By Brendan O’Brien

(Reuters) – As schools around the country face growing backlash related to pandemic safety measures and studies of race in America, school board members are asking for federal help from the president to protect teachers and community members from the “immediate threat.”

In a letter sent to Joe Biden on Thursday, the National School Boards Association (NSBA), stated that students, school officials, and school board members across the country are under increasing violence, malice and threats, which amounts to domestic terrorism.

“America’s public schools and its education leaders are under an immediate threat,” Viola Garcia and Chip Slaven, the group’s president and interim executive director, said in a statement about the letter.

The National School Boards Association requests federal law enforcement as well as other support to address the increasing number of acts of terror and threats that are being made across the country.

On Thursday, the White House stated that it is investigating what additional measures can be taken to protect public servants. “Obviously, these threats to school board members is horrible; they’re doing their jobs,” spokesperson Jen Psaki told reporters. “We’re continuing to explore what more can be done across the administration but, again, a lot of this will be local law enforcement.”

U.S. schools have been grappling with the issue of COVID-19 and masks mandates as a way to protect students and teachers during this pandemic. The friction around this issue has made otherwise pleasant school board meetings into heated arguments and yelling matches.

Board meetings have been plagued by complaints from parents and members of the community that criticisms of race theory are being misused to support anti-white, anti American views.

The NSBA stated that 90,000. members of American school boards are responsible for 14,000 schools in America. It requested U.S. Justice and Homeland Security to examine and report on risks students, educators and board members face.

The organization stated that this is an important time to take a proactive approach in dealing with the difficult topic.

One individual was taken into custody in Illinois on charges of aggravated battery, disorderly conduct and disruptive behavior at a school board meeting. A second individual made a Nazi salute in protest at Michigan’s masking rules during school board meetings.

The group said that anti-mask advocates in New Jersey, Ohio, and other states incite chaos at board meetings. A man was also ticketed in Virginia for trespassing while another person was held in custody. Another individual was also arrested in Ohio.