A Texas father recently showed some skin at a school board meeting in order to make a point about wearing masks in schools.
Close to 30 minutes into theDripping Springs Independent School District’s board meetingon Monday, James Akers took the microphone to express his thoughts about the mask requirement in schools.
Standing in front of the board members, Akers — who is a father to four kids, three of whom have already graduated and one of whom is currently in the high school — began arguing in support of mask protocols, noting that while they may be inconvenient, they are in place for a reason.
“I’m here to show you that I do not like government, or any other entity — just ask my wife — telling me what to do,” hesaid in a video of the meeting. “But, sometimes I’ve got to push the envelope a little bit, and I’ve just decided that I’m going to not just talk about it, but I’m going to walk the walk.”
“At work, they make me wear this jacket. I hate it. They make me wear this shirt and tie. I hate it,” he said.
Then he seemed to speak sarcastically about other important rules, such as safe driving guidelines, that people know cannot be ignored.
Dripping Springs ISD/YouTube
The dad of four also claimed he parked in a handicapped spot at the school because the lot was full when he arrived and he wanted to park “wherever the hell I want to.”
Though Akers appeared to wear underwear in the video, Dale Whitaker, a spokesperson for Dripping Springs Independent School District (DSISD) tells PEOPLE he was actually wearing a swimsuit.
“There are too many voices out there that I think are digging in for political reasons, and absolutely just not thinking about the common-sense decisions we make every day to comply with everything, from driving down the road and being safe and courteous to other drivers, to not parking in handicapped spots,” he explained to the outlet. “All these rules that we’re given every day that we follow because they make sense.”
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Akers' impassioned speech comes as Texas deals withthe surge of COVID-19due to the more contagious Delta variant.
In March,Gov. Greg Abbottannounced that Texas would end all mask mandates. By July, he issued anexecutive order that banned the government, including public school districts, from setting forth requirements for wearing masks.
The Dripping Springs Independent School District publisheda Health Protocol documenton Aug. 6 that stated masks were optional in schools. Ten days later, the school board said masks were recommended, but not mandatory,despite the surging cases, according to theCommunity Impact Newspaper.
Hays County, where the Dripping Springs Independent School District is located, has reported more than 27,000 COVID-19 cases and 300 deaths since the beginning of the pandemic,The New York Timesreported.
source: people.com
