A California school district sparked a huge backlash after it sent an email to parents earlier this week telling them their children would be forced eat lunch outside in the rain due to coronavirus restrictions.
The email from Patwin Elementary School notified parents that 'students are required to eat outside' and instructed families to send kids to school with 'rain gear and warm jackets'.
Parents quickly took to social media to ridicule the instruction from the Davis Joint Unified School District (DJUSD), while education campaigners and state officials slammed the decision as 'cruel' and 'inhumane'.
'The inhumane treatment of children in California continues from masking all day, even outdoors, to having to sit on hot cement and now eating lunch in the rain,' Reopen California Schools founder Jonathan Zachreson told Fox News.
Republican California state legislator Kevin Kiley tweeted: 'Cruelty to children has been normalized in California.'
The school ultimately decided to U-turn on his instruction amid a torrent of criticism, later sending another email saying the school would stagger lunchtime routines to ensure kids could eat under cover.
The state of California has some of the most strict coronavirus restrictions among schools in the country, with kids and teachers forced to wear masks inside and outside on school grounds and submit to regular testing if they are not vaccinated.
California's controversial governor Gavin Newsom also announced at the start of the month that all elementary and high school students, in both public and private schools, will be required to get the shot once the vaccine is given final approval from the US government for different age groups.
An email from Patwin Elementary School on Monday notified parents that 'students are required to eat outside' due to Covid restrictions and instructed families to send kids to school with 'rain gear and warm jackets', sparking considerable backlash (pictured: Patwin Elementary School, Davis, California)
The state of California has some of the most strict coronavirus restrictions among schools in the country, with kids and teachers forced to wear masks inside and outside on school grounds and submit to regular testing if they are not vaccinated (pictured: elementary students in class in a Los Angeles school in August)
California governor Gavin Newsom announced on October 1 that elementary and high school students will be subject to a
