During Saturday’s playoff football game between Whitehall and Shepherd, two spectators from Whitehall had to be escorted from the premises by a Yellowstone County Sheriff Deputy due to their refusal to wear their masks as required by the school district. According to Rich Hash, Athletic Director at Shepherd School District, the fans were asked multiple times by multiple staff members to put on their masks, and they refused each time. These spectators came in to the game together and gave workers at the gate a hard time about having their temperature taken and having to wear a mask. They were both given a mask at the gate in order to enter the game.
At first, the fans in question were with other Whitehall fans, but they eventually moved to watch the game from under the scoreboard. While there, the Shepherd High School principal as well as the elementary school principal each approached the men on separate occasions, asking them to please put on their masks. The men both responded that they would not wear their masks, and they would not leave the premises. At this point, Hash made the determination to call the Sheriff Deputy to assist in escorting them off the property.
In a Facebook post, one of the fans who was asked to leave, Steven James, stated, “Yellowstone County apparently is run by a bunch of Nazi thugs. I am at the Whitehall/Shepherd football game at Shepherd, and I was just escorted off the school grounds by a deputy from Yellowstone County at the behest of the athletic director for Shepherd. I was standing at least 50 ft. from the nearest person. These two little pimps with faux authority informed me that Shepherd school is private property. I challenged them to explain , and they just got irritated. So, I’m standing on a nice dirt mound overlooking the ballfield with a much better view of the playing field than I had before. I refuse to wear a mask.”
“Our policy is that masks must be worn on Shepherd school property at all times, whether inside or outside,” explained Hash. There was another group of fans from Whitehall who also did not wear masks, but they finally complied after the Deputy approached them about putting on their masks. Hash reiterated, “Most of our fans have been very good about wearing their masks. If they aren’t wearing them, they usually put them on after they are asked. But occasionally we have had to call out our own fans and warn them that they are in danger of being suspended from the property. In the end, they know that we are just trying to enforce the rules so our kids can play.”
Hash also explained, “One thing I was wrong about is that the school is not private property; it is public land, but there are also laws, rules, and policies that we have to follow, and that we can enforce.” In Yellowstone County, the county health officials have allowed each school district to set its own guidelines regarding fans at activities. Those guidelines still require approval by the county health officials. Hash stated that he contacted the athletic director at Whitehall and had it announced on the radio that anyone attending the football game would be required to wear a mask. “It shouldn’t have been a surprise to anyone coming, and if for some reason they didn’t have a mask with them, we handed them out at the gate.”
“In the end, the question is do you want to watch your kids play or not?” asked Hash. “You don’t have to agree with the rules or even like them, but we do have to follow them. Most people have not given us a hard time about it because they remember the beginning of the year when they couldn’t watch their kids play. Everything we are doing is so that the kids can keep coming to school and can keep playing, and the fans and parents can come be a part of it. That is the main goal here.”
