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‘I Am Beyond Furious’: Oregon Kindergarteners Reportedly Forced To Eat Lunch Outside In 40-Degree Weather

Videotaped socially distanced and sitting on buckets

   DailyWire.com
Child lunchbox
SDI Productions/GettyImages

At an elementary school in Portland, Oregon, kindergartners were videotaped eating lunch outside and sitting on buckets socially distanced in 40-degree weather.

The children were attending Capitol Hill Elementary School in Portland. One fed-up parent told The Post Millennial that forcing the children to eat their lunch outside was the “last straw” vis-à-vis Portland Public Schools, saying:

As a parent of a student at Capitol Hill Elementary, this policy is abhorrent. I am beyond furious, especially knowing children are low-risk. Governor Brown maskless in DC this weekend was the last straw. We’ve been patient with all of the policies here in Portland in hopes of not being ostracized within the community, but this is the last straw. I will be picking my child up to have lunch at home.

“The Post Millennial reached out to Portland Public Schools for comment but have not yet heard back,” The Post Millennial reported.

Oregon Democrat Governor Kate Brown was attending the LGBTQ Victory Fund’s 30th Anniversary Gala in Washington D.C. to be inducted into its Hall of Fame on Saturday and was photographed at an indoor gala without a mask. Washington D.C. does not have an indoor mask mandate; Oregon is one of a few states that still has an indoor mask mandate.

Last week, the Oregon Health Authority (OHA) gathered a Rules Advisory Committee (RAC) to consider a “permanent” indoor mask mandate in the state. Dr. Paul Cieslak, the medical director for communicable diseases and immunizations with OHA, told KATU, “Permanent means indefinite. It doesn’t necessarily mean permanent. We can repeal it as well, but we are only allowed to have a temporary rule for 180 days, and anything that goes beyond 180 days, we cannot extend it.”

Brown reinstated an outdoor mask mandate in the state in August. The State of Oregon website noted on August 24:

Governor Kate Brown today announced new statewide outdoor mask requirements to help stop the spread of the highly contagious Delta variant. Effective Friday, August 27, masks will be required in most public outdoor settings, including large outdoor events, where physical distancing is not possible, and regardless of vaccination status. The Oregon Health Authority (OHA) also strongly recommends masking for outdoor gatherings at private residences when individuals from different households do not consistently maintain physical distance.

The website noted in November that OHA had repealed the outdoor mask mandate but left it in place indoors, writing:

OHA has lifted the requirement to wear masks in crowded outdoor settings, such as football games, concerts, or holiday festivals. People in Oregon are still required to wear masks in indoor public settings to protect against the spread of the virus that causes COVID-19.

OHA still strongly recommends outdoor mask wearing for these groups to protect against disease transmission: people who are unvaccinated, the elderly, immunocompromised people, people at higher risk of contracting the disease, and people who live with someone in one of these categories.

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