Biden administration warns SC’s McMaster, other governors about COVID mask bans
President Joe Biden blasted governors Wednesday who he said are trying to “block and intimidate educators” over mask requirements in schools.
“Some politicians are trying to turn public safety measures as children wearing masks in school into political disputes for their own political gain,” Biden said from the White House. “Some are trying to take power away from local educators by banning masks in school.”
The Biden Administration announced plans Wednesday to use the U.S. Department of Education to deter states from banning universal mask wearing inside classrooms in an effort to protect children from COVID-19’s spread.
The administration sent letters to six states, including South Carolina, to admonish their governors’ efforts to ban universal masking in schools. The letters were first reported by The New York Times.
The State obtained the letter sent to Republicans Gov. Henry McMaster and Superintendent Molly Spearman.
“South Carolina’s actions to block school districts from voluntarily adopting science-based strategies for preventing the spread of COVID-19 that are aligned with the guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) puts these goals at risk and may infringe upon a school district’s authority to adopt policies to protect students and educators as they develop their safe return to in-person instruction plans required by federal law,” said the letter signed by Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona.
In response, McMaster’s spokesman Brian Symmes said the governor will “continue to push back and fight against President Biden and the Democrats’ radical liberal agenda.”
“Parents — not federal bureaucrats — know what’s best for their children, and that includes the issue of masks in the classroom,” he said.
This year, as COVID-19 cases appeared to drop, the South Carolina Legislature included a one-year provision in the state budget aimed at preventing state money from being used to enforce mask mandates in elementary, middle and high schools.
McMaster, who is up for reelection in 2022, has stood by the budget measure, while opponents who include the state’s schools chief, school board members, teachers and others say it leaves them unable to protect school-age children who can’t get the vaccine.
“Superintendent (Molly) Spearman has been clear in her support for empowering South Carolina’s locally elected school leaders, with the input from parents and their communities, to make decisions impacting the health and well-being of the students they serve,” said Ryan Brown, spokesman for the state Department of Education.
School districts respond
Ignoring the state budget measure, some school districts and local governments have implemented their own mask requirements.
This month, Charleston County Schools and Richland 1 School District instituted mask mandates, and Columbia City and Richland County councils adopted mask requirements in elementary and middle schools.
Meanwhile, lawmakers have urged Republican State House leaders to call legislators back to Columbia to repeal or modify the budget to let school districts choose whether to require masks.
“The Department recognizes that several (school districts) in your state have already moved to adopt such policies in line with guidance from the CDC for the reopening and operation of school facilities despite the state-level prohibitions,” Cardona wrote. “The department stands with these dedicated educators who are working to safely reopen schools and maintain safe in-person instruction.”
In a memo to the Department of Education, Biden directed staff to do “everything it can to prevent anything from standing in the way of local leaders and school leaders taking steps to keep all students safe in full-time, in-person learning, without compromising students’ health or the health of their families or communities.”
In his letter, Cardona wrote that the American Rescue Plan Act requires schools that get COVID-19 relief to adopt a plan for the safe return to in-person instruction and detail how they will maintain health and safety of students, teachers and staff.
“We’re not going to sit by as governors try to block and intimidate educators protecting our children,” Biden said. “For example, if a governor wants to cut the pay of a hardworking education leader who requires masks in the classroom, the money from the American Rescue Plan can be used to pay that person’s salary. One hundred percent.”
The State politics editor Maayan Schechter and McClatchy DC Reporter Bryan Lowry contributed to this article.
This story was originally published August 18, 2021 at 5:33 PM with the headline "Biden administration warns SC’s McMaster, other governors about COVID mask bans."
