9-Year-Old Suspended From School For Refusing to Wear Mask on LSU Campus

A 9-year-old in Louisiana was reportedly suspended from school on Tuesday for refusing to wear a face mask inside the classroom.

The elementary school student at the University Laboratory School (ULS), which is located on Louisiana State University's (LSU) campus in Baton Rouge, was sent home for not abiding by the school's COVID-related masking policies, ABC News affiliate WBRZ 2 reported.

No details were revealed about the events that led up to the fourth-grader's suspension, but a school spokesperson told the news outlet that the school reached the decision to suspend the unnamed student since a student refusing to wear a mask is barred from returning back to campus.

Newsweek reached out to the ULS principal for more information and comments but didn't hear back prior to publication.

"A student refusing to follow the mask mandate is a health concern and a disruption in the classroom, and therefore, they are not allowed to stay on campus," an LSU spokesperson told WBRZ 2 on Wednesday.

The child's father, Kyle Robichaux, expressed his frustration about the suspension decision and criticized the school's policies. But he doesn't plan to remove his children from the school after this incident, according to WBRZ 2.

"I have some concerns that education is not their priority, but controlling our children is their priority and I think that's a big problem," Robichaux said, according to the news outlet.

He said that the school is trying to apply rules to children "who can't make decisions on their own" and that they "have to sit there and abide by these rules that make no sense, that have no rational basis behind them."

"All these policies stop, when we make them stop," Robichaux added. "So, when you stop making your kids follow rules that don't make sense, that's when things are going to change and we'll get back to normal life."

The school's face mask mandate applies to students 5 years of age and older while inside all school facilities regardless of their vaccination status, according to University Laboratory School guidelines.

The guidelines also prohibit wearing gaiters and shields as face coverings and provide face mask exemptions to those with certain medical conditions.

Multiple schools nationwide have moved to enforce mask mandates as COVID cases surge amid the spread of the Omicron variant. On Tuesday, a school district in Portland, Oregon announced that it will require athletes to wear masks at all times during practices and competitions. The rule also applied to those in dance and music performances.

Similarly, an Illinois school district mandated face masks in December and revoked a policy that made mask-wearing optional. As per the school district's decision, all students, staff, and visitors are required to wear face masks during the 2021-2022 school year.