Parent Angry About Mask Mandate Puts School In Lockdown: Police

SARASOTA, FL — A Sarasota County elementary school briefly went into lockdown Tuesday morning when a parent who was angry about the district’s face mask mandate showed up at the school.

Around 10:30 a.m., “an irate parent,” Christopher Kivlin Jr., told officials at Ashton Elementary School that he “was on his way to (the) school to lift the roof off,” according to a Sarasota County Schools Police Department incident report.

The school was put in limited lockdown, and Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office deputies went to the school as backup, arriving just before Kivlin got there.

The father “had a scowl on his face while he strutted up to the school” and was “visibly upset,” according to the incident report.

Related Story: Mask Policy ‘Compliant’ With Florida Law, School Board Says

Kivlin accused Assistant Principal Jacob Ruscoe of threatening his wife and said that “the school was violating the law by not allowing his children to attend school,” according to police.

Under Sarasota County Schools’ mask mandate, children who don’t wear masks at school and don’t have a medical exemption can be sent home.

Officers told Kivlin that Ashton Elementary’s principal and vice principal “did not make the mask mandate and that it was not a criminal matter.”

He was also given several schooling options for his family, and officials suggested that he get his children a medical exemption for the district’s mask mandate.

Kivlin told police that he had no intention of hurting Ruscoe and was angry because the assistant principal hung up on him. He was told not to come back to the school without calling first.

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After the incident, Kivlin apologized for putting the school into lockdown and scaring other parents.

“First I want to start by saying I apologize if I worried any parents cause my intention was to do no harm,” he told WFLA. “I’m irate. I have to punch out of work because my wife is breaking down thinking the law is going to come down on her because the school is refusing to let my kids into school, I need answers.”

He added, “All the kids were safe. It was just emotions built up.”