JACKSONVILLE, Fla — A Jacksonville father and mother are very upset after finding duct tape in their 6-year-old son's face mask, who they say is nonverbal.
The parents noticed it after he got off the bus Thursday afternoon.
“I got very little sleep last night. I'm still shaking and I'm just really about to lose it," said Gina Cummings, mother of 6-year-old Caderyn who attends Chaffee Trail Elementary.
On Thursday, Cummings picked her son up from the bus stop in front of her home only to find a mask on his face that wasn’t his and duct tape inside of it.
“We have a non-verbal son that can’t communicate. He’s not going to be able to say he can’t breathe," said Paul Cummings, father of Caderyn said.
Cummings says with Caderyn having a special condition, he give his son face shields to take to school and an additional cloth mask.
He says one reason why he believes tape was on the mask is because his son tends to drool when having a mask on.
“Cloth mask you can drool and it won’t break through but maybe their mindset was let’s put two layers of duct tape on this so he can’t drool through and rip the paper. that’s the only rational thing I can think of," said Cummings.
Cumming says he’s trying to see the bigger picture, but he believes the duct tape inside the mask was a poor decision.
“I just want to know where the negligence came from, what the mindset was, and some awareness that maybe other parents are seeing this," said Cummings.
Duval County Public Schools sent First Coast News the following statement.
Thank you again for sharing this parent’s concerns. We forwarded this information to the school’s leadership and they were able to get in touch with the family. Additionally, this has been shared with the district’s Office of Professional Standards and is being looked into as a human resources matter.
Thank you again for encouraging families to make their school leaders immediately aware of any concerns, so that school leaders can address and problem-solve.