Science group says masks protect students. NC lawmakers may no longer require them.
Two new reports that looked at the experiences of North Carolina schools during the COVID-19 pandemic promote continuing to wear face masks in schools until more children can be vaccinated.
The reports released Wednesday by the ABC Science Collaborative say proper masking is the most effective strategy to prevent COVID-19 transmission in schools when vaccination is unavailable or there are insufficient levels of vaccination among students and staff.
The reports come as the state Senate voted Wednesday not to approve legislation that would end Gov. Roy Cooper’s statewide mandate requiring face masks to be worn in schools. The “Free the Smiles Act,” which already has been approved by the House, would allow K-12 public and private schools to make face masks optional for the 2021-22 school year.
Sen. Joyce Krawiec, a Forsyth County Republican, called it a good bill but said senators wanted to make some changes to the legislation. A committee of House and Senate members will be appointed to try to work out a compromise.
“We want to talk about some further protections and input from parents in those children’s health decisions and that’s something we want to add to the bill,” Krawiec said on the floor Wednesday.
The ABC Science Collaborative’s leaders said Wednesday it’s not their place to tell lawmakers whether to require masks. The collaborative is a partnership of Duke University and UNC-Chapel Hill to help advise schools on how to deal with the coronavirus pandemic.
“We’re not here to debate policy,” Dr. Kanecia Zimmerman, co-chair of the ABC Science Collaborative, said at an online news conference Wednesday. “But the science suggests that masking can be extremely effective, particularly for those who can’t get vaccinated while COVID-19 is still circulating.
“When thinking about whether or not masking Is in place, there will be things like anxiety, etc. that people will need to deal with moving forward.”
Masks required when schools reopened
Schools around the world closed for in-person instruction in spring 2020 as COVID-19 fears spread.
“The most severe mitigation measure, which current data suggest was likely unnecessary to prevent secondary transmission of SARS-CoV-2 in communities, was widespread halting of in-person education,” ABC says in its “Year in Review” report.
When schools began reopening in August for in-person classes, North Carolina joined a number of other states in requiring that masks be worn on campus. While some states such as South Carolina have lifted the school mask requirement, Cooper extended it through July 30.
Cooper and Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Dr. Mandy Cohen have pointed out that children under 12 can’t be vaccinated for COVID-19 yet and that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention still recommends masks be worn in schools.
Some schools only offered online classes or a mix of in-person and online classes until the Republican-led General Assembly and Cooper, a Democrat, reached a compromise in March.
The compromise required all elementary schools to offer full-time, daily, in-person instruction (Plan A) and middle and high schools to offer at least limited in-person classes (Plan B).
The compromise also had the ABC Collaborative look at the COVID data from 100 school districts and 14 charter schools that reopened for full-time, daily, in-person instruction.
Schools can safely offer full in-person instruction
The ABC Collaborative reported that the Plan A schools were highly successful in preventing the transmission of COVID-19 in schools. Fewer than 1 in 3,000 students who were in school buildings became infected with COVID-19 during school, according to the report on NC schools.
The report found no difference in the number of COVID-19 cases between schools that provided 3 feet of distancing in Plan A or 6 feet in Plan B.
“We don’t have to close schools again,” Dr. Danny Benjamin, co-chair of the ABC Science Collaborative said at the news conference. “We don’t have to have remote instruction. We’ve got tools that will keep the children and adults safe in school.”
Among the findings, the reports say:
▪ With masking in place, Plan A is appropriate for all grades and all schools. Plan B can be eliminated.
▪ Full-capacity bus transportation can and should resume, with the seating of up to three masked students per bus seat.
▪ Schools should consider eliminating quarantine requirements for people who’ve been vaccinated or who aren’t showing symptoms and were properly masked when they were exposed to someone who had the coronavirus.
▪ With proper safety protocols in place, particularly vaccination, schools could resume fall athletics while limiting the spread of COVID-19.
Masking, vaccinations promoted
Both ABC reports strongly encourage school staff and students to get vaccinated. Benjamin said fully vaccinated people are safe indoors.
“The combination of high vaccination rates and low community transmission may safely permit transitioning from mandatory masking of students and staff in K–12 schools,” ABC says in a report. “Importantly, high vaccination rates in elementary schools cannot currently be achieved because there are no approved vaccines for children younger than age 12.”
But the recommendation comes as some parents say they won’t get their children vaccinated and others say masks aren’t needed because students are at lower risk of COVID than adults.
Under the legislation being considered by the Senate, public and private schools would set their own masking policies for the upcoming school year.
Any school district that still mandates masks would have to vote by Aug. 1 on continuing the requirement and hold monthly votes on the issue. Charter schools and private schools that continue to require masks would be exempt from having those votes in the bill.
The legislation says Cooper can continue, via executive order, to require face coverings at individual public and private schools “to reduce the transmission of an airborne communicable disease during a state of emergency..” But the order would have to give reasons for requiring masking at those specific schools.
The legislation would prevent Cooper from issuing a new statewide school mask order.
“Knowing that school districts are entering the new school year with higher vaccination rates for adults gives me hope that we will see mask mandates removed for K-12 students in the fall,” Republican State Superintendent Catherine Truitt said in a statement Wednesday. “As a proponent for local control, I believe this should be a local decision — one made by school boards in tandem with parents, based on what’s best for their student population.”
This story was originally published June 30, 2021 at 1:15 PM with the headline "Science group says masks protect students. NC lawmakers may no longer require them.."
