Beaufort County school board calls special meeting to discuss mask mandate
Beaufort County’s board of education will meet Thursday to discuss requiring masks in schools, following a federal judge’s temporary restraining order related to a South Carolina law aimed at preventing school district mask mandates.
The school board meeting will take place from 5 to 6 p.m. Thursday at the Beaufort County School District office located at 2900 Mink Point Blvd.
In-person attendance will be capped at 60 people, and there is not a public comment session listed on the agenda for the meeting.
On Aug. 23, Beaufort County’s school board met for nearly seven hours to consider implementing a mask mandate, hearing from public health, legal experts and 66 members of the public who were split on the issue.
Ultimately, the board voted 9-2 to table their discussion at that meeting until until the state Supreme Court reached a decision on the legality of the one-year law, which comes from the state legislature’s budget package and states that any school or district that requires masks for students or staff will lose state funding.
On Wednesday, federal judge Mary Geiger Lewis granted a temporary restraining order on the law. In her order, she stated that the law discriminates against children with disabilities, violating the Americans with Disabilities Act and other federal laws.
On Thursday, South Carolina’s Department of Education weighed in, with State Superintendent Molly Spearman saying school districts can now implement their own mask mandates.
This story was originally published September 29, 2021 at 4:46 PM.