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Reedom Elementary School: Mom furious after substitute teacher taped mask on son's face

An elementary school educator has allegedly taped face masks on at least two fourth graders in front of the classroom for not wearing their mask properly

A Las Vegas mother was furious with a substitute teacher from the school her child attends after the educator taped the boy's face mask to his face. According to the mother, who preferred to stay unidentified, her child wasn't allegedly the only student who was taped a face mask to their mouth by the teacher. Although the school board has been notified and an internal investigation is reportedly underway, that is not enough for the mom. While she's not against face masks, the appalled mother is now demanding the teacher be fired from her job at the elementary school for putting her son through humiliation in front of the classroom.

News of this incident comes amid a spate of elementary and middle school teachers being penalized for their stand on the mask mandate. Kansas City math teacher, Josiah Enyart, was fined a thousand dollars after he quit ahead of his contractual deadline as a pushback against the school district renewing its mask mandate. California's Tiffany Wilder was also put on paid leave for bragging on Instagram that she encourages kids in her classroom to not wear masks like her. Meanwhile, Texas teacher Jenny Gillis made a TikTok video breaking down over the lack of a mask mandate in her school, which she compared to a school shooting. 

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In the case of the mother who's been left scorned, the incident happened at Reedom Elementary School in Mountain's Edge, Vegas. The mother is now demanding the Clark County School District to take stricter action against the teacher. “I was furious, furious. I was scared for my son on what kind of long-term effect it is going to have on him socially, the fact that the entire class was laughing,” the mother shared with a local Fox News channel, choosing to stay anonymous with the intention of keeping her child's identity safe while simultaneously alarming other parents of what was happening at the school.

“He went to get a sip of water, forgot to put the mask on," the mother explained, continuing: "The teacher did not tell him to put it back on or send him to the office, she instead pulled him up in front of the classroom in front of all of the students and she then taped the mask across the top of his face." The mother also complained how the teacher added a second layer of tape from the boy's nose to his forehead; it was spotted by the school administrator when the boy went to the office to pick up a forgotten homework that his dad dropped off at school later. 

“When he went to the office to pick up that homework is when one of the administrators noticed the tape on his face,” the mom told Fox News. The administrator took the tape off the child and immediately alerted the principal who then went to the classroom to investigate, apparently. “She saw another student who she thought was my son with tape on their face as well,” the mom said. She added that when asked if other students have faced the same from the teacher, her son answered in the affirmative, claiming that it's something that's been happening in his classroom since the beginning of the school year. "He says that he remembers up to five,” the mom said.

Adding that the incident is not a political issue and she has no issues with the mask mandate, the mother insisted that nine-year-olds like her son are often forgetful and shouldn't be punished the way he was. “He was very upset. He was crying. He was humiliated,” the mom said. The school district announced in the official statement: "The district is aware of the isolated incident and is dealing with the employee through the proper channels. The principal proactively notified the family of the investigation."

But that's not enough for the mother. She wants the teacher held accountable for the incident and never be allowed to educate again. “Its crazy. Corporal punishment in schools should not be happening,” said the mom who's already filed a police complaint and is looking to change schools. Social media also agrees with her, as users weighed in on the topic on Twitter, calling this "Unacceptable". Others made snide remarks, like: "I suggest that anyone thinking this is acceptable behavior grab a roll of tape and hit your local super store. If you find a child wearing his/her mask inappropriately you should intervene and see how their parent feels about it."

Some criticized the school district, tweeting: "Subs and aids for CCSD are supposed to go through special training and have proper qualifications. But from what I understand CCSD principles allow under qualified people for those positions." Another sarcastically replied, "Seems reasonable that a stranger taping masks to children’s faces should probably not be allowed around children anymore. But, what do I know, I’m sure there are a bunch of you crazies who think that’s fine , “in the name of safety” if you agree, you took a wrong turn in life". Several dubbed this assault, demanding the teacher be arrested over the incident. "This is assault. Why is the teacher not arrested?" wrote one, as another chimed in: "Needs to be charged with assault."