Richland schools will keep mask wearing despite SC governor’s orders
Students in two Richland County school districts are still required to wear masks, despite an executive order from S.C. Gov. Henry McMaster lifting mask requirements in the state’s schools.
After McMaster’s order was issued late Tuesday, the superintendents in both Richland 1 and Richland 2 announced both districts would keep mask requirements in place.
“We have not had an opportunity to review and assess (the governor’s) 15-page order in its entirety,” Richland 1 Superintendent Craig Witherspoon said in a statement released late Tuesday. “We are also awaiting guidance and additional information from the S.C. Department of Education and the S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control.
“Until then, our face covering policy and related requirements will remain in place, including the wearing of face coverings by students and staff in our schools and administrative buildings and on our school buses,” Witherspoon said. “The health and safety of our students and staff continue to be our priorities, as they have been throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, which is not over.”
Richland 2 also released a statement Tuesday saying its schools will continue to follow guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, DHEC and the S.C. Department of Education. District spokeswoman Libby Roof said the district had been told state guidelines remain in place by the Education Department.
“Due to the lateness of the order, the legal ambiguities, and the absence of a DHEC opt out form, the state face covering guidelines will remain in effect until such time as the agency has the opportunity to confer with legal counsel and provide further guidance,” the department told the district, according to an emailed statement from Roof.
State guidelines require students and staff in public schools to wear a mask when entering a school building, moving through hallways, during pickup and drop off, while boarding, riding and exiting buses, and when social distancing is not possible.
Students may only remove their face coverings when directed to by a teacher or administrator while in the classroom or during special activities outside the classroom.
But my midday Wednesday, S.C. Superintendent Molly Spearman had lifted the face covering requirement for schools while keeping it in place for riding school buses, because of federal requirements. But a department spokesman encouraged schools to continue to follow the department’s guidelines, while criticizing McMaster’s order for “inciting hysteria” and “sowing division.”
As of Wednesday afternoon, Richland 1 was “working through various issues” related to the new guidance, and would outline next steps to their parents, students and staff “as soon as possible.” Richland 2 had not responded to a request for comment from The State.
The move comes as masks have become an ever bigger dividing line in schools across the state. On Monday, the Lexington-Richland 5 school board voted to “strongly encourage,” but not require, students and faculty to follow state department guidelines, essentially making masks optional in schools in the Chapin-Irmo area.
Some parents have called for schools to do away with masks, questioning their effectiveness and arguing mask mandates interfere with their ability to make their own decisions. Others argue the pandemic has not yet subsided enough to the point where social distancing guidelines are not still required to stop the spread of the disease.
Lexington-Richland 5 initially put a pause on rolling back its mask rules due to concerns it would violate state guidelines and could open the district up to a lawsuit. But that was before McMaster’s order overruling most public school and local government mask requirements.
Elsewhere, Lexington 4 said mask-wearing would be optional for parents who filled out a form from DHEC, while noting masks are still recommended, and that the district would continue to maximize social distancing, limit in-school transition periods, and regularly disinfect common surfaces. Lexington 3 said it would start accepting the mask opt-out forms on Thursday while continuing to follow “stringent sanitation guidelines” and encourage students and faculty to regularly wash their hands.
The Palmetto State Teachers Association made a similar claim in response to the governor’s order on Wednesday, arguing local districts could be held liable if they follow the governor’s order instead of public health guidelines.
“Gov. McMaster has decided to undermine one of the core components of the safe in-person learning environment he has prioritized for the past year,” said Patrick Kelly, the association’s governmental affairs director. “It came too late in the day for schools to adequately communicate plans for the following school day, causing confusion and frustration today for countless students, families, and staff. More importantly, the governor’s action comes too late in the school year to allow families and schools sufficient opportunities to modify instructional models.”
National and global health experts say masks are one of the main tools for stopping the spread of the coronavirus. The CDC says even those who are fully vaccinated should still wear them in large crowds and where social distancing isn’t possible. People who aren’t fully vaccinated are advised to wear masks indoors and in crowds outdoors.
This story was originally published May 12, 2021 at 9:31 AM.
.jpg)