Gov. Cooper urges the many NC school districts not requiring masks to reconsider
Updated Aug. 16 with Transylvania County now requiring masks
Gov. Roy Cooper and state health leaders are urging school boards across North Carolina to reconsider their decision not to require face masks for the new school year.
As of Aug. 16, 52 school districts, many in small, rural area with low COVID-19 vaccination rates, have decided to make face masks optional. In a letter sent Friday to school board chairs, Cooper urged them to fully implement state health guidelines that recommend that face coverings be required to be worn inside schools.
The letter comes as most of the state’s 1.5 million public school students will begin the new school year on Aug. 23.
“Keeping children and staff in the classroom full-time for in-person learning is essential and following these health guidelines is the best way to ensure it,” Cooper, a Democrat, wrote in the letter. “None of us wants to close schools for in-person learning.
At least one school district, Transylvania County, opted to require masks after Cooper’s letter was sent.
“Because children under 12 cannot yet get a vaccine and the percent of children 12-18 years old who are vaccinated is low, all students, teachers and staff in grades K-12 should wear masks in school regardless of vaccination status.”
The letter is also signed by Dr. Mandy Cohen, secretary of the state Department of Health and Human Services, and Dr. Betsey Tilson, the state health director.
Cooper mandated face masks last year
Last school year, Cooper had required that face masks be worn in all public and private schools to try to slow the spread of COVID-19. But amid pressure to ease the requirement, Cooper dropped the statewide school mask mandate.
Groups such as the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the American Academy of Pediatrics recommend requiring everyone in school to be masked.
DHHS is still recommending that schools require face coverings be worn. But the final decision is being left up to individual school districts and charter schools.
Despite the urgent request Friday, Cooper is not imposing a new statewide mask mandate.
“The state is offering clear guidance and schools should require masks,” Mary Scott Winstead, a spokeswoman for Cooper, said in a statement Friday. “The Governor is focused on getting more people vaccinated and is urging local leaders to implement these health measures on the local level.
“Everyone wants schools to remain open for in-person learning and the state will continue to provide guidance and assess the need for any additional action.
As of Aug. 16, 62 of the state’s 115 school districts have voted to require face masks. The mandatory mask districts include most of the large urban areas, such as Wake County, Charlotte-Mecklenburg, Guilford, Forsyth and Cumberland counties, and represent 60% of the state’s enrollment.
The Wake County Republican Party’s Executive Committee will meet Monday to consider censuring two GOP school board members who supported the mask mandate.
In his letter, Cooper cites how the Delta variant of COVID-19 has led to rising infection rates, including among children. He also points to how it’s led to more people being hospitalized for COVID-19, including for pediatric patients.
The rate of new COVID-19 cases in North Carolina is the highest it’s been in months, The News & observer reported.
The issue of whether to require masks has led to protests and large crowds at school board meetings across the state.
In the past week, at least nine school districts, including Johnston County, have reversed their decision to make masks optional. They’ve cited issues as the rise in the number of COVID-19 cases that have caused schools that are already open to see large numbers of students quarantined.
“As you know, several school districts which had decided to make face coverings optional wisely have reversed course,” Cooper writes. “Please join them and others by adopting strong health protocols.”
Cooper wants schools to encourage COVID vaccination
In addition to asking them to require masks, Cooper wants school boards to encourage students and staff to be vaccinated for COVID-19.
“Vaccines remain our best weapon to fight this pandemic,” Cooper writes.
The requests could be a hard sell for some school districts that have made masks optional. All but one of those districts is in a county that voted for Donald Trump in the 2020 presidential election.
Some school board members in the mask-optional districts have questioned whether they should recommend the vaccine because it’s only been approved for emergency use authorization. But most doctors and medical groups say the COVID-19 vaccine is safe.
School boards in the districts not requiring masks have also argued that it should be left up to families and school employees whether to wear a face mask.
“Personal responsibility is an important part of civic responsibility,” Bob Williams, chairman of the Onslow County school board said before this week’s vote to make masks optional.
“If we have the government dictating to us every facet of what we should or should not be doing, we take that responsibility and every day that we lose that we will never get it back.”
This story was originally published August 13, 2021 at 10:56 AM with the headline "Gov. Cooper urges the many NC school districts not requiring masks to reconsider."
