WASHINGTON — The Biden administration has thrust itself into the center of the heated debate over school mask mandates with actions aimed at shielding school boards from threats of violence and intimidation and state-level political pressure.
The administration’s intervention in the issue has sparked an outcry from Republicans about parental rights and federal overreach. GOP lawmakers have condemned a Department of Justice memo on school-related threats as an effort to criminalize protests by parents.
The memo from Attorney General Merrick Garland promising to steer federal resources toward identifying and prosecuting threats against school officials followed the Education Department’s investigations of states that have prohibited school mask requirements. The White House declined to comment on why schools have become the center of the political debate on COVID-19.
Several school board officials and educators from around the country told McClatchy they supported federal engagement, saying it will help ensure safety as tensions continue to escalate a year-and-a-half into the pandemic.
“Folks shouldn’t be receiving death threats or that sort of thing because they’re trying to do what’s best for kids,” said Heather Ousley, a member of the school board for the Shawnee Mission School District in Kansas.
Garland issued a memo last week to the FBI and federal prosecutors that highlighted “a disturbing spike in harassment, intimidation, and threats of violence against school administrators, board members, teachers, and staff who participate in the vital work of running our nation’s public schools.”
It directed the FBI to coordinate with state and local law enforcement agencies to discuss strategies for addressing such threats.
In Florida, a member of the Brevard County School Board spoke out this week and alleged that she and her family were threatened because of her support for mask requirements.
“I am not opposed to people practicing their First Amendment rights even when it’s outside my home,” Jennifer Jenkins told her fellow board members at a meeting. “What I reject is this effort to create fear and division in the community that leads to credible threats of violence against me and my family.”
The video of Jenkins’ emotional testimony, in which she said opponents of mask mandates followed her car, went behind her home and were “brandishing their weapons” at her neighbors, circulated widely on social media this week.
Republicans say involving the Justice Department on school mask mandates was a political misstep by the Biden administration.
“I think it has already backfired. I think this is hurting Biden significantly,” said Kyle Plotkin, a Washington-based GOP consultant and former chief of staff for Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo.
“Any violence should be taken seriously and that should certainly be dealt with and prosecuted of course,” Plotkin said.
“But the overwhelming majority of people who are showing up to these events are peaceful,” he said. “And when you have a memo from the Department of Justice that says you can be investigated that has a very chilling effect.”
The Justice Department memo followed a Sept. 29 request from the National School Board Association to the White House seeking federal assistance in dealing with the rise of threats against school board officials related to COVID-19 safety measures and other issues.
The school board association letter said “anti-mask proponents are inciting chaos during board meetings,” and that threats against school officials “could be the equivalent to a form of domestic terrorism and hate crimes,” a phrasing that has spurred backlash from conservatives.
Rep. Tom Emmer, R-Minn., chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee, predicted that the issue would be a drag on Democrats in House races next year.
“You’ve got parents showing up all over the place because they have legitimate, real concerns. They want to have a dialogue and instead these people are trying to crush them with the strong arm of government. And they’re going to be held accountable for it in November of ’22, I believe,” Emmer said on a call with reporters.
Virginia Republican gubernatorial nominee Glenn Youngkin has sought to tie his Democratic opponent, former Gov. Terry McAuliffe, a Biden ally, to the Justice Department seeking prosecutions on threats to school officials. Next month’s election, a closely watched contest, is seen by political observers as a test of Biden’s popularity in a state he won.
White House press secretary Jen Psaki pushed back last week on the political uproar. “These were threats against public servants, threats against members of the school board. Regardless of the reasoning, threats and violence against public servants is illegal,” she said.
The Education Department launched investigations last month into whether states, such as Florida, had violated the civil rights of immunocompromised students with rules prohibiting school mask mandates.
“The Department stands with the hardworking educators and support staff working every day to make our schools a safe and healthy learning environment. It is unfortunate and heartbreaking to see educators threatened for trying to make that a reality,” a spokesperson for the Education Department said.
Lucia Baez-Geller, a first-year member of the Miami-Dade School Board who previously served as a teacher for 15 years, welcomed the involvement of both federal agencies.
“I wish it didn’t have to come to this, but like I said the state has turned this into a political issue so the means to protect our local authority is very important,” Baez-Geller said. “The only thing that has been accomplished in our state is pitting parents against other parents.”
Nationally, school mask requirements have broad support despite the intense scenes at school board meetings. A September poll from Fox News found that 67% of respondents supported mask requirements for teachers and students and 61% supported vaccine requirements for teachers.
School board elections this November will offer a small-scale test of the popularity of school mask mandates.
In Johnson County, Kansas’ most populous county, five of the six districts require masks for all students. Brian Connell, a conservative candidate running for the Olathe School Board, criticized the requirement adopted under the current board.
“Our school district chose to go be health care professionals and they required the mandate to also affect middle school and high school. They took the parents out. They did not engage parents,” Connell said. “Masks should be optional.”
Connell said that he has received threats and faced vandalism for his stance, but he opposed federal intervention in what he considers to be an issue for local police.
Ousley, who supports mask requirements and was first elected to the board of the nearby Shawnee Mission district in 2017, said the vitriol that school board members have faced during the pandemic has driven some of her peers to forgo running again.
“They’re being bullied out by folks who are using this as a cudgel,” she said.
