CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Masks were once again up for discussion in several school districts in the Charlotte area Tuesday night.
Face coverings in the classroom have become controversial. Doctors are pushing patience as pressure on school boards builds.
"My suggestion is that schools should continue to mask until we get significantly over the omicron surge, just to protect us from student, staff and teacher absenteeism," Dr. Christopher Ohl with Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist said.
Here's a closer look at where school districts landed.
Masks optional
The Cabarrus County Schools Board of Education on Monday, Feb. 7, voted to change the district's face covering policy for the upcoming month. Board members voted 6-1 to have the district move to masks optional effective Feb. 8. Masks will be optional for students and staff in all buildings, but will still be required on buses. Audience members cheered when they voted.
The Avery County Board of Education voted on Tuesday to maintain a masks optional policy for students and staff.
Lincoln County Schools will also continue masks optional after board members voted on the measure by a 4-3 decision.
Masks required
In Alexander County, board members voted to maintain its weekly COVID-19 guidance for masks to ensure flexibility. Masks will remain in place this week through Feb. 13. You can learn more about the COVID-19 data for the school system on the district's website.
Caldwell County Schools is continuing to use COVID-19 metrics when deciding on face coverings, which was brought up during Tuesday's work session. Under the current metric system, the district is under a masks-required policy through Feb. 11. You can learn more about the COVID-19 metrics by visiting the district's website.
Heated moments at Iredell-Statesville Schools meeting
The Iredell-Statesville Schools board meeting Monday night had a few fireworks. Several times, audience members were told to stop interrupting speakers.
The parent advocacy group "free the smile" gave a presentation at the meeting, and some voiced concerns about the possible long-term impacts that COVID-19 safety measures could have on their kids.
"It is time to drop the mask mandates and the tracking of contacts because these measures are having a negative, if not to say a horrible effect, on the development and psyche of our children," Fiona Oxsher said at the meeting. "And in many cases, those effects are significantly worse than the virus itself."
Ultimately the board didn't vote at all, keeping masks required in the classrooms until at least next week. Troutman Police confirm after the meeting ended, several people refused to leave. Police were able to peacefully resolve the situation and no arrests were made.
CMS continues universal masking as Mecklenburg County health leaders say county mandate could be removed soon
Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools board members voted Tuesday in favor of continuing a universal masking mandate in schools.
Tuesday night’s meeting focused on masks, despite the board not being able to make any changes to its universal masking policy until the county does.
CMS Board Chair Elyse Dashew says any conversations on lifting mandatory masks mandates in CMS schools is premature.
“I look forward to revisiting that at whatever date the county lifts the mandate until then, it's simply political posturing, which I don't think we have time for," Dashew said.
Before Tuesday’s school board meeting, Mecklenburg County’s Health Director said he could make a proposal to get rid of the county's mask mandate as early as next week.
This would allow the board to vote on making masks optional in schools.
CMS Board Member Rhonda Cheek, joined by Sean Strain, voted against continuing the mask mandate.
“We also need to look at the impact of masks on children including their social-emotional health and the issues with language development," Cheek said.
The universal mask mandate vote was listed under a consent agenda. The board voted 6-3 in favor of the consent agenda items.
At-Large Board Member, Jennifer De La Jara, was forced to vote against the mask mandate, due to it being lumped into the consent agenda items. De La Jara said earlier in the meeting she was not voting against the mask mandate, but instead voting against a separate item in the consent agenda.
WCNC Charlotte is part of seven major media companies and other local institutions reporting on and engaging the community around the problems and solutions as they relate to the COVID-19 pandemic. It is a project of the Charlotte Journalism Collaborative, which is supported by the Local Media Project, an initiative launched by the Solutions Journalism Network with support from the Knight Foundation to strengthen and reinvigorate local media ecosystems. See all of our reporting at charlottejournalism.org.