A teacher at a private elementary school in Michigan claims he was fired after repeatedly voicing his concerns about a lack of masks being worn in the school despite the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
Nathan Smith told Michigan Public Radio that he made repeated warnings to Oakdale Academy headmaster David Stanton that the school’s plans to make mask wearing voluntary created an unsafe environment for students. Stanton reportedly ignored Smith’s warnings, eventually asking him to resign, and later firing Smith.
Although the state requires that all students wear masks while in school, the state has not made it clear whether this policy will be enforced by local authorities.
In video messages addressing the school community on YouTube, which were seen by MPR but are now private, Stanton proclaims that “no one in this school will be judged for wearing a mask, and no one in the school will be judged for not wearing a mask. We cannot allow divisiveness to reign to that end. We cannot allow a debate about science to reign.”
Stanton did not respond to MPR’s requests for an interview.
Smith told MPR: “I'm just appalled that instead of being able to brag about how good of a job we're doing, we're just trying to pretend like everything's normal. It seemed like they wanted to take a political stance against that, and that the students were going to pay the price.”
Smith has contacted the Michigan Occupational Health and Safety Administration, which is currently investigating Oakdale Academy.
Theodore Bunker ✉
Theodore Bunker, a Newsmax writer, has more than a decade covering news, media, and politics.
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