Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility

West Bank Town Becomes ‘Big Prison’ as Israel Fences It In

2 days ago

Trump Says He’s Willing to Let Migrant Farm Laborers Stay in US

2 days ago

US Electric Vehicle Tax Breaks Will Expire on Sept. 30

2 days ago

Eyeing Arctic Dominance, Trump Bill Earmarks $8.6 Billion for US Coast Guard Icebreakers

2 days ago

Trump’s Sweeping Tax-Cut and Spending Bill Wins Congressional Approval

3 days ago

Americans Celebrate Their Independence With Record-Breaking Travel Numbers

3 days ago

US Supreme Court to Decide Legality of Transgender School Sports Bans

3 days ago

Nvidia Set to Become the World’s Most Valuable Company in History

3 days ago

Poll: 41% in US ‘Extremely Proud’ to Be American, Near Historic Low

3 days ago
Mask Ruckus Moves Trustee Meeting to Yosemite High Football Stadium
NANCY WEBSITE HEADSHOT 1
By Nancy Price, Multimedia Journalist
Published 4 years ago on
September 15, 2021

Share

Yosemite Unified School District trustees will resume their meeting Wednesday evening in the Yosemite High football stadium after Monday’s meeting was adjourned when dozens attendees refused to wear face masks even after sheriff’s deputies were called to the meeting.

A notice posted on Tuesday on the district’s website lists the football stadium as the meeting venue for the meeting that will resume at 6:30 p.m.

The notice is signed by board president Anne Flanagan, who ordered the adjournment of Monday’s meeting that started and ended in the Yosemite High cafeteria in Oakhurst.

Sources told GV Wire that Monday’s meeting was interrupted when attendees were told they needed to comply with the district’s requirement for face masks indoors. When the crowd of parents, who numbered from 80 to 100, refused to don masks, the district called the Madera County Sheriff’s Office.

The arriving deputies, who also were maskless, said they could not enforce the mask rule, so the School Board and staff moved the meeting outside for a public comment period, which included complaints about the mask requirement for students.

The meeting then returned inside and Flanagan said it could continue if children left the meeting room while adults were unmasked. But the children remained and attendees continued to defy the mask rule. The board conducted one final piece of business, a public hearing on the sufficiency of students’ instructional materials, an annual certification required under state law. Flanagan then adjourned the meeting until Wednesday night.

Flanagan, who was appointed to the board in 2019 and won election to a two-year term in November 2020, declined to comment Wednesday and referred questions to Superintendent Glen Billington. He told GV Wire he had never seen anything quite like Monday’s truncated board meeting.

What Sparked Monday’s Protest?

Billington said he’s uncertain why furor over the mask requirement exploded Monday and not at a prior board meeting.

“I think parents are frustrated — and I get that,” he said. “No one likes to wear a mask, but we have to follow our health and safety protocols. It’s the only way to keep our schools open.”

Moving the meeting outdoors on Monday showed the district was making an effort to make sure parents’ concerns were heard, he said.

But the district can’t afford to ignore the mask mandates for schools issued by the California Department of Public Health, particularly since “significant” numbers of Yosemite Unified students have already been quarantined since the start of the school year because they tested positive for COVID-19 or had close contact with someone who was infected with the coronavirus, Billington said.

Mask Rule Not Enforceable by Deputies

Sheriff Tyson Pogue said there seems to be a misunderstanding about the mask requirement — it’s a guidance from the California Department of Public Health, not a law, and thus deputies can’t enforce it.

Pogue said he understands that parents are passionately protective of their children, and Monday’s meeting was emotionally charged. As a result, several deputies will be on hand for Wednesday night’s meeting in case tensions rise again, he said.

Billington said parents and other community members will find seats in the bleachers at the stadium, and the board and staff will be seated on the track area.

Even at times when there is such a sharp divide such as the face mask debate, Billington said he knows the district and parents still all want the same thing: To keep kids in school, learning, and getting the best educational opportunity possible.

“This is not an easy time in schools, having to navigate these turbulent times,” he said. “If we work together, we can come out of this strong.”

DON'T MISS

What Are Fresno Real Estate Experts Predicting for 2025 and Beyond?

DON'T MISS

First California EV Mandates Hit Automakers This Year. Most Are Not Even Close

DON'T MISS

How Trump’s ‘Big, Beautiful Bill’ Will Make China Great Again

DON'T MISS

What’s Caitlin Clark Worth to the WNBA? A Lot More Than Her $78,066 Salary.

DON'T MISS

Trump to Sign Tax-Cut and Spending Bill in July 4 Ceremony

DON'T MISS

Madre Fire Spurs Evacuations Across 3 Counties, Grows to More Than 70,000 Acres

DON'T MISS

Clovis, Sanger, Madera, and Bass Lake Will Light the Sky With Fireworks Shows Tonight

DON'T MISS

Oil Dips Ahead of Expected OPEC+ Output Increase

DON'T MISS

613 Killed at Gaza Aid Distribution Sites, Near Humanitarian Covoys, Says UN

DON'T MISS

Fresno County Authorities Investigating Suspicious Death of Transient Man

DON'T MISS

West Bank Town Becomes ‘Big Prison’ as Israel Fences It In

DON'T MISS

Israeli Military Kills 20 in Gaza as Trump Awaits Hamas Reply to Truce Proposal

UP NEXT

Trump Impounds Billions in Education Funding. For Fresno Unified, It’s $7.1 Million

UP NEXT

Americans Celebrate Their Independence With Record-Breaking Travel Numbers

UP NEXT

Poll: 41% in US ‘Extremely Proud’ to Be American, Near Historic Low

UP NEXT

Poorest Americans Dealt Biggest Blow Under Senate Republican Tax Package

UP NEXT

Poll: Most Americans Say National Divide, Political Violence Threaten Democracy

UP NEXT

Trump Pulls Back 150 Guard Troops From Federal Duties in California

UP NEXT

Fresno Unified’s Embattled Nikki Henry Exits. ‘I Own My Mistake. I Won’t Let It Own Me.’

UP NEXT

O’Brien Launches Fresno County Schools Chief Campaign by Handing Out ‘Homework’

UP NEXT

Suspect Identified in Ambush Shooting That Killed 2 Idaho Firefighters

UP NEXT

Suspect Identified in Ambush Shooting That Killed 2 Idaho Firefighters

Nancy Price,
Multimedia Journalist
Nancy Price is a multimedia journalist for GV Wire. A longtime reporter and editor who has worked for newspapers in California, Florida, Alaska, Illinois and Kansas, Nancy joined GV Wire in July 2019. She previously worked as an assistant metro editor for 13 years at The Fresno Bee. Nancy earned her bachelor's and master's degrees in journalism at Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism. Her hobbies include singing with the Fresno Master Chorale and volunteering with Fresno Filmworks. You can reach Nancy at 559-492-4087 or Send an Email

Madre Fire Spurs Evacuations Across 3 Counties, Grows to More Than 70,000 Acres

2 days ago

Clovis, Sanger, Madera, and Bass Lake Will Light the Sky With Fireworks Shows Tonight

2 days ago

Oil Dips Ahead of Expected OPEC+ Output Increase

2 days ago

613 Killed at Gaza Aid Distribution Sites, Near Humanitarian Covoys, Says UN

2 days ago

Fresno County Authorities Investigating Suspicious Death of Transient Man

2 days ago

West Bank Town Becomes ‘Big Prison’ as Israel Fences It In

2 days ago

Israeli Military Kills 20 in Gaza as Trump Awaits Hamas Reply to Truce Proposal

2 days ago

Valley Crime Stoppers’ Most Wanted Person of the Day: Rachelle Maria Blanco

2 days ago

Russia Pounds Kyiv With Largest Drone Attack, Hours After Trump-Putin Call

2 days ago

Boxer Chavez Jr Expected to Be Deported to Mexico to Serve Sentence, Mexican President Says

2 days ago

How Trump’s ‘Big, Beautiful Bill’ Will Make China Great Again

Can you hear it — that loud roar coming from the East? It’s the sound of 1.4 billion Chinese laughing at us. Thomas L. Friedman The New Yo...

18 hours ago

Solar Farm in Riesel, Texas
18 hours ago

How Trump’s ‘Big, Beautiful Bill’ Will Make China Great Again

Caitlin Clark Signs T-Shirt
18 hours ago

What’s Caitlin Clark Worth to the WNBA? A Lot More Than Her $78,066 Salary.

President Donald Trump speaks during a press conference in the Roosevelt Room at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., May 12, 2025. (Reuters File)
2 days ago

Trump to Sign Tax-Cut and Spending Bill in July 4 Ceremony

The Madre Fire burning near New Cuyama has scorched 70,801 acres as of Friday, July 4, 2025, afternoon, making it California’s largest wildfire of the year, with only 10% containment and multiple evacuation zones in place. (CalFire)
2 days ago

Madre Fire Spurs Evacuations Across 3 Counties, Grows to More Than 70,000 Acres

2 days ago

Clovis, Sanger, Madera, and Bass Lake Will Light the Sky With Fireworks Shows Tonight

A pumpjack operates at the Vermilion Energy site in Trigueres, France, June 14, 2024. (Reuters File)
2 days ago

Oil Dips Ahead of Expected OPEC+ Output Increase

Palestinians gather to collect what remains of relief supplies from the distribution center of the U.S.-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, in Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip, June 5, 2025. (Reuters File)
2 days ago

613 Killed at Gaza Aid Distribution Sites, Near Humanitarian Covoys, Says UN

Billy Wayne Sinisgalli, a 54-year-old transient known locally as Wayne, was found dead along a rural Fresno road Wednesday in what authorities are investigating as a suspicious death. (Fresno County SO)
2 days ago

Fresno County Authorities Investigating Suspicious Death of Transient Man

Help continue the work that gets you the news that matters most.

Search

Send this to a friend