School Board alters masking guidelines
Superintendent Grimsley said it is consistent to follow Youngkin’s directive, just as the schools honored former Gov. Ralph Northam’s order to mandate masks.
In a split vote, the Rappahannock County School Board last Thursday at a special meeting opted to make masking optional in accordance with an executive order issued by Gov. Glenn Youngkin, which does away with a statewide mask mandate in schools as the incredibly infectious omicron variant spreads.
The measure was passed 3-2 with Rachel Bynum, of Piedmont District, and Larry Grove, of Stonewall-Hawthorne District, voting in opposition. Chair Wes Mills, of Jackson District; Chris Ubben, of Wakefield District; and Lucy Maeyer, of Hampton District, all supported it.
While the School Board still strongly recommends that parents choose to mask their children, beginning on Monday (Jan. 24) those who wish to send their kids to school without masks must submit it in writing. Parents were sent last week a waiver outlining information about masking and quarantine guidelines that they were required to sign and submit to the schools before sending their children without masks on Monday. Unlike previously when parents wished to opt out of masking their children under Democratic former Gov. Ralph Northam’s mandate, they will no longer need to provide reason to gain exemption.
Still, all other mitigation measures that the schools have implemented remain in place, including the requirement that all staff and visitors wear masks indoors. Teachers are still unable to ask students to remove masks. The School Board also compromised in determining that students who wish to wear a mask will be provided a KN95.
The decision was made at the recommendation of Superintendent Dr. Shannon Grimsley, who outlined a legal conundrum that the body faced between Youngkin’s executive order, which allows parents to make decisions on whether their child wears a mask in school, and a bipartisan law, Senate Bill 1303, passed by the legislature last year that says schools must follow CDC guidance to the “maximum extent practicable.”
Current CDC guidelines recommend indoor masking for all students and staff in K-12 schools, regardless of vaccination status.
Grimsley argued it would be consistent for the School Board to follow Youngkin’s order since the schools ignored Senate Bill 1303 in the fall when it voted to make masks optional in the
absence of an executive mandate and honored Northam’s executive order to mandate masks.
The School Board’s move could lead to a surge in students being pulled into quarantine because of current state health policies, which are subject to change under Youngkin. Unmasked students who come into contact with somebody who tested positive for the virus are more likely to be quarantined than somebody who is masked.
Youngkin’s order has been the source of much contention among some state school systems, including many in Northern Virginia, that have acted in defiance of it by maintaining mask mandates and filed lawsuits challenging the constitutionality of the governor’s action. In response, Lt. Gov. Winsome E. Sears said in a Fox News appearance that the administration could withhold state funding for schools that don’t comply with the order, according to The Washington Post. The Virginia Supreme Court is expected to take up the matter this week.
In a news release Friday, Youngkin said he’s confident he will prevail in the Supreme Court of Virginia, and asked parents to “trust the legal process.”
“I have said all along that we are going to stand up for parents,” Youngkin said. “Executive Order 2 is not about pro-masks versus anti-mask, it’s about empowering parents.”
At last week’s School Board meeting in Rappahannock, several members of the community attended the meeting in person and virtually, with many speaking out in opposition to masks.
Grove, who opposed the measure, won reelection last year after running a campaign on following public health guidance as it relates to the pandemic. At last week’s meeting, he was left unsure why members of the School Board wanted to nix masking requirements when their policies in place seemed to be working quite well with case numbers generally down.
While Bynum, who also won reelection last year after campaigning in favor of school masking, voted in opposition, she said the compromise reached by the body was acceptable.
"I voted against the proposal and would have preferred to maintain universal masking for the health and safety of our students, staff, and community. I really don’t think Omicron is compromising," Bynum said in a statement. "Taking away universal masks from our mitigation strategy at this point in the pandemic, with community transmission high throughout the state and hospitals full seems reckless."
GOV. GLENN YOUNGKIN:
“I have said all along that we are going to stand up for parents. Executive Order 2 is not about promasks versus anti-mask, it’s about empowering parents.” SCHOOL BOARD MEMBER RACHEL BYNUM:
“Taking away universal masks from our mitigation strategy at this point in the pandemic, with community transmission high throughout the state and hospitals full seems reckless.”