
She said even if the meeting had taken place, the board still would not have had the ability to change the mask policy because members were only planning to discuss mitigation strategies, not vote on them.įact check: Study falsely claiming face masks are harmful, ineffective is not linked to Stanford

Mentone added that the elected Vail school board members did not resign, as many have claimed, they adjourned due to safety concerns. That did not happen last night."Īdditionally, local attorney Steve Portell told the outlet that Robert's Rules of Order "don't have the legal impact of supplanting Arizona law and removing elected officials from office."įurther, Robert's Rules require an elected presiding officer or chair to facilitate the election, which was not the case.ĭarcy Mentone, director of communications and public affairs for the Vail Unified School District also told Lead Stories that the protesters' impromptu election was not official the crowd interrupted a study session that preceded the meeting. "A new board needs to be voted through a due elected process of the voters of this community. "It's a publicity stunt," Vail Superintendent John Carruth said, according to KGUN-TV. The school district's mask mandate and school board remain in place and officials say the election held by the parents was not valid. The crowd claimed Robert's Rules of Orders allowed them to overthrow the school board. With the elected school board members absent, the parents held an impromptu, unofficial election, in which they selected their own board and voted to rescind mask policies. A few protesters were armed and deputies could not get the growing crowd to disperse.įact check: False QAnon-related conspiracy theory claims Arizona ballots are secretly watermarked The official board meeting was canceled when parents pushed their way into the facility while refusing to wear masks, according to KGUN-TV. The crowd was estimated to be around 100 people.
#Vail arizona school board replaced free
In one of the videos, the crowd begins cheering after a "board member" says, "I motion that the entire Vail School District will be free of mask policies and it will be optional to all teachers and students."

What happened?Ĭlaims that parents had elected a new school board started after videos went viral of parents holding a rally against the mask mandate inside of the lobby at the Vail Education Center, where a school board meeting was set to take place on April 27. The other users did not return a request for comment. In a message to USA TODAY, the Facebook user pointed to an April 28 video of the protest by the page Hugs Over Masks Minnesota. On April 28, one Facebook user shared the tweet and wrote, "In case you're wondering what happens when you mess with people's kids too long."įact check: No evidence election audit in Maricopa County has found widespread election fraud

The tweet was shared to Instagram and Facebook on April 28 by different social media accounts, including the Donald Trump Fan Club page in a post with over 2,100 shares and 7,400 reactions. Democracy in action! Just Amazing!" reads a screen grab of an April 27 tweet.

Voted in a whole new board, and immediately removed the mask mandate. Parents in Vail, Arizona just took over the school board - all according to the rules. While the district has disputed claims that the parents replaced the school board, some users on social media claim the parents' meeting had a legal effect. Doug Ducey's April 19 announcement rescinding the statewide order that directed K-12 schools to require masks. This gave districts the option to implement their own face-covering policies, which the Vail school board was planning to discuss before the meeting was canceled due to safety concerns. Doug Ducey on masks, even if they agree The claim: Parents in Vail, Arizona, took over the school board and removed the mask mandateĪ group of parents protesting mask mandates recently swarmed a Vail Unified School District meeting in Arizona, sparking online claims of a school board takeover by the group. Watch Video: Kate Gallego is sniping Gov.
