Youngkin signs law requiring Virginia public schools to make masks optional by March 1 - The Washington Post
RICHMOND — Gov. Glenn Youngkin has signed into law a measure requiring public schools to make masks optional by March 1, taking to the grand portico of the Capitol for a ceremony marking the first big legislative win of the Republican’s administration.
The bill — modified by the governor to go into effect immediately — passed the Republican-controlled House on Wednesday on a largely party-line vote after clearing the state Senate the night before with the support of all 19 Republicans and three Democrats.
Ending school mask mandates was a centerpiece of Youngkin’s campaign for office and helped propel Republicans to their 52-to-48 edge in the House.
Democrats in the legislature howled last month, with many objecting on constitutional grounds, when Youngkin issued an inauguration-day executive order declaring that parents have the right to opt their children out of school mask mandates. Lawsuits were filed, and in one case a state judge questioned the legality of the order.
Youngkin was so confident the measure would pass that he took the unusual step early Wednesday of announcing a Capitol bill-signing ceremony for the afternoon even before the House had voted. But the outcome was never in doubt once the Democratic-controlled Senate gave its blessing.
The victory was enabled by Sen. Chap Petersen (D-Fairfax City), an independent-minded legislator who came into the General Assembly session determined to put an end to school mask mandates. Petersen reasoned that coronavirus case numbers are declining and claimed that no governor — including the state’s former governor, Ralph Northam (D) — had the legal authority to impose a mandate statewide.
Several other Democrats swung over to that way of thinking as other states led by Democratic governors, such as Delaware and New Jersey, began winding down their statewide mandates earlier this month.
In those states, though, localities continue to have the option of requiring masks in schools. Virginia’s new law goes a step further, giving parents the right to opt out — effectively making any mandate unenforceable.
Though Youngkin said during his campaign that he would lift the state mandate and let localities decide for themselves, he now says the prime factor is giving parents the individual right to choose.
Democrats in the House vehemently opposed the effort, warning that it would leave school districts powerless to act if there is another wave of the coronavirus or some other public health emergency.
Youngkin modified the measure to include language asserting the right of any governor to take further action in the event of a public health emergency. In the House vote Wednesday, several Democrats supported this particular change after Del. Amanda E. Batten (R-James City) said that it would allow a governor to impose a mask mandate in special circumstances.
The bill was originally passed by the state Senate last week and the House on Monday, but in a form that would have gone into effect July 1. Youngkin added an “emergency clause” to make the law effective immediately, as well as the language about the power of the governor and an amendment setting March 1 as the date by which school districts must be in compliance.
He returned the amended bill for General Assembly approval earlier this week. The Senate voted on that version Tuesday night, and the House on Wednesday. Democrats objected to the emergency clause, noting that the state constitution requires the House to approve such a change by a four-fifths vote.
But Republican leaders declared that rule changes enacted under Democratic leadership in the past two years allowed for a simple majority vote on the emergency clause.
That aspect of the bill passed the House on Wednesday on a party-line, 52-to-48 vote.
In Chesapeake, Amanda Lambert, a ninth-grade English teacher whose blood-clotting disorder puts her at high risk from the coronavirus, said she is deeply unhappy with the passage of the law, even though she does not expect it will much affect her daily life.
Lambert’s district made masking optional weeks ago in response to Youngkin’s order. Since then, Lambert said, between 85 and 90 percent of her students have continued masking anyway, although she has heard reports from colleagues who work in Whiter, more affluent schools that most students there are going maskless. Her school is Title I and is majority Black and Hispanic, she said.
Lambert, 41, said the bill’s passage shows that Youngkin is determined to support only the rights of parents who agree with him on political and cultural issues. And, she added, she dislikes how the governor and the legislature managed to force all school districts to comply with mask optionality, calling the maneuvering a blatant example of “how to avoid legal procedure.”
“The way it all went down, in my mind, I just envision Governor Youngkin as Veruca Salt,” Lambert said, referring to the spoiled rich girl in Roald Dahl’s “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.” “‘I don’t care how, I want it now!’”
In Clarke County, school board member Katie Kerr-Hobert was also displeased. Kerr-Hobert, who is 42 and has two children enrolled in the school system, said the governor’s actions have revealed deep-seated disrespect for school boards and their constitutional right to determine policies for their school systems.
Kerr-Hobert’s district already adopted a mask-optional policy in response to Youngkin’s earlier executive order; she was the only board member to vote against removing the mask requirement. She has been surprised, in weeks since, by how many children continued masking anyway, she said.
But the mask-optional guidelines have also driven division in Clarke County schools, Kerr-Hobert said, causing “a spiral of issues” including concerns over discrimination against children who now cannot attend school because they fear for their health. The new bill, by making mask optionality the rule in every district statewide, will only exacerbate the situation everywhere, Kerr-Hobert predicted.
“The governor’s decisions I think are really hurting public education right now,” she said. “Causing this friction within our communities regarding masking — it just seems like people are going to continue and continue and continue to do battle over these covid protocols.”
But elsewhere, others were celebrating. Christy Hudson, a Fairfax County parent, posted a tweet Tuesday praising the likely passage of the law.
She thanked legislators, including Petersen, and Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears (R) for “your Herculean efforts to protect the needs & rights of our Commonwealth’s youngest constituents.”
In a statement Wednesday after the law passed, the Fairfax County Parents Association, a parent advocacy group that formed during the pandemic, wrote that it is high time for students to be allowed to unmask in schools, per the determinations of their parents.
“The reality is that families and students spent two years begging the levels of local government for leadership on these issues,” the group wrote. “Begging for a recognition of harms happening to many children before their eyes.”
In Loudoun County, parent Ian Prior — founder of the parent educational advocacy group Fight for Schools, which is seeking recalls of Loudoun board members over their handling of the pandemic — said parents everywhere will breathe a sigh of relief because of the law’s passage.
“More importantly, our children will be in school breathing, talking, and learning without masks,” Prior said. “They are happiest of all with the passage of this law.”
source: https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2022/02/16/virginia-youngkin-signs-masks-optional/
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