Police presence will increase for Page County Public Schools in Luray, Virginia this Monday all because a mother made a perceived threat during a school board meeting Thursday night.
Amelia King was so upset over the school mask mandate that she not only said her children would not be wearing masks but that she would “bring every single gun loaded and ready.”
King was cut off after she went over the three-minute time given for comments, WJLA reported.
Before walking away, she said, “I will see you Monday.”
Antonia Fox, the Page County schools superintendent, and school board chair Megan Gordon released a joint statement the next day, saying the schools don’t take threats like these lightly.
“Not only do comments such as these go against everything we wish to model for our students, but they also go again the very nature of how we as a community should interact with each other,” they said in the statement. ” Violence and threats are never acceptable or appropriate. This kind of behavior is not tolerated from our students, faculty, staff, nor will it be tolerated by parents or guests of our school division.”
School officials reached out to local law enforcement and the two decided that there will be an increase in police presence at each school both Friday and Monday.
Luray police are investigating the incident and are also in communication with the Commonwealth Attorney and both state and federal officials.
Apparently, King realized what she said “and immediately contacted law enforcement to apologize because the statement was not intended the way it was perceived. “
“The safety of the students and school staff are our number one priority, we are working diligently with the Page County School Board to ensure proper measures have been put in place for their safety,” police stated. “This agency has also reached out to state and federal law enforcement agencies regarding this incident. We have been in contact with the parent who made the statement, she is cooperating with law enforcement. This incident is still under investigation and no arrests have been made at this time.”
The mask policy in schools debate is now a hot topic ever since new Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin ordered the reversal of school mask mandates this January. However, many schools continue to push back on the governor’s order.
“As we battle COVID, it’s parents that should decide the health measures taken for their children. That’s why I signed an executive order that allows parents to opt-out of mask mandates in schools,” Youngkin said earlier this week in his first address to the Virginia General Assembly. “This is a matter of individual liberty.”
Some parents in Chesapeake, Virginia have joined together to sue Youngkin over his order.
“This is obviously a scary thing for some parents. I’m not somebody who sues the governor very often, as you can imagine, but I have my kids to think of,” said Matthew Castillo, who has two children in Chesapeake City Public Schools. “The health and safety of our children is the number one priority, so we want to make sure we’re doing everything we can to mitigate any risk of COVID or infection.”
