OSHKOSH, Wis.— Oshkosh Area School District officials postponed a school board meeting after a group of protesters stormed the room and refused to wear masks.

After initially planning to begin the 2021-2022 school year with mask wearing being optional throughout OASD, the administration changed course several days ago to now require masks in school buildings.

The new mandatory mask policy took effect Monday. A group of 20 to 30 people showed up at a school board meeting Wednesday to protest the policy. The group refused a police officer’s order to don masks and an argument broke out with mask supporters in the audience.

District officials said if the group didn’t wear masks they wouldn’t hold a meeting. Board members walked out of the room and minutes later board president Bob Poeschel announced the meeting had been postponed.

Superintendent Bryan Davis announced Thursday that masks will be mandatory through Oct. 1.

"It comes down to what we're seeing from a data standpoint. When we were making our earlier decision and decided to look at our face masks as optional, we were looking at some data points in June and July which were looking very favorably," Davis said in an interview with Spectrum News 1 earlier this week.