESTS MASKS OUTSIDE POWAY SCHOOL
Parents say their son was forced to leave classroom recently
Rob and Jessie Reimer of Poway say school officials threatened to call Child Protective Services and left their sixth-grade son outside of class with no schoolwork after he refused to wear a mask in class recently.
On Friday morning, the Reimers organized their own protest outside of Twin Peaks Middle School, where their son is a student. About 50 people gathered outside the Poway school, some with signs, protesting the mask mandate in schools.
Rob Reimer said he sat outside the fence at the school this month to show support for his son after he received a call from the school. He said school officials told him that if they didn’t pick up their son then they were abandoning him, and they would call Child Protective Services.
“They’re trying to scare us,” Reimer said during the protest Friday.
On Monday night, Poway Unified School District sent a letter to parents reiterating that they are bound by the decisions of the California Department of Public Health, which plans on reviewing the mask mandate in schools on Feb. 28. Poway schools are not in session from Feb. 21 to 25.
“Please keep in mind, as a local school district, PUSD staff or board members do not have the authority to change or overturn state mandates,” the district wrote in the letter.
Further comment from district officials was not available Friday.
Reimer said the schools are being “unbelievably overbearing” with the children.
“I think when you push parents’ buttons like that, you get this,” he said during the protest.
Jessie Reimer said a story she posted on Instagram about the incident got a number of shares.
“We have been so overwhelmed by the response from the community,” she said.
The Reimers’ son was inspired to go maskless by his younger sister, who has special needs, his father said.
“She’s really having a hard time,” he said. “She’s special needs so we can’t reason with her.”
Reimer said he supports an option for the children to decide whether or not to wear a mask in school.
“They can all wear a mask — I don’t care. We just want them to have a choice,” he said.