Loudoun County Public Schools announced on Monday will it continue requiring face masks be worn when schools reopen Tuesday and through the rest of the week following an executive order by the newly-sworn in governor that would give parents control over their child be masked in school.
On Saturday, Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R) signed an executive order allowing parents to decide whether their children be required to wear face masks in school, despite the transmission rate remaining high locally, around the commonwealth and nationwide.
Loudoun County has a seven-day rolling average of 162.2 cases per day per 100,000 people, according to Monday’s data from Virginia Department of Health, which is down from the record 216.7 cases last week.
LCPS has 220 students and 16 staff members in quarantine, as of Monday’s LCPS data report, and 199 students and 25 staff members have active COVID cases.
“LCPS is committed to in-person learning, and our layered mitigation protocols have served the division well in keeping transmission to a minimum,” said Loudoun County Public Schools Superintendent Scott Ziegler in a prepared statement.
“LCPS will review the updated guidance from the Governor’s Office, the Virginia Department of Education, and the Virginia Department of Health and will provide new information to LCPS families and staff on Wednesday, January 19, 2022,” he added.
Scott Ziegler, superintendent of Loudoun County Public Schools, anticipating an order from the new governor, told school board members last week that he would look to create a policy within the school division in lieu of a statewide mandate.
“Likely, I will bring it to the board for action,” Ziegler said during Tuesday’s board meeting.
Asked Monday if the superintendent was planning to bring such a proposal to the board this week, an LCPS spokesperson directed the Times-Mirror back to the division’s earlier press release.
Under the Executive Order, the governor also directed school districts to marshal any resources available to improve the indoor air quality in school facilities.
Local authority on masks in schools
Loudoun County Supervisor Mike Turner (D-Ashburn) said he plans to make a motion at Tuesday’s business meeting urging the board to support a resolution that affirms the School Board and Superintendent are the sole authority, under the Virginia Constitution, to impose or lift mask mandates in Loudoun County, according to a Jan. 17 release.
The resolution will also express the Board of Supervisors’ support for any and all actions taken by the Superintendent or the School Board to retain mask mandates in Loudoun County Public Schools, the Jan. 17 release states.
Turner said the governor’s order violates SB 1303 that was passed into law last March requiring all in-person school instruction to comply with Centers for Disease Control and Prevention mitigation strategies, and guidance from the CDC.
He said the CDC’s only exceptions are for medical or job safety reasons.
“We simply cannot risk another total school shutdown here in Loudoun County,” Turner said in a prepared statement.
“The mental health impact on our kids would be devastating,” he said. “One of the most inviolate core obligations of any elected body is to protect the lives of the citizens it represents. Sadly, Governor Youngkin has forced elected school boards in communities throughout the commonwealth to choose between exercising their sole constitutional authority to protect the students and families they serve or obeying a medically unsound executive order.”
Sen. Siobhan Dunnavant (R,) who serves Henrico, said the law that was passed to get children back into the classroom — SB1303 — has been used against children.
“SB1303 does not mandate the use of masks in school because the CDC does not mandate masks,” Dunnavant said in a prepared statement. “Governor Glenn Youngkin’s executive order does not ban masks; it gives parents options. Just like SB1303 does not mandate masks; it gives school boards a roadmap to keep schools open.”
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