School board meeting canceled as crowd protests mask mandate

By Carma Hassan, CNN

A school board meeting in Idaho to discuss a temporary mask mandate was canceled Friday due to “security concerns” related to the size of a crowd of people protesting the proposed requirement.

One-hundred people attempted to participate in the Coeur d’Alene Public Schools board meeting, exceeding the meeting room’s capacity, according to the school district and the Coeur d’Alene police department.

“That meeting was canceled shortly after it was scheduled to being because of security concerns with the size of the crowd waiting outside,” school district spokesperson Scott Maben told CNN in an email.

According to video shared by CNN affiliate KXLY reporter Elenee Dao, the crowd chanted “no more masks” and “my child, my choice.”

The protesters also held signs saying “Do not sell out our children!” and “Keep God’s children unmasked.”

“When members of the crowd began banging on the exterior door and shouting, police were on scene to handle that. We canceled the meeting and the board members and staff were able to safely exit,” Maben said.

Then people in the crowd drove to the Coeur d’Alene School District Office, where approximately 30 people entered the lobby, police said.

“We then went into lockdown there, for close to 90 minutes. Employees in the building were escorted by police to their vehicles,” Maben said.

The crowd “got loud and boisterous, but there’s really no violence to speak of,” Coeur d’Alene Police Captain Dave Hager told CNN by phone.

Employees called police because they “were concerned for their safety,” the police captain said.

“It was simply a situation with people passionate about their views,” Hager said, noting the crowd’s signs were against a mask mandate.

No arrests were made and there were no assaults or injuries reported, Hagar said.

The school district does not currently have a mask mandate in place, Maben said.

Responses to mask mandates in schools has varied widely across the country, from acceptance, to attempts by politicians to block them, to students being sent home for violating them.

Correction: An earlier version of this story had the wrong first name for KXLY reporter Elenee Dao.

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CNN’s Kaylene Chassie contributed to this report.