NC House will propose legislation to let parents opt-out of masks in schools
North Carolina House Speaker Tim Moore said Friday that Republicans plan to propose new legislation that would eliminate mask requirements in schools.
A state law from 2021 already puts the power in the hands of local school districts whether or not to require masks, and school boards must vote on their policy every month.
But the majority of schools follow the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services’ NC Strong Schools Toolkit, which recommends requiring masks indoors for students and adults.
“This failure by Governor Cooper and DHHS to roll back obsolete mask mandates will mean that many schools will leave those mandates in place,” Moore said in a statement on Friday afternoon.
DHHS is a Cabinet agency of the Gov. Roy Cooper administration, and threatened legal action to a non-compliant school district last year.
But now several school districts do not require masks — 40 out of 115. The toolkit was amended on Thursday to drop contact tracing and changed exposure protocol.
Cooper is a Democrat and lifted the statewide mask mandate last summer. Mask rules are up to local governments and school boards. Raleigh has a mask mandate still, but Mecklenburg County is expected to lift its mandate as soon as next week.
“There is no statewide mask mandate in North Carolina schools and Tim Moore knows that,” Cooper spokesperson Mary Scott Winstead told The N&O via email. “Decisions about masks are left to local school districts under a bill he passed.”
“Public health officials will continue to evaluate guidance as the pandemic evolves. Less theatrics from legislative leaders and more support for public schools would be helpful,” she said.
Senate Republican leadership supports the House’s plan. Both chambers of the General Assembly have Republican majorities.
Sen. Deanna Ballard, a Watauga County Republican and chair of the Senate Education committee, said they are studying a similar bill in Virginia.
“Parents know best. It’s past time to allow parents to make the choice about whether their child should wear a mask in school,” Ballard said in an emailed statement. She called it “a common-sense approach that puts kids first and empowers parents.”
Moore said that the legislation will be proposed by the House after it finishes redistricting, which is happening this coming week.
“Yesterday’s [DHHS schools toolkit] updates were simply not strong enough. We must do more to protect our children from further learning setbacks and the other consequences of keeping these mandates in place,” Moore said.
He said lawmakers want “to give parents the ability to opt-out of [the] mask requirement.”
This story was originally published February 11, 2022 at 1:44 PM with the headline "NC House will propose legislation to let parents opt-out of masks in schools."
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