- April 24, 2024
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Masks remain optional for Volusia County students for the upcoming school year, but in light of the rising COVID-19 infections, Volusia County Schools may implement a 30-day mandatory face covering policy for its employees.
After the School Board listened at its meeting on Tuesday, Aug. 10, to impassioned pleas from parents, students and community members on both sides of the mask debate, VCS Superintendent Scott Fritz said the school district found themselves between a "rock and a hard place." The governor's July 30 executive order prohibiting school boards from putting mask mandates in place also threatens "noncompliant school boards" with withholding state funds.
As a superintendent, Fritz said he "strongly recommended" the use of face coverings and that people take the COVID-19 vaccine.
“Those are recommendations I wish people would take to heart," he said.
Though VCS could have taken a stand similar to Orange County Public Schools and Seminole County Public Schools, districts which have put in place a mandatory face covering policy with an opt-out option for parents, Fritz said the enforcement of such a policy would create a burden on teachers and school staff.
Fritz said he would be meeting with school principals on Wednesday, Aug. 11 instead, and after that, he may explore a mandatory face covering policy for staff. The first day of school is Aug. 16. One school's entire administration team is already absent because they have all contracted COVID-19, Fritz later revealed to the board.
School Board member Jamie Haynes said she stood for optional masks, and defended herself against claims she was an "anti-masker" following the July 27 School Board meeting where she challenged Volusia County Health Department Administrator Patricia Boswell on COVID-19 data. Last year when masks were mandated in schools, she said she wore one to every campus she visited, and did so correctly. However, she observed campuses where people were not following the policy.
VCS had its optional mask policy in place in time for summer school, and Haynes counted it as a success.
“It was hit or miss who had it on, but what I saw was I saw happy kids," she said.
School Board member Carl Persis said he supported the optional face covering policy the board put in place on June 14. He feared that an opt-in policy would create a difficult paper trail to keep track of, but was in favor for temporarily mandating masks for employees.
“We just can’t afford to have employees missing work," Persis said. "We are struggling to get staff with what we have.”
If the school district put such a policy in place, staff would only need to wear a mask while indoors.
School Board Chair Linda Cuthbert said people have to do what's best for them. She chooses to wear to wear a mask to keep herself healthy, she said, but also keep everyone around her healthy too.
“We have to trust our parents to do what is best for their children," she said. "As much as I would like to protect everyone, I think we’ve been put in a position that we’re unable to, and it tears me apart.”
