RICHMOND, Va. (AP) – Democratic Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam’s administration issued a universal mask mandate for K-12 schools Thursday.
The move came after a handful of school districts in recent days decided to buck the governor’s interpretation of a state law and opt not to require face coverings, against the current recommendations of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Tension over the politically divisive issue has exploded at one school board meeting after other in the past week.
“This is a way to ensure uniformity in schools across Virginia,” Northam spokesperson Alena Yarmosky said.
The mandate came in the form of a public health order from the state health commissioner, Dr. Norman Oliver.
Cases of COVID-19 and hospitalizations are both on the rise in Virginia, although the state is not facing the same dire conditionsas others in the South. Over the past two weeks, the rolling average number of daily new cases has increased by nearly 988, an increase of about 132%, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.
At a news conference a week ago, Northam highlighted a law passed by the General Assembly earlier in the year mandating in-person instruction, saying it also requires school districts to follow mitigation strategies from the CDC “to the maximum extent practicable.”
The governor suggested school districts could face legal action if they did not comply.
His comments prompted some school districts that had not intended to require masks to reverse course. But some districts, mostly in rural areas, decided in recent days not to require masks.
Hanover County, outside of Richmond, also opted against a mask mandate, according to local news outlets.
And school board meetings even in districts that ultimately have adopted mask mandate have turned contentious.
In Virginia Beach, dozens of people spoke at a meeting that went into the early morning hours of Wednesday before the school board ultimately voted to require masks, The Virginian-Pilot reported. Some speakers cursed the board, made offensive gestures at them and accused them of child abuse, according to the newspaper.