The 2 largest school districts are now only ones left on Coast with optional mask policies
Mask are mandatory in the Bay-Waveland School District starting on Tuesday, Aug. 10, to help prevent the spread of COVID-19 Superintendent Sandra Reed said Monday.
The district was one of three on the Coast where classes started last week with masks optional.
Now, Harrison and Jackson County, the two largest districts on the Coast, are the only districts where masks remain optional.
With no statewide mandate from Gov. Tate Reeves, superintendents and school boards have set mask policies on their own, creating a patchwork of protocols and putting intense pressure on school leaders, as parents on both sides of the issue argue that the stakes are life-or-death.
The CDC recommends universal masking at schools, regardless of vaccination status, because of the spread of the highly contagious delta variant and because children under 12 are not yet eligible for the coronavirus vaccine. On Friday, the Mississippi State Medical Association urged districts to mandate masks.
Some parents have pulled their children from their schools because of district mask policies, either because they wanted masks to be required, or because they didn’t want their child to have to wear a mask.
Gulfport started classes in July with masks optional but mandated them about a week after classes began.
Last week, Harrison County’s school board voted 3-2 the evening before classes started to not require masks.
A day earlier, the Ocean Springs board voted 3-2 to require masks.
The state health department has not yet reported cases and outbreaks at schools this year, but officials have said they plan to collect and publish that data as they did last year.
