Lawmakers target masks in schools
As more schools move to mandate masks, a growing group of Republican lawmakers is working to stop them.
House Bill 400 would prohibit Ohio’s K-12 public schools from requiring facial coverings in class or on the bus.
“If you want your kid to wear it, they should wear it if you feel it protects them,” said bill sponsor state Rep. Jean Schmidt, R-miami Township. “But this has to be a parent-child decision.”
Schmidt’s bill is nearly identical to one introduced in the Ohio Senate in July by state Sen. Andrew Brenner, Rdelaware. Neither bill has had a hearing yet, but everyone interviewed in support of these bills wanted to see them move as quickly as possible.
Loveland City Schools in Schmidt’s district just implemented a mandate for its K-6 classrooms.
“I think there is a strong sentiment of support in both the House and Senate on this,” Schmidt said.
What she’s less certain about is Gov. Mike Dewine, a fellow Republican.
The governor doesn’t plan to institute another statewide mask mandate, but he also encouraged districts to require masks.
“That goal of having our children in school, in person is now being threatened,” Dewine said at a press conference last week.
“That goal is now clearly at risk.” Ohio reported 5,400 new COVID-19 cases Thursday.
That’s near where the state was in February, and it’s well above the rate of infections Dewine set as his limit for lifting the state’s previous mask mandates.
Dayton Mayor Nan Whaley, a Democrat who hopes to replace Dewine as governor in 2022, accused Dewine of letting the politics of mask-wearing get in the way of doing the right thing.
“I think he could actually fight with the Legislature on behalf of our children. Maybe they’d surprise us and do the right thing,” Whaley told reporters recently.
“And if they don’t, then yes – we should take it to the courts.”
Schmidt said parents should decide whether their kids wear a mask – not the schools, and certainly not the state.
And she has questions about how well they actually work at preventing the more contagious delta variant of coronavirus– especially in classrooms of small children who frequently fiddle with their face coverings.
The U.S. Centers For Disease Control and Prevention and the American Academy of Pediatrics both recommend that all students, staff and visitors wear masks for the 2021-22 school year.
Anna Staver is a reporter for the USA TODAY Network Ohio Bureau, which serves the Columbus Dispatch, Cincinnati Enquirer, Akron Beacon Journal and 18 other affiliated news organizations across Ohio.
“I think he could actually fight with the Legislature on behalf of our children. Maybe they’d surprise us and do the right thing.” Dayton Mayor Nan Whaley