This story has been updated to include a statement from School Board Chair Donna Grove, emphasizing that the board's comments on the mask mandate were made before the new executive order was signed.
At the Fauquier County School Board’s annual all-day summit Jan. 12, school board members and staff discussed the latest Centers for Disease Control COVID-19 protocols – announced Jan. 7 — and how they would affect students and staff. They also considered what might happen if Virginia’s new Gov. Glenn Youngkin lifted the in-school mask mandate.
The conclusion: Most protocols will remain the same, including mandatory masks in school for children and staff.
School Board Chairman Donna Grove (Cedar Run District) said at the Jan. 12 summit that even if newly inaugurated Glenn Youngkin were to lift Virginia’s mask mandate in schools, “that’s only half of the issue.” She explained that a law known as Senate Bill 1303 requires schools to “follow CDC guidelines ‘to the greatest extent possible.’ The General Assembly has to address that. As long as masks are part of the quarantine guidelines, we have to follow them.”
Youngkin (R), did what he said he would do when he took office Jan. 15, signing an executive order that reads: “The parents of any child enrolled in an elementary or secondary school or a school-based early childcare and educational program may elect for their children not to be subject to any mask mandate in effect at the child’s school or educational program.”
But at issue is a law, passed by the General Assembly in early 2021 with overwhelming bipartisan support, that requires school divisions to implement “any currently applicable mitigation strategies” recommended by the CDC “to the maximum extent practicable.” That law can’t be overturned by an executive order — only the state legislature can do that.
The CDC recommends “universal indoor masking by all students (age 2 and older), staff, teachers and visitors to K-12 schools, regardless of vaccination status,” among other mitigation measures. Former Gov. Ralph Northam (D) initially waivered on whether to enforce the law and the Fauquier County School Board chose initially to ignore the federal guidance, making masks optional as the school year began in August.
But Northam’s health commissioner issued an order a few days later, and the Fauquier school board — with great reluctance and in the face of many angry parents — reversed course and instituted a “mandate,” although they also created a no-questions-asked opt-out policy. As the number of COVID-19 cases surged several weeks later, school board members then pleaded with parents not to opt out their children from the mask requirement. (Parents can still opt their children out for “religious” or “health” reasons.)
Youngkin rescinded that public health order over the weekend, but school board members said at their Jan. 12 meeting that the 2021 law would still apply. “Regardless of how we feel about masks, they are still part of quarantine protocol,” said Stephanie Litter-Reber, who represents Lee District. The school division would have faced fines of $25,000 per incident if they had made masks optional in schools when schools opened in August of 2021, and that hasn’t changed, she said.
Superintendent of Schools David Jeck also reminded summit attendees that everyone who rides a school bus – which is public transportation – is required by federal law to wear a mask.
Grove said in an email Sunday, "On Wednesday, the board did not have the information that is available today regarding the exact wording of the executive order. The order also states that more guidance will be coming from the state superintendent of public instruction. Hopefully, we will have that guidance by our meeting on Jan. 20, and we will be able to make an informed decision -- something we cannot do until we know how the quarantine piece of the puzzle is explained."
Isolation policies
Nicholas Napolitano, Fauquier’s newly appointed executive director of Student Services and Special Education led the discussion Jan. 12 about the CDC’s new COVID-19 guidelines regarding isolation for those who have tested positive. He explained that the CDC’s new advice states that people with COVID-19 should isolate for five days. After that, if they are asymptomatic or their symptoms are resolving (without fever for 24 hours), they should follow that with five days of wearing a mask when around others to minimize the risk of infecting people they encounter.
The protocol represents a departure from previous advice, which recommended 10 days of isolation.
The CDC also revised its recommendations for those who have had a close contact with someone who has tested positive.
The CDC guidelines released by the school division explain that in addition to isolating for five days after an exposure, everyone should wear a well-fitting mask around others for 10 days from the date of their last close contact with someone with COVID-19 (the date of last close contact is considered day 0). They should also get tested at least five days after having close contact with someone with COVID-19, unless they had confirmed case of COVID-19 in the last 90 days and subsequently recovered.
For 10 days after their last exposure to someone with COVID-19, they should watch for fever (100.4◦F or greater), cough, shortness of breath, or other COVID-19 symptoms. Those who test positive or develop COVID-19 symptoms should follow recommendations for isolation.
The CDC states that individuals who have received their booster shot do not need to quarantine following an exposure. However, they should wear a mask for 10 days after the exposure.
The key point, said school board members, is that students or staff who have been exposed to COVID-19 must have a negative PCR test – a home test doesn’t count -- before returning to school. That part of the protocol hasn’t changed.
The problem is, pointed out school board member Stephanie Litter-Reber (Lee District), “tests are impossible to get now.”
School board members related stories of long lines and hard-to-find appointments for PCR tests.
Napolitano said that the Virginia Department of Health will be receiving tests that it will distribute to schools, but the timing is uncertain.
Vincent Gallo (Scott District), the newest member of the school board who was sworn in Tuesday, Jan. 10, asked whether school nurses might be able to give COVID-19 tests in school parking lots when those tests are available, to try to make tests more accessible.
But because of the high volume of tests that might need to be administered, Jeck shook his head and said, “If we have to ask school nurses to do one more thing…”
Other board members agreed that school nurses are already overwhelmed.
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