COLUMBIA, S.C. — It’s been a year of constant change for school districts working to protect students and the community from the spread of the coronavirus.
The face mask has been a key component to safety, but is it time to put the masks away?
Governor Henry McMaster argues yes.
“Now that the teachers have all had an opportunity and the staff to get vaccinated, now that we have so many people that have developed immunity, I think it is ridiculous for a school district to be requiring children to wear the mask unless the parents of those children want them to wear a mask,” the governor said in a Wednesday interview. “It’s the parents’ choice. It is no longer the school district’s choice.”
But state leaders are pushing back, saying masks should stay at least through the end of the school year.
In separate statements to News 19, both the State Department of Education and the Department of Health and Environmental Control (DHEC) said safety guidance like mask wearing is needed to continue slowing the spread of the virus.
“We understand that when the Governor makes a policy or decisions, he has to consider many different factors,” Dr. Edward Simmer, DHEC’s Director said in a statement. “At DHEC, our role is to focus on public health and advise the Governor on public health issues. Looking at where we are in the COVID-19 response, we are hopeful. We’re making good progress and we are starting to see infection rates drop, but we’re also still seeing a percent positivity rate around five percent and that’s concerning. That means there is still a lot of disease transmission occurring in our communities.”
He went on to say, “Although we are getting more and more South Carolinians vaccinated, we are not close to herd immunity yet. From a public health standpoint, DHEC recommends that those municipalities with mask ordinances in place should keep them in place for now, and children should continue to wear masks in school at least through the end of this school year. When school starts in the fall, we can revisit that recommendation based on how many people are vaccinated and how close we are to herd immunity, and we are hopeful that masks will no longer need to be mandated for students. We support the current federal CDC recommendations, and we believe that staying the course with regard to wearing masks and taking other appropriate precautions for a while longer is currently the best approach for public health, and that has been and continues to be our priority.”
The Education Department said:
“By following the mitigation strategies recommended by public health experts, South Carolina is one of only a handful of states in which every school is fully open to in-person learning,” the statement read. “We would advise districts to continue to follow these guidelines and if the Governor feels that they are no longer needed, he has the power to issue an executive order directing districts to abandon them.”
When asked about potentially implementing an executive order related to masks, the governor said Wednesday he would do “whatever is necessary… to help them understand what is good for the state of South Carolina.”
He has still not decided to move on that executive order.
The Education Department said the face covering policy will be in place through the remainder of this school year. After that, it will no longer be a requirement.