Ocean Breeze Elementary School, located in Brevard County Fl, has allegedly forced a mask on a medically exempt child. Sofia Steele is a 7-year-old girl with Down syndrome. Her father, Jeffery Steele, claims that Sofia got off her bus on Oct 7th with a mask tied around her head.
The father of a girl with Down syndrome whose school tied her mask to her face speaks out: "We did not want Sofia masked."
Read more: https://t.co/b64pSHVpVU pic.twitter.com/ZdngZphnzh
— The Post Millennial (@TPostMillennial) October 26, 2021
“When this child got off the bus and had the mask it was tied around the back of her head underneath her ponytail and it was quite tight around her face.” Said Steele to local network WOFL-TV.
Sofia was to have a medical exemption due to her disability. For Sofia wearing a face mask can be extremely dangerous as she has an enlarged tongue and breathes through her mouth. She is also non-verbal which makes it difficult for her to communicate when she cannot breathe.
“Medically, she could aspirate. She could asphyxiate all sorts of medical things that could happen and because of her breathing because of her enlarged tongue could cause seizures,” said Steele.
How Long has the Mask Been On?
Brevard County, where Sofia’s Ocean Breeze Elementary School is located, issued a mask mandate on August 30th and has recently extended the mandate until Oct. 29th. The county has defied the executive order of Governor Ron DeSantis in implementing such a mandate. The executive order from the Governor exempted all students from any form of mask mandate.
Furious father says school tied mask to head of 7-year-old girl with Down syndrome for weeks; lawmaker declares: 'There's going to be hell to pay' https://t.co/649P5zzQkk
— TheBlaze (@theblaze) October 24, 2021
Due to Sofia’s struggle with communication, it is believed that the child had been forcibly masked for 6 weeks. The teacher would then take the mask off each day before the child left school. The teacher’s actions left Sofia’s parents in the dark of the abuse she faced each day.
It is frightening as a parent to be unable to trust the care of your child to teachers. Men and women whom society totes as heroes for their sacrifices made for children. Many of them are, people who work tirelessly to give hope and a future to children but now due to college indoctrination and fear more stories are coming out showing teachers as dictators and fear mongers.
Going Forward
Sofia’s parents have taken her out of Ocean Breeze Elementary and have hired an attorney. Jeffery Steele has set up a crowdfunding campaign to help with their future legal fees. On the site GiveFundGo the campaign is called “Sofia’s Rights.” The description states:
“All proceeds raised from this fundraising campaign will help offset the legal costs necessary in taking on the school and our local government.”
The stated goal for the campaign is 200,000 and at the time of this publication has reached 84,955.
Brevard County Nightmare — Young girl with Down Syndrome had mask tied to her face by school officials… https://t.co/xJyR1TZoF1 via @CitizenFreePres
— Roger Burd (@Rburd1) October 26, 2021
State Representative Randy Fine (R) heard about Sofia’s story and was disgusted. In a public meeting last week he said, “there’s a special place in hell for the three people who did this to this girl.” Adding,”this girl experienced real child abuse at the hands of the Brevard County School Board, and I will tell you this: this Session, there’s going to be hell to pay for the people who did that.”