COLUMBIA, S.C. — As leaders in one South Carolina city gear up for a showdown over mask mandates in schools, superintendents and city officials across the state are paying attention.
The city of Columbia issued a state of emergency this week and ordered all children between the ages of 2 and 14 to wear masks at daycare and in school.
The new mandate will apply to elementary and middle schools, despite a proviso in the state budget this year that prohibited schools from enacting mask mandates. The proviso warns that schools will lose state funding if they require masks.
Stephen Benjamin, mayor of Columbia, said he is prepared to take the matter to court.
“We’ve watched it rage in our community a tenfold increase in infections just in the last month,” Benjamin said.
The superintendent of Lancaster County School District, Jonathan Phipps said he fully expects other schools and cities to join Columbia in issuing mask mandates.
Phipps, however, said Lancaster County is too dependent on state funding to buck the law.
“We simply can’t run our district without state funding,” he said.
While Lancaster County will “strongly recommend” masking in all schools, Phipps said masks have been one of the most divisive topics among parents in the area.
Phipps said there is a large percentage of families that have been fighting for the right to choose whether to mask their children.
The Lancaster County School District COVID-19 Safety Plan submitted to the state will eliminate masks, desk shields, temperature checks, and many of the other precautions that were in place last school year.
Phipps admitted when the plan was crafted in June, the prevalence of COVID-19 and the more contagious delta variant, was significantly lower.
“We thought we would be at a different place,” Phipps said. “We’re a little apprehensive, a little nervous to say the least.”
Phipps said the school district will continue to contact trace, isolate and quarantine to the best extent possible.
As COVID-19 cases surge just 10 days before the first day of school, Phipps said he is trying to remain hopeful that the spike will decrease soon.
“We’re hoping and praying that trends back down,” Phipps said. It’s not easier to sleep at night hoping we’re doing the right thing to keep our kids safe.”
Contact Tanya Mendis at tmendis@wcnc.com and follow her on Facebook and Twitter.