On January 18th 2022, the Spotsylvania County school board voted to rescind its current mask wearing policy. This comes following Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s executive order allowing for parents to choose whether or not their children wear masks.
This is a big win for parent’s choice advocates, because for the past school year, students have been forced to wear masks for the entirety of their educational day.
The governor's executive order is effective by January 24th, but has been met with much scrutiny. Parents and local leaders have expressed dismay for the order, claiming that it makes schools “unsafe”, and that it is only a result of the board's conservative majority that the mask mandate was lifted.
However, school board member April Gillespie of the Berkley District, claims that the board is simply voting to “uphold the governors order”, and that in the end “parent’s should be able to make that decision for their kids”.
More debate followed these comments as the board invited a council to explain more about the legality of the executive order, and whether or not it would fall against the advice of the CDC.
“The short answer is, we’re gonna find out-” the board's legal advisor stated, claiming that the order would counteract Senate Bill 1303, which states that all Virginia schools follow CDC guidelines.
The board’s legal advisor Mr. King also stated that while it is practicable to rescind the mandate on school grounds, it would go against the federal transportation standard to lift the mask mandate on buses, therefore requiring that students continue to wear masks on all public modes of transportation.
Mr. King also mentioned that the state’s department of labor and industry would continue to require that all staff wear masks in the classroom. However, executive order no. 2 is being presented to the Virginia Supreme Court, so there is no clear answer as to whether or not the order is legal as it stands.
The motion to rescind the mask mandate still passed regardless, and all Spotsylvania County Students are to return to school with the choice to wear a mask or not. Spotsylvania County is one of the few in Virginia to follow the Governor's order however, many surrounding counties have voted to uphold the mask mandate, and defy the order.
Fairfax County Schools, for instance, have made headlines after teachers and staff have reportedly called the police and suspended students who have made the choice not to wear a mask. A Virginia judge has ruled that these schools can temporarily defy Youngkin's order, although the decision has faced blowback from parents of the 7 Virginia school districts.
Following the board’s decision to rescind the mandate, public comments were open, allowing for parents on both sides of the mask debate to state their concerns.
One concerned parent, Daniel Latham, after disparaging the board's past meetings offered his opinion on mask mandates:
“It is time for you (the board) to be doing what you should have been doing since the beginning of this nonsense, which is protecting parental rights and control over the family’s health and education decisions.”
He followed by criticizing certain board members’ authoritative attitudes:
“The two sides of this argument are very simple, one side wants everybody to make their own assessments and their own decisions, for their own life and their family. The other side wants to force what they believe is best for you, your health, your family on everybody else. Never in history has the side that tried to control the life and decisions of other people been the good guys, never once.”
These comments were followed by countless more testimonies from angry parents and students who wanted their board officials to do what’s best.
Parents and students from all over Virginia have been very vocal in their dismay for the state’s handling of topics like CRT, Covid, and sexual assault. Heated board meetings are common, and are starting to become the center of Virginia’s political conversation. Governor Youngkin ran on issues like protecting parental choice, and the right of students to receive unbiased education.
As the mask debacle continues, one thing is certain. Parent's choice supersedes the school's harmful mask mandate in Spotsylvania.
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