A Mississippi Coast private school is mostly mask-free despite state rules, parents say
Christian Collegiate Academy in Gulfport is not requiring students or staff to wear masks on campus.
The small Christian school, serving children from infancy through 12th grade, is instead operating under a broad interpretation of the exemptions in Gov. Tate Reeves’ executive orders mandating masks in schools and in public statewide.
After the orders were announced, the school distributed a document titled “Christian Collegiate Academy Re-Opening Plan 2020-2021.” Masks were described as optional.
“Any student that wishes may wear a mask or a face shield to school,” the document says.
The statewide mask mandate, originally set to expire Aug. 17 but extended to Aug. 31 on Friday, was intended to lower transmission as kids get back to school. In announcing it on Aug. 4, Reeves said, “We have seen over the last several weeks that when people participate and wear masks, it helps.”
Universal mask wearing can significantly reduce the transmission of the virus, scientists say. Requiring them in all shared indoor spaces is particular important because up to 40% of infected people may be asymptomatic.
Multiple parents contacted the Sun Herald to say almost no one at the school, students and teachers alike, have been wearing masks.
It is unclear whether there is any mechanism to enforce compliance at private schools. The state Department of Education does not oversee private schools, and Reeves has been reluctant to endorse any punitive measures for people who defy mask mandates in other circumstances.
Reeves issued Executive Order Numbers 1516 and 1517 on Aug. 4. The first mandate requires “every person in Mississippi” to wear a face covering “while inside a business, school or other building or space open to the public.” The second requires face coverings in schools.
Both executive orders list exemptions, but private schools are not among them.
Renae Eze, communications director for the governor, confirmed that Executive Order 1517 “applies to all schools, including private schools.”
Carol Roberts, principal at Christian Collegiate, said students wear masks where social distancing is impossible, unless they are covered by one of the exempt categories in Executive Order 1517. The exemptions include people with medical conditions that affect their breathing, and people who are hearing-impaired or communicating with people who are hearing-impaired. They also cover people participating in specific activities, such as swimming.
Roberts declined to share with the Sun Herald any published school guidelines that students must wear masks unless in one of the exempt categories.
“My parents know,” she said. “And they’re the ones that matter, because their kids are enrolled here.”
Photographs the school posted on Facebook from its first week, which started Aug. 10, show students in classrooms. Few of the students pictured were wearing masks.
The Sun Herald obtained an email Roberts sent to the parents on Aug. 11: “Masks are recommended but not required, as the person may have one or more of the concerns listed by the Governor in the mandate,” Roberts wrote. “There were several listed and many fit into one or more of those bullet points, as CCA does with the security concern.”
“The security concern” appears to refer to this exemption in Executive Order 1517: “Persons in a building or engaged in an activity that utilizes or requires security surveillance or screening, and only during such times when those persons are under security surveillance or screening.”
On Thursday afternoon, after the Sun Herald spoke with Roberts, she sent another email to parents, this time putting more emphasis on the state mask mandate.
“I am also reminding you of the governor’s mandate to wear a mask inside a building when it it not possible to social distance,” Roberts wrote. “There are 11 exceptions to this mandate. If your child fits one of those exceptions or they are engaged in an activity listed in those 11 exceptions then please act accordingly, as we will, for their safety and health.”
That afternoon, the school also posted photos of three students in masks.
Roberts’ email also described mask policies for sports events at the school.
“When entering D building to attend a game please wear a mask as requested (unless a health or behavioral issue exempts you from doing so),” she wrote. “Once inside the Arena please either wear a mask or social distance from others in the bleachers.”
On Thursday evening, the school hosted a volleyball game. Photographs shared with the Sun Herald show stands crowded with few people wearing masks.
At his press conference on Friday, Reeves announced new restrictions on athletic events, limiting attendees to two per participating students. Masks are required for everyone at indoor sports events.
A July 24 document sent to the school community, titled “Procedures to Practice for a Healthy Environment” explained more about the polices at Christian Collegiate.
“While we know we are to be good stewards of our students and our health, we also know that God is in charge of all things,” the document concludes. “It is our desire not to live in fear nor to instill fear in the hearts of our students, but rather to be wise and to continue to serve God by training and educating our CCA students.”
