Brawl erupts and parent is arrested after Missouri school board votes to reinstate mask mandate after 180 staff and students were forced to quarantine in first week back
Fists flew after a Missouri school board voted to reinstate mask mandates because 180 staff and students were potentially exposed to COVID.
The Pleasant Hill school district had 21 confirmed cases of students testing positive for COVID in the first nine days of the new school year, KMBC reported.
It's part of a nationwide spike in COVID cases among children, which now accounts for 26.8 percent of all cases in the country.
Over the last week, there were about 252,000 child cases of COVID, the largest number since the pandemic began, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics.
To curtail the spread in the Pleasant Hill school district, the school board unanimously voted to reinstate its mask mandate, sparking shouting matches and tense verbal exchanges during the meeting.
Tempers boiled over after the meeting wrapped up, and the parking lot turned into fight night when arguments escalated into physical confrontations.
A parent is seen being led away in handcuffs after fighting in the parking lot outside of a Missouri school board
Parents listened to the Pleasant Hill school board vote to reinstate the mask mandate
Parents spoke passionately on both sides of the debate during the school board meeting
There are 21 confirmed COVID-19 cases in the Pleasant Hill school district and 180 quarantine cases
Police were called to break up the brawl and at least one parent was taken away in handcuffs.
Pleasant Hill is a small city of less than 10,000 people that sits about 35 miles Southeast of Kansas City in Cass and Jackson counties.
According to Missouri's Health Department, there were about 3,640 new cases on a seven-day rolling average and 37 reported deaths across the state in the last seven days.
Childhood cases around the country declined over the summer but have increased by 750,000 cases between August 5 and September 2, which coincides with kids returning to school.
That doesn't include New York City schools, which is the largest school system in the country and doesn't open until next week.
The severity of the symptoms hasn't been as harsh compared with symptoms in adult COVID cases, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics.
But 'there is an urgent need to collect more data on longer-term impacts of the pandemic on children, including ways the virus may harm the long-term physical health of infected children, as well as its emotional and mental health effects,' officials said.
Over the last week, there were about 252,000 child cases of COVID-19, the largest number since the pandemic began, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics
This is the latest example of parental rage resulting from a school instituting or enforcing a mask or vaccine mandate, or quarantining a child who was exposed to COVID.
In Arizona, an elementary school principal was threatened by three men who confronted her with zip ties after she quarantined one of the men's son.
The three were arrested and charged with trespassing.
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