FCPS sets metrics for ending mask mandate

Fairfax County Public Schools will begin to roll back its mask requirements when the county reaches “moderate transmission rates” and remains there for seven consecutive days, the school system announced.

Meanwhile, both the Virginia House of Delegates and Senate have passed bills allowing parents to have their children opt out of school mask mandates. Gov. Glenn Youngkin is signing the bill today and said he would seek an emergency clause so the legislation could take effect immediately.

According to the Virginia Department of Health, Fairfax County has a high rate of Covid transmission. There were 170 new cases per 100,000 people during the week of Feb. 6-12. To get to the moderate level, the number of new cases must be below 50.

Zip code 22003 (Annandale) has the highest rate of Covid cases (16,371 per 100,000 persons) compared to other zip codes in Fairfax County, the Fairfax Health District reports.

“While we continue to see declines in Covid cases across our community, we remain in high transmission and all current layered prevention strategies, including masking, remain in place,” FCPS states.

When the community has maintained moderate transmission for seven days, masking will be optional. FCPS employees who are not fully vaccinated will still be required to wear a mask indoors, regardless of transmission level. Contact tracing, isolation, and quarantine will continue.

Youngkin previously signed an executive order giving parents the right to opt out of mask mandates but it was challenged in court by the Fairfax County School Board and six other school boards. An Arlington County judge issued a temporary restraining order in that case earlier this month.

Once the legislation takes effect, however, the legal challenge would be moot.

Related story: An early win for school boards in mask mandate suit

The legislation doesn’t require parents to give a reason for opting out. And it goes further than action taken in other states that give localities the authority to impose or opt out of mask mandates.

Fairfax County Board of Supervisors Chair Jeffrey McKay said he is deeply disappointed by the legislation passed by the General Assembly. It’s worrying when “members of the legislature work to take away our local decision-making, at either the Board of Supervisors or the School Board level, about the communities we know best,” he said.

It’s all about local control, McKay said. “The question is whether local school boards working with local health professionals, who understand the logistics, metrics, staffing, funding, and resources, should make decisions about local schools or if state elected officials in distant Richmond, should be the ones making absolute policy decisions about what happens in our classrooms.”