Bipartisan group of SC senators call for special session to reconsider school mask ban
A bipartisan group of senators, including the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee and the chamber’s Democratic leader, asked for a special session to reconsider a ban on mask mandates in schools included in this year’s budget.
State Sens. Brad Hutto D-Orangeburg; Ronnie Sabb, D-Williamsburg; Luke Rankin R-Horry; and Sandy Senn R-Charleston, wrote a letter to Senate President Harvey Peeler, R-Cherokee, asking for him to call a special session as COVID-19 cases rise and one Upstate school district has gone to virtual classes for at least one week.
The one-year law has become a political flashpoint.
In June, when the House was debating the state’s annual spending plan, Upstate state Rep. Stewart Jones, R-Laurens, added a provision that prevented state money from being used to enforce mask mandates in public schools. It was approved largely along party lines.
But Gov. Henry McMaster, schools Superintendent of Education Molly Spearman and Attorney General Alan Wilson said the provision bans mask mandates in schools.
Proponents of allowing school districts to institute mask mandates say it only prevents schools from using state money to enforce a mask mandate, and other ways exist to require people to wear masks in schools.
The city of Columbia as well as the Richland County Council instituted mask mandates in elementary and middle schools within city limits as COVID cases have sharply increased. In the city of Columbia, fire marshals enforce the mandate.
“The situation we are now faced with is far different than when the State Legislature last convened,” the senators wrote.
“Recall the House-inserted-budget proviso demanded schools not mandate masks or risk being defunded. When originally passed, many may have thought COVID-19 was well under control. Now, many in the Senate would like to revisit this proviso given the current conditions.”
Those conditions include Pickens County Schools moving to all virtual classes amid the outbreak of cases, which has sent four teachers and one student to the hospital.
One staff member from Horry County Schools is currently hospitalized and on a ventilator. In Kershaw County, more than 130 students and staff have been infected with COVID and nearly 600 people are in quarantine.
Peeler’s office didn’t immediately return a phone call seeking comment Monday night.
House Democrats onday also called on McMaster to convene a special session to revisit the mask provision.
“That’s a decision that rests with House and Senate leadership,” said McMaster spokesman Brian Symmes. “The governor’s position remains the same with respect to masking in schools, and that is parents are the ultimate experts when it comes to a child’s health and a child’s safety, and if we’re going to have any conversation about masking in schools, the conversation has to start with accounting for and appreciating a parent’s opinion as to what is best for their child.”
This story was originally published August 16, 2021 at 8:42 PM with the headline "Bipartisan group of SC senators call for special session to reconsider school mask ban."
