Beaufort Co. school board discusses mandating masks, postpones its vote
Update: The school board will not have a public comment session or further discussion of a mask mandate at its Wednesday meeting. Instead, both have been tentatively scheduled for a special-called Monday meeting. More details here.
Beaufort County’s school board considered implementing a mask mandate at Tuesday’s meeting, but ultimately voted to postpone a decision “pending legal and public health advice.”
Board members discussed requiring masks, a decision that would defy a state law and risk losing state money, but ultimately voted 9-2 to postpone any vote. Richard Geier and William Smith opposed the delay; Ingrid Boatright made the motion to postpone.
A handful of citizens attended Tuesday night, the first school board meeting south of the Broad River since the pandemic began. Unlike the chaotic Hilton Head Island Town Council meeting Tuesday afternoon, which adjourned after mask opponents derided the council and called members “Nazis,” only one member of the public spoke at the school board meeting in opposition to a mask requirement.
The board voted 6-5 to adjourn before finishing Tuesday’s agenda, so members will reconvene at Hilton Head Island School for the Creative Arts at 6 p.m. Wednesday.
The school board did not have a public comment session or further discussion of a mask mandate scheduled for its Wednesday meeting, executive assistant Robyn Cushingberry said Wednesday morning.
Instead, it’s tentatively scheduled a special-called meeting for Monday, Aug. 23, to discuss a mask mandate. Cushingberry said Wednesday that she was still confirming the time and location of that meeting. If it’s not virtual, she said it will likely be held at 2900 Mink Point Blvd., the district’s headquarters in Burton.
Board chairperson Christina Gwozdz said Wednesday that the Monday meeting will include a public comment session. She added that the school board does not know which legal and public health advisers will be there Monday — “It’s a question of who’s available,” she said.
On Tuesday evening, Smith moved that the school board mandate masks in schools, and Mel Campbell seconded his motion.
“If we follow the science continuously, then my question would be why do we stop following the science now?” Smith asked.
Originally the motion directed Superintendent Frank Rodriguez to put the mask mandate in place.
Smith amended the motion after several board members voiced support for universal masking but said they didn’t “want to put Dr. Rodriguez in a bind,” in the words of Earl Campbell.
“I very much support universal masking,” said Gwozdz, a practicing ear, nose and throat physician. “I cannot support this motion for a number of reasons. We are asking Frank Rodriguez to break the law.”
When asked after the meeting whether he would enforce a mask mandate if the board voted for one, Rodriguez said “we’re not there yet.”
A statewide debate
Beaufort County School District has not required masks because a state budget proviso says any school or district that requires masks for students or staff will lose state funding.
Across the state, school districts and lawmakers are debating the proviso. A bipartisan group of four state senators have asked Senate President Harvey Peeler, R-Cherokee, for a special session to reconsider the ban.
Charleston County School District is mandating masks until Oct. 15 following an 8-1 school board vote Monday; Richland County Council and Columbia City Council each voted to require masks in elementary and middle schools within city limits.
District attorney Wendy Cartledge noted Tuesday that Attorney General Alan Wilson had upheld the state budget proviso, in line with his previous letters directed at the University of South Carolina and the city of Columbia.
Geier said he supported full masking, and would vote for the mandate, if other school districts hadn’t already done so, to become the legal “guinea pig.”
“As it is, all we’d be doing is paying more lawyers,” he said, adding that he would vote “no” on Smith’s motion.
Rising cases in Beaufort County
In Beaufort County, COVID-19 cases are rising as students return to school. As of Tuesday, the seven-day average of newly confirmed infections was 136 cases per day, nearly a record high.
As of Sunday evening, BCSD spokesperson Candace Bruder said the district had reported roughly 250 people in active quarantines for COVID-19 exposures. That’s about 1% of the district’s total population of students and staff.
The district also reported 60 active coronavirus infections, 11 of which were staff.
Hilton Head Island High School announced Monday that it will suspend its football program until at least Aug. 23 for “a few positive cases of COVID” on the team and “additional individuals quarantining as close contacts.”
Including the football program’s suspension, at least four team sports at four different Beaufort County high schools — Battery Creek, Beaufort, Hilton Head and May River — have been impacted by COVID-19 this month.
Tuesday’s debate was personal for many school board members. Okatie representative Angela Middleton said she was attending the meeting virtually because her son had contracted COVID-19 and she was quarantining.
“I’m all for wearing masks,” Middleton said. “Even though I’m fully vaccinated, I’m wearing my mask everywhere that I go. The last four days have been really tough, I’ve had some sleepless nights here.”
After Boatright’s motion to postpone, Middleton said she hoped the board would take up the mandate by the end of the week or beginning of next week.
“I’m not trying to put any pressure on anybody,” she said. “You just have to understand, I’m dealing with COVID right now. And this is some serious business. And it’s scary. I’m afraid in my own home.”
This story was originally published August 17, 2021 at 9:37 PM.