Statewide conflict brews over masks

When students go back to class this week, some parents will be telling their kids to disregard Fairfax County Public Schools’ requirement that masks be worn indoors.

Parents opposed to masks feel empowered by Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s Jan. 15 executive order giving parents the authority to defy the statewide school mask mandate.

A group of parents from Chesapeake filed a lawsuit against Youngkin earlier this week charging the executive order violates a 2021 state law that calls for schools to follow the CDC’s Covid guidelines calling for students and staff to wear masks at school.

The complaint charges the executive order “purports to sweep aside masking mandates and other protections with little or no consideration of or respect for CDC guidance, actions taken by the Virginia General Assembly, or the powers vested in school boards.”

Superintendent Scott Brabrand announced on Jan. 16 that FCPS’s mask requirement will stay in place.

Brabrand issued a clarifying message to the community Jan. 21 stating: “As COVID transmission rates remain high, we believe that in order to keep our schools safe for all children and staff, especially those who could be severely impacted by illness, keeping our mask regulation in place is crucial.”

Under FCPS’s mask policy, students who refuse to wear a mask indoors or on a bus “will be precluded access to face-to-face instructional programming until they comply,” Brabrand wrote. Students who refuse to attend schools because of the mask requirement will receive an unexcused absence.

Failure to follow the mask requirement will be treated as a dress code violation, possibly resulting in removal from class or other disciplinary action.

Brabrand invites the community to a virtual town hall for further discussions on masks in school tonight, 7-8 p.m.

Related story: FCPS defies Youngkin’s mask policy

Nearly 40 Virginia school district are keeping their mask mandates in place, including Loudoun, Roanoke, Stafford, Alexandria, Fluvanna, Henrico, and Northampton.

Meanwhile, 73.2 percent of respondents to a survey of constituents by Rep. Gerry Connolly agree that masks should be required in Virginia schools.

“Northern Virginia has made it clear: we will not compromise on the health and safety of our kids, and we will not allow our students and their teachers to be taken hostage in Governor Youngkin’s culture war,” reads a statement by Connolly.

Youngkin issued a 14-page document earlier this week outlining ways to reduce the spread of Covid in schools without masking and social distancing. Those strategies include staying home when sick, testing, vaccinations, cleaning, contact tracing, ventilation, and focusing on health data.

And while Youngkin wants public schools to drop their mask mandates, he sends one of his sons to a private school, Georgetown Preparatory School in Bethesda, Md., that requires students to wear masks.