An Illinois teenager was arrested on Monday, after police say the student brandished a small pocket knife during an altercation with another student, over the wearing of face masks in school.
The altercation took place at Fremd High School in Palantine, a northern suburb of Chicago. The girl was a Senior and her name was Grace who ended up being the victim during the altercation.
The incident happened the same day that masks became optional in many school districts across Illinois.
“I was sitting in my seat like normal, a student angrily said, no one, better get near me, and I look up at him confused,” Grace said.
“And he goes, you, especially you, and he points his finger at me, and then I look around for a second… By the time I look around, he pulls a knife out and lunges it at me and I start freaking out, and I’m shaking, and I’m screaming,” she continued.
Grace said that although she did not predict a confrontation of this magnitude, she expected som tension walking into the classroom this week.
“I knew there was going to be tension. It was foreshadowed,” Grace said. “I had no clue it was going to go to this level, but definitely the whole school was aware that there was tension coming in on Monday.”
The student’s teacher reportedly acted with hast and subdued the fight quickly. No students were injured in the incident and charges are pending against the student who pulled the knife.
“We have communicated with the parents of students who were in the classroom at the time of the incident. Counselors were made aware of the situation and were available to talk to any students needing support,” principal Mark Langer wrote in the letter.
The question remains, how did the student bring a knife to school? With all the guidelines in place since school shootings became a huge ordeal, most schools have metal detectors and guidelines to make sure the children are safe.
This school obviously needs to up their security and safety guidelines.
Palatine School District 211 is one of more than 140 school districts statewide where parents and teachers sued Gov. JB Pritzker over his school mask mandate, and last week a Sangamon County judge issued a temporary restraining order prohibiting the state from enforcing the mandate in the districts named in the suit. While the state is appealing that ruling, District 211 has said it will not be requiring people to wear masks in school. However, students must still wear masks on school buses under a CDC order for masks on public transportation.
