by Anthony Gockowski
The principal of Edina High School has directed teachers to remove maskless students from the classroom and suspend those who accumulate multiple “violations” in the same day.
Principal Andy Beaton warned parents in a Monday email that staff will be “ramping up” enforcement of the school district’s mask mandate.
He elaborated on his enforcement plans in a video provided to parents and shared with Alpha News.
“If you are not wearing your mask properly in class, I have told teachers that they should send you out of class. They have been giving you plenty of notice over an entire semester so if you are not wearing your mask appropriately in class, I’ve asked them to tell you to leave class,” Beaton said.
“You’ll come down to the office. We will call home. We’ll have a conversation with home and we will record a warning for that,” he added.
Students who violate the mask mandate more than once in the same day will be “subject to a suspension or dismissal home for the day.”
Wearing a mask over the mouth but not the nose will also count as a violation.
“On a cumulative basis, if you are consistently not wearing your mask appropriately in the hallway and we’ve already given you a warning, then you are subject to a suspension,” Beaton reiterated.
He also encouraged students to get vaccinated if they haven’t already and wear masks while “in vehicles with other students.”
“You see schools around the metro that have closed and gone to distance learning. We are trying to avoid that at all costs,” Beaton said, noting that masks are important because they make teachers and students “feel safer.”
While masks are required in Edina schools, the Edina City Council decided not to adopt a citywide mask mandate earlier this month.
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Anthony Gockowski is Editor-in-Chief of Alpha News. He previously worked as an editor for The Minnesota Sun and Campus Reform, and reported for The Daily Caller.
Photo “Andy Beaton” by Edina Public Schools. Background Photo “Edina, Minnesota” by Edina Public Schools.
