NC schools superintendent wants ‘goalposts’ for changing mask guidance for students
The leader of North Carolina’s statewide public school system said she’ll ask the Department of Health and Human Services this week for “goalposts” for when students can stop wearing masks in schools.
A majority of school districts follow DHHS’ recommendation for all students and staff in K-12 schools to wear masks indoors.
Department of Public Instruction Superintendent Catherine Truitt testified before state lawmakers on Tuesday about learning loss and other education issues during the pandemic, including masks.
Truitt talked about the importance of in-person learning statewide, which she pushed for ahead of a compromise in spring of 2021.
She said for learning gaps, “those children who came back to school when they had the earliest opportunity to do so, fared better than those who didn’t.”
Preliminary data shows that North Carolina may have fared better in learning loss than other states, Truitt said, though that data is “anecdotal at this point.” By mid-March, she expects to have more information to share with lawmakers ahead of their legislative short session, which will likely start in May or June.
Masks update
Schools reopening for in-person instruction earlier in the pandemic was an issue that fell along party lines, with Democrats favoring remote and Republicans in-person learning before the vaccine was widely available. A bipartisan compromise in early 2021 reopened schools that spring, and they have remained so ever since.
Truitt also told lawmakers that because DHHS dictates school rules and it is part of the executive branch, that it inherently becomes political. DHHS is a Cabinet agency of Gov. Roy Cooper, a Democrat. Truitt, as state superintendent, is also an elected official and is a Republican.
She said on masks, it “truly comes down to what the government agency is directing us to do.”
State law, signed by Cooper in fall of 2021, requires local school boards to vote monthly on whether to keep or lift mask mandates in schools for students and adults.
Truitt said that DHHS will share with state education leaders its monthly update to the State Board of Education. That board meets Wednesday and Thursday, with the DHHS update expected on Thursday.
She said she will “press again to identify a goalpost when we can ask our students to stop masking. And we will again ask for the data to make decisions.”
The statewide mask mandate in North Carolina ended in May, and the last statewide restrictions ended in July. Several cities and counties have issued their own local mask mandates, including Raleigh, Durham and Chapel Hill.
However, a majority of school districts follow the public schools toolkit guidance from DHHS, which recommends masks worn consistently indoors by students and staff in schools. The most recent update was Jan. 10.
The meeting comes as the omicron wave of COVID-19, which is generally mild compared to previous variants, is showing signs of leveling off and potentially waning.
The governor was hopeful as he talked to reporters Tuesday morning after a Council of State meeting in Raleigh.
“The encouraging news is that for the last week we have begun to see a decline in our metrics in hospitalizations, which is what we’re looking at more than anything right now. But we’re also seeing a decline in our ICU,” Cooper said.
“We’re hoping that it follows suit in other states, and as we continue to see this decline and get more people vaccinated then we’ll move more toward the endemic stage. I can’t tell you exactly when that will be, but that is certainly the goal,” he said.
Cooper said that parents are relieved at news this week that the vaccine could be approved soon for children younger than 5.
More than 80% of people in the United States age 5 and older have had at least one dose of vaccine, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In North Carolina, that number is 69%. Of vaccinated North Carolinians, 47% have had a booster. Vaccinations and boosters are free and readily available across the state.
Legislative short session
The short session for the General Assembly, which still has not officially adjourned its long session, could include some changes in education policy or funding.
Truitt, who was elected in 2020, spoke during the Joint Legislative Commission on Governmental Operations, known as Gov Ops, subcommittee on federal COVID-19 funds. The commission has tackled varied coronavirus topics at its hearings, touching on the financial aspect but often about issues in general.
Lawmakers asked her what kind of legislation she would like to see in the short session.
Truitt said she wants the state to hold schools more accountable in ways that they don’t right now. She wants to look at how schools are graded, with the current majority of weight on student achievement, and 20% on growth. She wants to consider an approach with multiple measures, including:
▪ Measurement rates of chronic absenteeism in schools.
▪ Parent engagement surveys.
▪ The extent high schools partners with community colleges.
▪ Whether elementary schools offer tutoring programs.
Gov Ops and other study committees are scheduled for the remainder of this winter, including a joint legislative oversight committee that Truitt will attend in March to share data on learning loss.
This story was originally published February 1, 2022 at 6:36 PM with the headline "NC schools superintendent wants ‘goalposts’ for changing mask guidance for students."
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