North Penn School District says it was ‘unacceptable’ for a teacher to tape a mask to a student’s face

The North Penn School District has apologized after a photo shared on social media showed a teacher taping a mask to a child’s face, calling the action “unacceptable.”

“An image taken in one of our classrooms last week and circulating on social media does not represent the universal values that the North Penn School District strives to instill in both our students and staff,” the district said in a statement. “After an immediate investigation, it was determined that while the incident was isolated and no malice was intended, the actions of the teacher were entirely inappropriate and unacceptable, no matter the context.”

The district said the matter was “being addressed with the employee” but did not comment further on the teacher’s status.

The photo was posted earlier this week on a “North Penn Stronger Together” Facebook page, the name for the slate of Republican school board candidates who lost election to the board in November.

“Pro-mask or anti-mask, I hope we can all agree that taping masks to children’s faces crosses the LINE. This was not a joke for the child or the parents,” the post read, before calling on the North Penn Neighbors for Progress — the group that had backed the Democrats who won reelection to the school board — and the school district to respond.

The Neighbors group said it could not comment on student or personnel matters that may come before the board, but said, “The continued exploitation of any piece of negative news to reinstigate the cynical, partisan rhetoric that fueled your failed campaign is exhausting.” Stronger Together said it was no longer politically affiliated and had been given permission by the family to post the photo.

The photo, which garnered more than 250 comments on the Stronger Together page, was reposted on Fox News commentator Sean Hannity’s website.

Social media posts called for parents to voice their concern at a school board meeting at 7 p.m. Thursday.