'Leave Our Kids The Hell Alone': Backlash Erupts After D.C. Suburb Kindergarten Brings Back Pandemic Policy As Covid-19 Returns

The return of COVID is coming quickly as a Washington D.C. suburb in Maryland is already reinstating a masking policy for students following a small spike in positive tests for the disease. The masks will be required by all students and staff for ten days and then become optional once again after the period has passed.

Clay Travis, founder of Outkick, shared the letter that was seemingly sent to parents who had kids at Rosemary Hills Elementary School in Montgomery County. It informed parents that “3 or more individuals tested positive for COVID-19” and would make students and staff “required to mask.”

“At-Home rapid test kits will be sent home and made available for students. The CDC recommends testing at least 5 days after an exposure (starting day 6) or anytime if symptoms develop. Please report any positive COVID results to the school attendance office,” it continued.

The letter adds that if any student is to develop symptoms of COVID, they need to stay home and be tested. The letter was signed by principal Rebecca Irwin Kennedy. 

“A DC area elementary school — Montgomery County, Maryland — is reinstating a mask mandate — N95’s — for third graders over a few kids testing positive for covid,” Travis wrote on X (formerly Twitter). “Here’s the letter. They’re coming with masks for your kids again. Get ready. Read this insanity.”

Travis added further clarification on the matter, writing in a follow-up post “One correction: this is a kindergarten classroom, not a third grade classroom. I had the teacher’s name blacked out by a source before I shared the letter. But it is a kindergarten classroom. Which somehow makes this even worse.”

The post made the rounds, getting over five million views on the social media platform and getting responses from numerous public officials on the debate of masking returning.

“Not going to happen in Texas,” Governor Greg Abbott (R-TX) said on X in reply to the tweet. 

“I guess this wasn’t ‘alt right misinformation’ after all,” Senator Mike Lee (R-UT) wrote.

“When will this anti-science fear-mongering end? Children are not at risk for COVID-19. Masking children does not prevent its spread. Masks hamper learning and psychosocial development. Do not comply,” reads the post from Representative Ken Buck (R-CO). 

“If you want to voluntarily wear a mask, fine, but leave our kids the hell alone,” Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) wrote.

“This is crazy. Rest assured that as long as I’m Governor, Arkansas will not force our kids to wear masks in school,” reads the post from Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders (R-AR).