The full House of Delegates will consider a bill that would forbid mask or covid-19 testing mandates in schools from here on out, even if a new wave of covid-19 is worse.
“We’ve got to move on from this pandemic. We’ve got to embrace some semblance of normalcy. I think this is a good bill. This is a step in the right direction,” said Delegate Chris Pritt, R-Kanawha, speaking in committee.
Some other states are also moving in this direction. Virginia passed a law last week to lift school mask mandates. Maryland’s state school board voted to lift a mask mandate, but another legislative step is necessary. Washington’s governor announced school mask mandates will end next month. In North Carolina, the governor called for school systems to lift mandates.
This year in West Virginia, mask policies have been determined at the county level. Twenty-two counties require masks in schools, according to the state Department of Education. Another 16 require masks under varying conditions. Seventeen say masks are optional.
House Bill 4071 passed the House Judiciary Committee after more than an hour of discussion on Tuesday. The bill had already been approved by the House Education Committee.
The bill says a public school shall not impose a covid-19 mask requirement on any student or employee. School systems also could not impose a covid-19 testing requirement on any pre-symptomatic or asymptomatic student or employee. Moreover, the school system could not force anyone to quarantine or isolate without a positive test.
The bill also specifically opens school systems to lawsuits if they run afoul of the act.
“You know what, my kids have been masked up for two years. A lot of kids have been,” Pritt said. “You know, nobody seems to want to talk about the mental health of our children.
“There’s kids who just started school a couple years ago, and they’ve never seen their teacher smile. They’ve never seen their teacher show any facial expressions. They’ve never seen the faces of their friends. And where’s the discussion of the long-term mental health impact of that?”
Delegate Mark Zatezalo, R-Hancock, agreed. He described some children who are too young to wear their masks properly. “What are we trying to do here? We’re going to put everybody in masks who do not wish to wear them — for what reason exactly?”
Others on the committee argued against the bill.
Delegate Joey Garcia, D-Marion, asked about the possibility of students coming from families with multiple confirmed covid cases — but the student with no symptoms won’t take a covid-19 test. He worried about how to protect a classroom teacher with serious health concerns.
He described a school system weighing that situation: “Here’s a teacher who has underlying health conditions and it’s probable five people in the family have tested positive for covid. This one is positive too, or there’s a good likelihood. We want to make that student quarantine. So if they did that, they would be subject to injunctive relief.”
Garcia also questioned whether the bill would be too restrictive if worse strains of the virus emerge. “It can change this summer or it can change next fall, and what we’re doing is we’re really binding the hands of the local school based on this bill. If the virus becomes more virulent or more dangerous, we’re putting ourselves in a bad situation.”
Delegate Mike Pushkin, D-Kanawha, said if a similar law had been in place a year ago more cases would have spread, resulting in more serious illness. He, too, questioned why state government would place restrictions on local authorities.
“Schools have been mandating things for quite some time. We’ve had dress codes, other things required of students,” he said. “I’m sorry. I don’t understand the outrage. I guess I don’t share it with you. I guess I’ll quietly vote no.”
Delegate Chad Lovejoy, D-Cabell, said such decisions are best left to the local level. “All right, is the decider politicians in Charleston. Should I be deciding what your school board does or your school board does? Or should the deciders be those at the local level, elected by the people of that county who are closer to the situation?
“We sometimes are guilty up here of what I’ll call situational principles. I’ve heard a lot of local control discussions when it’s fitting, and I’ve heard a lot of local control thrown out when it’s not.”
Delegate Laura Kimble, R-Harrison, countered that local control actually falls within the household.
“It’s the local control of the parents and the grandparents and the guardians who know their children best and know what they need,” she said.