FBI and Justice Department will help protect school employees amid uptick in violence over COVID-19 policies and critical race theory

The Justice Department and FBI were ordered Monday to help protect school employees across the U.S. following an uptick in violence against them. Attorney General Merrick Garland directed the FBI and other agencies "to discuss strategies for addressing this disturbing trend." 

The order comes after the National School Boards Association sent a letter to President Joe Biden about the "immediate threat" local schools and boards are facing.

In the letter, the association, a nonprofit organization that acts as a federation of state associations of school boards, said while local school boards want to hear from their communities, they have become "susceptible to acts of violence" as they do their jobs.