Charleston fails to adopt mask mandate in schools and day cares after heated protests
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An effort to require face masks inside both public and private schools and day cares in South Carolina’s largest city failed Tuesday night, after Charleston City Council members could not agree on how to best protect children returning to school amid a surging coronavirus pandemic.
The final vote tally was not immediately clear and was not read aloud by the clerk. A city spokesman later confirmed the last vote on the mask matter failed with an 8-5 vote.
Council needed nine votes, or a super-majority, to pass the emergency ordinance. The measure failed after council tried to amend the language of the emergency ordinance.
The original measure required adults and children over the age of 2, regardless of their vaccination status, to wear masks or face coverings in government buildings, in public and private schools, at day cares and when people gather in groups of 10 or more.
It failed with a 10-3 vote.
Mayor John Tecklenburg, who voted for the mask requirement, said its failure now leaves the city sticking with the resolution council members passed at an emergency meeting last week.
That measure strongly encourages children ages 2 to 12 to wear masks while attending schools inside Charleston’s city limits, and strongly encourages residents and visitors to get vaccinated.
Charleston City Council reached its impasse hours after a vocal and angry group of constituents shouted during the public comment portion of the meeting, calling on city council not to implement the mandate.
One by one, the concerned parties, many of them parents, approached the microphone and made their case, mask-less.
Many characterized the requirement as a form of “tyranny” and drew cheers when they proclaimed in defiance that they would not comply with the mandate, even if the city moved ahead with requiring them.
One man called masks “disgusting face diapers” while others repeated misinformation about the coronavirus.
As the crowd grew more disruptive and tried to shout down residents talking about other topics, the mayor tried to restore order to the meeting.
When the shouts continued, Tecklenburg shouted back, “Hey y’all, come on. Everybody’s entitled to their opinion.”
Council member Harry Griffin, who was mask-less the entire meeting, also interjected.
“I’ve never been more ashamed. I’ve never been more ashamed than I am right now,” Griffin said.
Charleston’s struggle over its city-wide push for a mask mandate illustrates how cities, counties and school districts in South Carolina are grappling with how to best manage the coronavirus as students return to school and as leaders debate the legality of a temporary state law.
A proviso that was inserted into the state budget bars schools from spending state funds on mask mandates.
But on Tuesday, the South Carolina Supreme Court ruled that the University of South Carolina has the right to require all students to wear masks inside to prevent the spread of the highly contagious COVID-19 virus.
The deadlock on display from Charleston City Council also comes as the contagious delta variant of the coronavirus surges in a state where less than half of residents are fully vaccinated.
Across the country, more people are getting sick and going to the hospital as the contagious delta variant hits unvaccinated people particularly hard.
Vaccines protect against serious illness or death, but do not completely prevent infection. However, no vaccine has been authorized yet by the CDC for children under 12.
When the time came for council members to vote, they could not agree on whether a city-wide mask mandate was the best path forward in light of recent developments.
With an 8-1 vote Monday night, the Charleston County School District’s board of trustees announced it would require masks for students, employees and visitors in its schools until at least Oct. 15.
Councilman Karl Brady, who last week railed against state lawmakers for what he said was their government overreach on the matter, said Tuesday he worried that a city effort on masks would now be a “moot point” after the school district made its choice.
“By us passing this emergency ordinance tonight, we’re effectively overruling and extending our mandate into areas that already have duly elected officials that can make that decision,” Brady said.
Councilwoman Marie Delcioppo said the issue was not the city’s to decide.
“I don’t think we can tell school districts what to do any more than we would want them coming in and telling us what to do,” she said.
But councilman William Gregorie, who last week suggested that Charleston consider a mask mandate of its own and drafted the measure, sat in his seat incredulous.
When councilman Ross Appel sought to amend Gregorie’s ordinance by removing private schools from its scope and omitting Charleston schools if they are located in Berkeley County, the effort quickly unraveled.
Councilman Peter Shahid took issue with Appel’s approach, saying the goal of the ordinance was public safety and a shared effort to help stem the tide of the coronavirus for all students in the city of Charleston.
He also said he did not care for carving out distinctions between the city’s children based on whether they attend private or public school, and whether that school is found in Charleston or Berkeley County.
“That’s just not fair. I’m going to vote against it,” Shahid said.
Fifteen minutes before Tuesday night’s city council meeting began, the Charleston County School District sent an alert about the first day of school. It reminded parents that students, employees and visitors must wear a mask or face covering in schools until at least Oct. 15.
Councilman Jason Sakran, who works for the Charleston County School District and has two children in public school, cited recent school closures already happening just days into the new academic year in Georgia.
He reminded the public that schools in Pickens County have now gone virtual due to a dramatic increase in the number of COVID-19 cases among students and employees.
“Whether you want a mask or not, that is the direction we are potentially headed. So guess what? All of our kids are going to be unmasked because they’re going to be home with us. So when we talk about supporting small businesses and our local business community, well guess what? That’s going to be a huge interruption to your day as parents,” he said.
The school district then sent another alert at 7:53 p.m.
“To clarify, masks are required in all parts of the building, including classrooms, for students, staff and visitors. Masks are also required on school buses,” the district wrote. “We expect everyone to comply with the mask requirement.”
This story was originally published August 17, 2021 at 11:02 PM.
