A school board member in Montgomery County, Virginia, stormed out of a meeting Tuesday night after a parent showed pictures of her maskless in a crowded room, according to a video of the encounter.
Video shows Montgomery County Public Schools’ Board Chairwoman Susan Kass attempting to talk over a parent who showed other school board members photos that allegedly showed Kass maskless in a crowd. The photos came from Kass’ Facebook page, according to the parent, WDBJ7 reported.
“If you are going to sit there and disparage a member of our school board, you can sit down,” Kass said to the speaker, according to WDBJ7.
Fellow board member Jamie Bond encouraged Kass to listen, arguing that the parent “should be able to say her piece.” Bond said that people criticized other board members in the past as well, the outlet reported.
That “doesn’t make it right,” Kass replied. “That’s my family.”
“What do you think about our family? Our family is being suffocated to death with your policies,” the speaker said, according to WDBJ7.
Kass can be heard saying, “I’m done. She leaves or I leave.” Shortly after, Kass left the school board meeting, according to the outlet.
Watch:
Wow! School board freaks out as mom whips out phone to show pictures of the board members maskless online. Love this. pic.twitter.com/cvi6rnHCjL
— Justin Hart (@justin_hart) February 17, 2022
Kass was a teacher in Montgomery County Public Schools for 11 years and was elected to the school board in 2020, according to her LinkedIn profile.
The school board member told local news outlets that the photos showcased by the speaker were of her vaccinated friends and family in her house.
“Just because you believe in masking in a classroom, with 30 students sitting in a room in close proximity, in a small, not well-ventilated room, asking them to mask there is not the same as saying I need to wear a mask in my house,” Kass told WDBJ7. “The fact they went and trolled my Facebook to find anything they could to disparage me is pretty sad and pretty low.”
The video was taken the night before Republican Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin signed legislation blocking school boards from imposing mask mandates on children and requiring schools to offer in-person instruction five days a week.
Loudoun County Public Schools, announced late Wednesday the end of mask mandates for students. (RELATED: Loudoun County Drops Mask Mandate, Clears Records Of Students Punished For Mask Defiance)
Kass told the Daily Caller that she wishes she had reacted differently, though she feels the picture did not adequately showcase mask hypocrisy in the way the speaker intended.
“Yes, I wish I had reacted differently. But when someone is scrolling through your personal [Facebook] trying to prove something that isn’t true, and now they are threatening to show photos of your family, you become protective,” Kass said. “She is trying to paint me as a hypocrite because I spent time with family and friends who are vaccinated and boosted at people’s homes. I have not asked anyone to do something that I haven’t done myself.”
Kass also said that she thinks that the state “could have waited a bit longer” to remove mask mandates, but “the law is the law and we will abide by it.”