NC Gov. Cooper to give update on school masks guidance Thursday as House takes up bill
North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper will give an update Thursday afternoon about the state’s recommendations for masks in schools.
An increasing number of school districts are dropping mask mandates this month as cases of the omicron variant of COVID-19 drop off significantly. Vaccinations are also available to children ages 5 and older, and booster shots are available to children ages 12 and older.
Cooper’s office announced the briefing for 3 p.m. Thursday at the Emergency Operations Center, but didn’t say what recommendations could change.
The new guidance comes as Republican House Speaker Tim Moore is pushing legislation that would make masks in schools optional. There is currently no statewide mask mandate, but a majority of the state’s 115 school districts have been following the recommendation from the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services to mandate masks indoors for both students and adults.
Moore announced on Feb. 11 that he would run legislation making masks in schools optional. Senate Republican leadership also supports a bill that lets parents decide if their children wear masks in schools.
The News & Observer asked Senate leader Phil Berger on Tuesday if the legislation was a way to push Cooper to act.
“I think people in North Carolina are wanting their elected representatives to pursue matters they see as important,” Berger said. “And at this point in time, I can’t think of hardly any matter that parents of school-age children view as more important than getting their kids out of required masks. And so I think it’s incumbent upon us to move forward and address that issue.”
Moore said previously that the masks bill would come up for a vote once redistricting is finished, and that is expected to wrap up on Thursday.
Thursday morning, the masks in schools bill will be discussed in the House K-12 Education Committee as Senate Bill 671, an unrelated bill that will be replaced with the masks legislation. That meeting is at 9 a.m. in the Legislative Office Building on Salisbury Street in downtown Raleigh.
“Let me be clear: It’s parents, not politicians who should be making these decisions for their children,” Moore said in a statement Wednesday. “As other states across the country lift mask mandates and restrictions, North Carolina’s children will not be left behind.”
The latest school district in the Triangle area to drop mask requirements is Johnston County schools, and being discussed by Chatham County, while the largest school system — Wake County — isn’t expected to vote until March 1, The N&O previously reported. According to a 2021 state law, school boards must vote monthly on whether or not to require masks. There has not been a statewide mask mandate since the summer of 2021, however most districts had been following DHHS guidelines.
Some counties and cities still have local mask mandates, including Raleigh, Durham and Chapel Hill.
This story was originally published February 16, 2022 at 2:54 PM.
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