Oklahoma Schools to Begin Charging a Fee to Students Who Don't Wear a Mask

An Oklahoma school district that was supplying masks to its students who didn’t wear them to school is now charging students who show up at school without a face covering.

Students in Broken Bow, Oklahoma, will now either have to call their parents or pay the school if they forget their masks at home, according to KOKH-TV.

Rector Johnson Middle School and Broken Bow High School posted virtually identical messages on Facebook on Monday to inform parents of the decision.

“Our students are all aware there are several classrooms they attend daily that masks are required,” read a post on the Broken Bow Public Schools Facebook page.

“This decision to continue to protect our most vulnerable was supported and approved by our school board several months ago. We have been very accommodating and patient with students as they continue to arrive to school without a mask. We have issued reuseable masks countless times to our students but now they have depleted our resources.”

The post said students had been notified of the new policy before it went into effect.

“As we announced over the intercom last week: Starting today, Monday, January 25th, we will be selling masks for $1 to students that come without them. If they do not have $1 to buy one, they will be asked to call a parent/guardian to bring them a mask or bring them $1 to purchase one,” the post read.

“We respectfully ask you to please remind your children each morning to bring their masks.”

According to KTUL-TV, “One teacher at the high school said the school had been going through approximately 100 reusable masks a day.”

The report also said that “students were taking the masks and throwing them in the trash after school.”

Many said the school had done what it could, and students and parents needed to take responsibility for providing their own masks.

Same as with any requirement of school supplies that every student and parent agrees to in the school policy handbook. You sign to agree to abide at beginning of school year.

— MargaritasForOne (@margaritasfor1) January 27, 2021

A comment from one Facebook user agreed with the school.

“I agree with this 100% that kid should know by now that his or her class requires a mask and by charging for a new one maybe it will teach a little bit of responsibility with the mask,” she responded to the post.

Some comments suggested that the cost was too high, or that someone could donate masks to the school. Others questioned why some classes in the school required masks while others did not.

“Having only certain classes that require a mask defeats the whole purpose of a mask in school. Everyone in that building should have a mask on,” a Facebook user wrote.

However, one user said the policy “seems redundant when those children are breathing the same germs right back through the masks … None of it makes sense.”

This article appeared originally on The Western Journal.