PLAISTOW, New Hampshire — When a group of unmasked parents tried to enter Thursday night’s Timberlane Regional School Board meeting to demand an end to a school mask mandate, police said no.
After a few minutes of back and forth, Sunday school teacher Kate Bossi squeezed through and got arrested for disorderly conduct.
“You are violating my civil rights,” she yelled.
“You are violating the policy,” someone else could be heard saying in the video recorded by Bossi’s daughter. “The policy mentioned students and staff, it does not mention parents. I am not a student. I’m not staff.”
“But you are entering school property,” police responded.
“I can’t. Imagine that’s what they’re really there to do,” said Bossi. “I honestly didn’t believe it was happening. My daughter has video footage, and he grabbed my signs, my banners, that I was going to use in my presentation. I said, ‘Let go of me,’ and they chased after me and he said, ‘You’re under arrest.’ And I said, ‘No, we’re taking our seats like calm down.’ Who’s really in charge over there? Who called the cops? What were they instructed? And how did the cops reconcile this when they go. Look, this is a school policy they’re law enforcement? Isn’t this beneath them? What’s happening? I just didn’t understand.”
The signs say masks are required by school policy but Bossi says that shouldn’t lead to jail time.
“It was filthy,” she said. “The Acoustics were great. I sang, the acoustics were fantastic. The toilet was filthy.”
After the arrest, the school board shut down the in-person meeting and held it remotely instead.
We reached out to the police for comment, they directed all questions to the school board.
We reached out to the school board but have not yet heard back.
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