Banning school districts from requiring masks is irrational and dangerous

Amid a resurgence of coronavirus cases, some Republican governors are preventing school districts from requiring masks.

Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis adopted a rule that lets families opt out of locally ordered school mask mandates. The state board of education approved another rule that offers parents vouchers for their children to attend a different school if they encounter pushback on their refusal to use masks. The DeSantis administration also threatened to penalize school officials financially if they bucked the rules. 

Texas Republican Gov. Greg Abbott issued an executive order that bans Texas schools from requiring masks.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends universal indoor masking by all students (age 2 and older), staff, teachers, and visitors to K-12 schools, regardless of vaccination status.

In addition to universal indoor masking, CDC recommends schools maintain at least 3 feet of physical distance between students within classrooms to reduce transmission risk.

Banning school districts from requiring masks amid a resurgence of coronavirus cases is irrational and dangerous.

An eighth-grade girl passed away on August 14 in Raleigh, Mississippi, after starting the school year on August 6, at a school that didn’t require face masks to be worn within the first several days of its opening.

Mkayla Robinson, 13, died just hours after she was diagnosed with COVID-19, according to the Mississippi Free Press.

“Mkayla was in the Jr. High Lion Pride Band and was an outstanding band member and student,” reported the Smith County Reformer.

The day before the young girl died, Mississippi Governor Tate Reeves conducted a press conference in which he said that despite the rise in COVID cases, he still had no plans to enforce face coverings and mask mandates.

“I don’t have any intention of issuing a statewide mask mandate for any category of Mississippians at this time. I don’t know how I can say that differently other than the way I’ve said it repeatedly for a number of days and weeks and months,” said Reeves.

In Florida, five school districts are defying the governor’s order by permitting mask opt-out only for medical reasons rather than parental choice.

The governor’s reckless decision came as worries grew that rapidly spreading infections could force officials to close classrooms. Thousands of Florida schoolchildren have already been sent home, only days after their school year began.

“Children – particularly those too young to get vaccinated against COVID-19 are really good,” at transmitting the coronavirus, said Dr. J. Stacey Klutts, a special assistant to the national director of pathology and lab medicine for the entire Veteran Affairs system, in an article by the Associated Press.

Klutts said the highly contagious Delta variant makes it absolutely necessary to wear masks indoors and large group gatherings, so if unprotected students sit for hours in classrooms every day, it could rapidly spread infection in the community at-large.

“It’s terrifying. I’m afraid that we’re going to have a lot of really sick kids in addition to the spread which is going to be a lot of sick adults,” Klutts said.

Irv Randolph is an award-winning journalist. You can call follow him on Twitter @IrvRandolph and at the RandolphReport@substack.com