Monthly votes on NC school mask mandates are unnecessary — and dangerous

Meetings postponed due to threats. Glass doors shattered by protesters. Parents attempting to “overthrow” the local school board.

Thanks to COVID, school board meetings have become a major stage for heated public debate, as parents, board members and other players face off on mask mandates and other pandemic protocol.

Don’t expect that to end anytime soon. Under a new law enacted in late August, North Carolina school boards are required to hold public votes each month on their mask policies. The requirement was one of many education-related COVID-19 provisions passed in Senate Bill 654 with strong bipartisan support.

Now, with mask wars escalating, the North Carolina School Board Association has written to Gov. Roy Cooper and lawmakers asking them to reconsider the monthly voting requirement. But Republicans — many of whom oppose school mask mandates themselves — blocked Democrats’ efforts to undo the requirement on the House floor last week.

When the bill was passed, lawmakers said it would promote transparency and give parents a chance to voice their opinions on mask mandates. Intentions aside, however, the consequences of these monthly mask votes have proven to be much more dangerous.

“I believe strongly in the need to have the public be able to come and voice their concerns, but it’s always been in a respectful manner. And unfortunately, I think what we’re just seeing across the state and the country over the last few months is that level of respect has been lost, and it’s been replaced with a lot of anger and hostility,” NCSBA president Amy Churchill told the Editorial Board.

Some school boards have begun using metal detectors to check attendees for weapons prior to entry. Others now conduct meetings under the watchful eye of a police officer. These mounting safety concerns have prompted Cooper and state education officials to weigh in, calling for an end to threats and hostility at school board meetings.

Elyse Dashew, chairperson of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Board of Education, said she’s received disturbing messages related to the district’s mask policy, some of which she has forwarded to law enforcement.

“Public service shouldn’t come with a caveat that you’re putting yourself in danger just to serve the public,” Dashew said.

These monthly votes aren’t just dangerous, they’re unnecessary. They don’t always result in productive conversation, and the debate seems to have a lot more to do with politics than it does student safety. In some cases, those who come to protest at the meetings don’t have a child enrolled in the school system, or don’t even live in the district at all. Even U.S. Rep. Madison Cawthorn traveled several hundred miles outside his district to stoke a spectacle at a Johnston County school board meeting. Despite all the commotion, the school board didn’t even vote on the mask policy that day.

“I think it is inefficient. It is not the highest and best use of board meeting time when you’ve got kids in crisis, when you’ve got devastating academic and social-emotional impacts due to COVID. And I would prefer to have all of our energy focused on addressing that,” Dashew said.

Yes, transparency is important, and as the nature of the pandemic changes, it makes sense that our protocols will have to change, too. But if nothing has significantly changed since the last vote, there isn’t much value in revisiting the policy over and over again. School boards already host regular meetings that allow for public comment, so removing the monthly voting requirement wouldn’t strip parents of their ability to voice their concerns. Rather than voting on the policy each month, votes should be held as needed if and when changing coronavirus metrics cause school boards to reconsider their mask policy.

As long as school mask mandates remain a local decision, school boards also should be allowed to decide when to vote on them. These monthly votes haven’t encouraged transparency and communication. They’ve further politicized an issue that’s already far too political, stoking hostility and division. Lawmakers should eliminate the requirement before things get even more ugly.

This story was originally published October 6, 2021 at 5:00 AM.