Authorities in Wisconsin are investigating claims by a student that his teacher duct-taped a mask to his face after he had trouble breathing, but officials are denying it happened.
The alleged incident occurred at McNeel Intermediate School in the Beloit School District and left the unnamed 13-year-old student and his family shaken, according to a report.
It can be difficult for the student to breathe when wearing a mask, and when he pulled his mask down to catch his breath, his teacher became physical, the eighth-grader said.
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The teacher asked him to pull up his face covering, to which he replied, “I can’t breathe. Give me a moment,” he said.
She purportedly repeated her request, and the student, again, asked for some time.
Upon his refusal to comply, “She got clearish yellowish tape, pulled up my mask up to my nose and wrapped the tape around my head five times,” the alleged victim said.
“I’m thinking in my head,” he continued. “I’m like, ‘This is crazy. Why is she doing this?'”
Injuries on his neck and face were visible when he came home, the eighth-grader’s parents said.
He had “a red mark on the back of his neck area. And it was a little bit red around his face,” one parent said.
After he saw the marks on the teenager, the parent said he reached out to local law enforcement, who said they had already communicated with the instructors at the school.
“He got the story from teachers, and all they said was that they put a little piece of tape on his mask and then onto his nose, and he said they said that they didn’t wrap it around his head,” the parent said.
The son has been traumatized by the incident, and neither the school nor the district has made an effort to reach out to the family, the parent said.
“I’m very, very upset,” he said. “I’m gonna keep pursuing this until my son gets justice and my family gets justice.”
The parents are planning to protest the district on Nov. 5, according to the report.
“I don’t want to go back to school because I can’t trust anyone anymore,” the student said.
District officials and local law enforcement confirmed that an incident involving masking occurred, but denied all allegations that there were violations of state and local laws, according to statements shared with the Washington Examiner.
“We are investigating a report of alleged child abuse at McNeel Intermediate School. Through our investigation, we have found no evidence of child abuse or any other crime occurring,” said Beloit Police Department Chief Andre Sayles.
Working with the school, police interviewed two faculty members and all students present at the time of the incident, he said.
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“The information we have obtained shows that there were no violations of local ordinances or state law,” Sayles said. “As a result of these accusations, there have been threats made against teachers and administrators at the school. These threats will not be tolerated and are being actively investigated.”
