Face masks now required for NC private schools and homeschools with multiple families
North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper’s tougher new face mask rules will impact young people who’ve been relatively unaffected by the requirement before.
Cooper announced Monday a new executive order that will require private schools to join with public schools in mandating that people on campus wear face coverings. The order also means wearing a mask at home when friends are over as well as at work, the gym, stores and schools.
In addition to private school students, the order will impact some students who are being homeschooled or otherwise learning from home and not on a school campus. It will also likely mean more student-athletes than before will have to wear a face mask.
“We are in danger,” Cooper said at a news conference Monday. “This is a pivotal moment in our fight against the coronavirus. Our actions now will determine the fate of many.”
Face masks required for private schools
In order to open for in-person instruction, K-12 public schools have been required to have students, school employees and visitors wear face coverings. But that hadn’t been the case for private schools, even though many have been open for in-person instruction since the summer.
Private schools have accounted for the majority of COVID-19 clusters at schools statewide, The News & Observer previously reported. There are 1.5 million public school students compared to around 100,000 students in private schools.
A small Durham private school was recently listed as having 26 confirmed COVID-19 cases among students and staff.
Face masks must now be worn at private schools outdoors when within 6 feet of another person and at all times indoors. Exceptions are allowed, such as when students are eating or drinking or have a condition that prevents them from wearing a face mask.
Some private schools had required masks to be worn even before the new order.
Face masks for homeschoolers
Until now, students have never been required to wear a face covering when they’re learning at home. But the masks are now required if non-household members are present.
The requirement affects “learning pods,” which have become popular as multiple families have gotten together to work as a group during the pandemic.
“If there is a blending of students from different households, face coverings are required,” according to a FAQ of the executive order.
Cooper called face coverings the “best weapon” Monday for slowing the spread of the coronavirus.
But there could be resistance to these new requirements.
“Is the Governor prepared to send state officials/authorities into people’s homes for this?” Brian Jodice, executive vice president of Parents For Educational Freedom in North Carolina, tweeted Monday.
Face masks required for indoor youth sports
The new executive order also impacts youth sports.
For amateur and youth organized sports, face coverings are required indoors at all times for all players and spectators who are at least age 5, according to Cooper’s FAQ.
The order comes as the North Carolina High School Athletic Association recently announced that volleyball players must wear face masks during games. Volleyball and swimming are the only two indoor sports occurring now, according to NCHSAA Commissioner Que Tucker.
Tucker said swimmers are allowed to remove the face coverings when they’re in the water. Otherwise, she said they’re required to have them on.
Basketball is the next indoor sport to start, beginning Dec. 7 with practices and then games on Jan. 4. Tucker said the executive order means they’ll likely require masks to be worn by basketball players, too.
“The NCHSAA family is prepared to do our part to mitigate the spread of this virus,” Tucker said in an interview Monday. “If that means wearing a mask at all times, we will make that adjustment.”
This story was originally published November 23, 2020 at 6:12 PM with the headline "Face masks now required for NC private schools and homeschools with multiple families."
