Anti-mask activists rip down, replace mask posters on San Dieguito campuses

Last week, anti-mask activists targeted the San Dieguito Union High School District campuses of La Costa Canyon and San Dieguito Academy High School.

In scenes captured by the school surveillance, three women at LCC are seen ripping down state-mandated postings about masks and replacing it with their own signage that stated that “requiring masks is tantamount to child abuse” and as mandated reporters, the district is required to report themselves.

The same three women were spotted at San Dieguito where they did not rip down the signs but placed theirs on top.

LCC staff filed a complaint about the incident with the Carlsbad Police Department.

“If a student did this, they would probably be suspended. To have adults feeling emboldened to do this in broad daylight when all we’re trying to do is keep our kids on site…it makes no sense,” said SDUHSD Interim Superintendent Lucile Lynch. “We shouldn’t have to deal with this nonsense.”

Per the California Department of Public Health guidelines, all students and staff are required to wear masks indoors at school but masks are optional when outdoors.

Anti-mask activists on the San Dieguito campus.

(Courtesy SDUHSD)

Anti-mask activists have been a presence at local school board meetings throughout the county rallying against this state mandate although none have attended San Dieguito’s virtual meetings. The Poway Unified School District board’s Sept. 9 meeting was disrupted by anti-mask activists who forced themselves into a closed session meeting and refused to leave. The board had to adjourn its open session meeting.

“Our families have provided a lot of support by sending their students to school with masks, that has been a tremendous value to us,” Lynch said, noting that mask compliance helps with the timely process of contact tracing.

Lynch’s focus going into the year was for staff to not have to deal with enforcement of masks but rather focus on education and keeping everyone in school.

While the school year opened with 64 cases districtwide in August (the highest numbers with 23 cases at Torrey Pines), case numbers have gone down this month. The district’s COVID-19 dashboard lists 20 positive cases districtwide for the month of September.

Anti-mask activists putting up new signs at LCC.

(Courtesy SDUHSD)