Wake schools will continue mask mandate, board decides

Under the mask mandate, the board gives the Wake County Public School System the authority to make some changes to the mask mandate policy.

Posted 2:02 a.m. Oct 6, 2021 — Updated 2:02 a.m. Oct 6, 2021

Emily Walkenhorst

, WRAL education reporter

CARY, N.C. — Students will have to continue to wear masks indoors and during some outdoor activities, the Wake County Board of Education decided Tuesday.

The board is required by a new state law to vote each month on whether to require masks. The vote Tuesday was identical to the vote in September, which was nearly identical to the vote in August, before school began.

The board approved the mandate on a voice vote with no audible opposition.

Under the mask mandate, the board gives the Wake County Public School System the authority to make some changes to the mask mandate policy. The board made such a change shortly after traditional calendar schools opened for the fall term, requiring masks in some outdoor extracurricular activities.

On Tuesday, the board discussed the mandate briefly, with some debate over the outdoor masking requirements, but all board members who spoke favored maintaining the indoor mask mandate as a way of reducing quarantines and keeping more children in school.

The district considers keeping schools open its top priority and is looking at — without setting hard requirements — student and staff vaccination rates, COVID-19 transmission trends and cases per 100,000 people. All of those things have been improving as of late.

Board Member Chris Heagarty said offering in-person school is essential and noted concerns about students’ mental health during the isolation of remote learning.

“We didn’t have these activities last year and now we’re able to provide something,” Heagarty said. “I think we need to keep following the advice to keep our schools open.”

Board Member Roxie Cash said she wondered, however, if the district was “over quarantining” and asked if the district had data on how many quarantined students ended up testing positive for COVID-19.

Superintendent Cathy Moore said the district has asked but wouldn’t have access to that information unless it were collected by contact tracers at the county, and it is not.

Parents aren’t required to tell the district if their children tested positive, negative or at all.

“There’s no way to let us know,” Moore said.

Cash and Board Member Karen Carter also questioned why athletes on sidelines outside were being picked on to wear masks while fans attending outdoor games aren’t required to.

Board Member Jim Martin said federal health officials recommend against having sports at all in high transmission counties, which Wake County is.

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