An elementary school in Silver Spring, Maryland, boosted its security and kept recess indoors Thursday after Texas Sen. Ted Cruz criticized the school's decision to require children in one classroom to wear masks after several people in the class got COVID.
Four people in a kindergarten classroom at Rosemary Hills Elementary School tested positive for COVID, prompting Principal Rebecca Irwin Kennedy to send a letter to parents on Tuesday. Kennedy said in the letter that students in the class would be required to wear a mask for the next 10 days.
Cruz, a Republican, condemned the requirement in a social media post Wednesday, saying, "If you want to voluntarily wear a mask, fine, but leave our kids the hell alone." The post on X, formerly known as Twitter, included the letter the school sent to parents, which listed the school's name and address.
The reaction to Cruz's post caused police to increase their presence at the school.
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There hasn't been any specific threat to the school, police said, but they're being cautious. The added police presence will last through at least the rest of the week, police said.
"COVID's still here. You know, everybody wants COVID to be gone and to not talk about it anymore. But we continue to see blips. This isn't surprising," said Dr. Kisha Davis, Montgomery County's health officer.
"There's very little I can say about Ted Cruz. I think he has bigger issues in Texas," parent Robert Lindsay said.
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While most parents and residents News4 spoke with didn't want to comment on Cruz's post, they generally supported the masking requirement.
"I don't mind them using it with masking for a little bit. Hopefully, along with the masking it goes away," said parent Daniel Gibson, who has a student in the class.
"Science is always the best concept, but in terms of the whole concept of politicizing it, it's unfortunate it's come to that," parent Dustin Hodgson said.
"If it's science backed, I think I'm all in for it," another man said.
