A resolution brought before the Virginia Beach City School Board to make masks optional for students in the district failed in an 8 to 3 vote.
If passed, the measure would have allowed each child’s parent or guardian to make a decision to wear the mask each day.
“My younger son has sensory issues. For as gifted as he is, he hates going to school because of having to wear these masks. We went through four or five different masks for him to figure out which one was acceptable to him for him to make it through the day,” explained parent Chas Faison to WTKR. “Your situation may be different than somebody else’s. If they choose to wear a mask, that’s fine. But, in our situation, we don’t need to do that.”
Some school board members who opposed the resolution expressed concern over the nationwide rise of positive cases connected to multiple variants of the coronavirus.
The resolution compared multiple districts with similar enrollment numbers. Certain districts maintained a mask mandate, while others made the decision optional.
For example, Virginia Beach City Public Schools has a mask mandate and enrolls approximately 62,000 students, in addition to more than 14,000 staff members. For the week of December 5th, the district posted a 7.9 percent positive rate—92 cases reported.
On the other hand, Brevard County Schools in Florida has made masks optional and has roughly 74,000 students, plus 9,400 faculty members. During a similar time period, the district reported 22 positive cases.
According to data provided by the Virginia Department of Health, children under age 19 make up less than 20 percent of all cases in Virginia throughout the coronavirus pandemic. Additionally, the age group has accounted for around 2 percent of hospitalizations and less than 1 percent of deaths.
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Cooper Moran is a reporter for The Star News Network. Follow Cooper on Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
