COLUMBIA, S.C. — Whether to require masks or not has been a heated debate for public schools. However, in many local private schools, masks are required for all students and staff.
For example, at Heathwood Hall, whether you’re in first grade or a senior, wearing a mask in class is a must.
"The expectation is when we are inside, we are all masked,” explained upper school teacher Julie Firetag.
“I’m a parent as well and I feel that my child is safe here and we have an administration that’s making decisions that are grounded in science,” said Firetag.
She said she hasn’t had any trouble so far with students not wanting to wear masks.
"They want to be here. They want to be in school, they want to be with friends, so they know what they need to do," said the Heathwood educator. "There are no issues here. Sometimes a mask may droop below the nose and I’ll just point at my nose and it quickly goes up and I go on with my lecture.”
Students eat lunch outside and sometimes class is outside too. When outdoors, masks are not required.
Heathwood's Head of School Chris Hinchey told News19 the state proviso that bans mask mandates in schools doesn’t apply to them because they don’t get state funding.
When asked why he decided to mandate masks, he said "prior to school starting, we felt as if the infection rates were rising, we were looking carefully at our vaccination rates, and since we have students aged 2 to 18-years-old, some have a high vaccination rate and there are divisions where vaccination rate is very low.”
Hinchey said they decided to require masks for all students and staff before Columbia and Richland County passed their mandates for elementary and middle schools, which also applies to private.
So far, he thinks the masks prove to be working.
"We had some positive cases pop up before students got here during some of our preseason athletics but like last year, we haven’t had any known transmission on campus yet. So, we’re following that closely," Hinchey said.
Several other area private schools are also requiring masks for all grades and staff including: Ben Lippen, Cardinal Newman, Hammond and the Montessori School of Columbia.