Demonstrators Force Wenatchee School Board Online

Tuesday night's Wenatchee School Board meeting was interrupted several times by a group of roughly 50 maskless demonstrators, resulting in the board going into recess twice before switching the meeting to an online format.

The demonstrators, many of whom continued to interrupt the board meeting when it was in-person, voiced opposition to state-level mandates, COVID-19 measures and statistics, and policy being developed by the board regarding controversial and political speech.

From the start of the meeting it was clear the board was going to have to address the lack of masks. After discussing some options, the board voted to enter into a short recess. As the discussion among the board was going on, the crowd began to get more disruptive. Eventually, the school board left for its recess along with superintendent Dr. Paul Gordon and the crowd remained.

At one point, a call to RiverCom was made regarding the protest. Law enforcement did not respond to the incident.

After the first recess the school board returned without members Laura Jaecks or Michele Sandberg. The three-person body then voted to continue the meeting online after another 30 minute recess. The longer recess was chosen as a way for those in attendance to be able to get to a computer and register for public comment.

School board candidate Matt Van Bogart had registered for public comment, but eventually declined to speak. Another candidate, Katherine Thomas, was reportedly in attendance early on. Ultimately, only four people spoke during public comment.

It is unclear if demonstrators will attempt the same type of protest again. Some in attendance commented that they would be doing the same thing next meeting. According to the Wenatchee School District, the next meeting will still be conducted in person. If the school board is met with the same maskless crowd, the meeting will again be moved online.