MONCKS CORNER – Despite the recent increase in COVID-19 cases and the resistance of the state’s top education officials, the Berkeley County School District remains adamant about not requiring students, teachers and staff to wear facial covers while on campus.
The district is the only one in the state that has chosen not to require facial coverage for its 31,800 students while on school property.
Its policy “strongly encourages” the use of masks when entering and leaving school buildings, in corridors and common areas and when it is “close to other people”, but does not actually demand them.
It is a policy that is in conflict with state education authorities and many district parents.
The SC Department of Education issued a mandate to cover the face over the summer. Masks should be used when entering the school building, moving through the corridors, during the delivery or removal of the carpool / bus and when social distance is not possible or ideal.
The fact that the district ignored the mandate confused state officials.
“We are at the height of another sudden increase, so your policy or the lack of one is, well, worrying,” said Ryan Brown, a spokesman for the SC Department of Education. “We had a considerable back and forth with the district. We don’t understand his reasoning and we don’t support him. “
Brown said that Superintendent of Education Molly Spearman may decide to withhold district funds in the future if the policy is not changed, but she hopes it will not reach that point.
“Most of the state money that goes to the districts is for teacher salaries and to support students,” said Brown. “If we retained these funds, we would be harming the people we are really trying to help. We are at an impasse now, so any further movement from either side is likely to take place in court. “
In the past two weeks, BCSD has reported 78 COVID-19 cases among teachers and staff, while recording 188 student cases. South Carolina reported more than 366,000 cases of COVID-19 last year, with more than 5,700 deaths. Last month saw the biggest increase in cases and deaths since the pandemic began a year ago.
Many parents lobbied the district to demand facial coverage, especially due to the recent increase, but felt that their voices would not be heard.
“The fact that the district does not have a mandate is ridiculous,” said Melissa Soule, whose son Ben is an eighth grader at Marrington Middle School of the Arts. “It’s the reason why Ben doesn’t go to face-to-face classes. He started learning in person at the beginning of the year, but became virtual when he saw children without masks in his class, and Marrington has one of the best policies in the district. “
During the monthly district meeting on January 12, the board spent more than 45 minutes dealing with facial coverings and a mask mandate, but no action was taken. Most board members seemed to support a stronger-masked mandate.
“I am in favor of the mask requirement and I am fine if we change the language and policy from ‘strongly encourage’ to ‘demand’,” said board member Mac McQuillin at the meeting.
The sentiment was shared by board member Frank Wright.
“I think it makes sense to require students and teachers to wear masks,” said Wright.
Despite taking no action or having a formal vote on the issue, the board asked District Superintendent Eddie Ingram to work with individual school principals to resolve any problems they were having about compliance. District spokeswoman Katie Tanner said Ingram discussed face coverings with county directors last week, leaving the final policy decision to directors.
“The council kicked the can for the superintendent, and he kicked it for the directors,” said Soule.
On Tuesday, primary school principal Philip Simmons, LaToya King, sent an email to teachers updating the school’s facial coverage policy. The new policy would require all students, teachers, professors and visitors to wear masks when entering the building.
This week, several attempts to interview district officials to ask about the matter went unanswered. It is not known how many other city schools besides Philip Simmons now require facial coverage on campus.
Although the district may not require students to wear masks, many parents like Ted Bolden, whose daughter Kaitlyn is a third grader at Hanahan Elementary School, have given their children no choice in the matter.
“It’s the right thing to do, no matter what the district’s policy is,” said Bolden. “I don’t remember the last time I saw a student without a mask when he was going out or holding him (Kaitlyn). Most parents are quite responsible. “
Council members noted that problems with facial coverage arose in high schools, where a handful of students refused to wear masks.
“Most of the resistance we are receiving comes from high school students,” said board member Kathy Littlejohn on January 12.
This is not the first time that district and state authorities have clashed over facial coverage mandates. In September, Spearman threatened to suspend access to state school buses in the county if the district did not meet the state’s facial coverage requirements.
In a series of letters exchanged between the district and the state, Ingram challenged Spearman’s authority to issue such a mandate.
“Failure to implement these requirements will result in the district losing its ability to use 209 state school buses currently allocated to its district,” Spearman wrote to Ingram.
The district eventually updated its policy to require masks on buses, but stopped before formally imposing masks inside buildings.