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Who is Tiffany McHugh? Outrage after pre-school director barred for not forcing TODDLERS to wear masks

A San Diego preschool was shut and director Tiffany McHugh was barred after students as young as two were caught without face masks

Social media has erupted in fury after California shut a preschool and barred its director after she "failed to encourage" masks in the class. According to reports, California's Department of Social Services (DSS) shut down the Foothills Christian Church Preschool on December 10, 2021, for violations of the state's mask mandate. The order also barred the school's director Tiffany McHugh from ever working with children again.

Heading into year three of the pandemic, California remains one of the strictest states when it comes to mask and vaccine mandates, which has largely been applauded till now. It's also led to some issues, such as the banning of two siblings from a school for not wearing masks, causing widespread condemnation and fury. Others though have fought back against the draconian measures, such as the city of Oroville, which declared itself a constitutional republic in November 2021. 

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Nonetheless, Governor Gavin Newsom remains committed to masks and vaccines, which clearly aren't smooth to implement. A good example is the case of Foothills preschool. Not only are parents protesting the closure, but McHugh has also appealed against the suspension, and is now gaining widespread support online.

Who is Tiffany McHugh?

Little is known about McHugh, as she appears not to have any public profiles on social media. According to numerous reports, she is the program director of the preschool in El Cajon, a city in San Diego. The school has reportedly been running for six years and currently has over 100 children enrolled. Speaking to CBS 8, McHugh said the school was frequently visited by the DSS in September 2021, after a parent's complaint.

"From that point on we were working with licensing almost on a weekly basis over the next two months and we were trying to improve," she said, adding, "we are going up against a lot of parents that don't want their children to be masked." In response, the DSS noted that it forced the preschool to close because McHugh "failed to ensure all employees wore a mask" and " failed to encourage students two years old and older to wear a mask."

The decision promoted a lot of anger and fury in the community, leading to a protest outside the school on January 14, 2022. Angry parents were joined by GOP State Senator Brian Jones and the city’s Mayor Bill Wells. There also seemed to be immense fury at the decision to bar McHugh for life, which the DSS said was because she "prevented licensing from inspecting the facility." Not only was there widespread support for McHugh at the protest, but also online.

Tiffany McHugh finds support on social media

"What the hell is wrong with California?" one person responded to the news. Another tweeted, "I pray this teacher finds another state. What a evil, satanic party the Democrats are." One person replied, "Where can I donate to help that school owner move to another state and open a new school?" Echoing that, another user tweeted, "Is there a go fund me for this woman? I want to support." One user replied, "I hope she sues!"

McHugh defended the school saying the young children "were just too young to wear masks, they pull them off." It's not all over though, as McHugh has appealed the verdict and managed to get a hearing on February 11. So far, Newsom has not commented on the matter but is facing massive backlash for enforcing such draconian measures on small children, who have extremely low rates of fatalities from Covid-19 despite not being eligible for vaccines.