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The governor wants it both ways on masks in NC schools. That’s not a bad thing.

Charlotte Observer - 7/22/2021

North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper announced Wednesday that school districts should require masks indoors for all students and staff in elementary and middle schools.

It’s a smart recommendation, but it’s just that: a recommendation. Cooper stopped short of a hard mandate, instead saying that individual schools and districts should require them — placing the onus on them to actually enforce it. That has some parents and educators grumbling and wondering why the governor didn’t just issue a mask mandate himself.

After all, the American Academy of Pediatrics released new guidance for schools this week, recommending that everyone over the age of 2 wear masks, even if they are vaccinated. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has said that unvaccinated students and staff should wear masks in school buildings.

The governor appears to feel the same. North Carolina has seen a nearly 60% increase in new COVID-19 cases in the last week, spurred largely by the dangerous delta variant. Nearly all of those hospitalized with the virus in recent weeks have not been vaccinated, and children under the age of 12 are not yet eligible to receive the COVID-19 vaccine.

“We know how important it is to make sure that these children are protected and that teachers are protected,” Cooper said Wednesday.

So why not just do so with a mask mandate in schools? The governor seems to be searching for a seam — one that allows him to push for an outcome but not unilaterally force it. That may be a political decision given the backlash school mask mandates already have faced, but it’s not an unreasonable approach for now.

Children remain the least likely to get and spread COVID-19, and in some NC communities, infections and hospitalizations are low enough that the benefit of masking K-8 students may be minimal. It makes sense — at least for now — to let communities decide for themselves. Said state superintendent Catherine Truitt: “As a proponent of local control, I’ve felt the decision on mask mandates should be made by those most in tune with their student population and know that superintendents, parents and school boards will act in the best interests of their students.”

This board has long agreed that cities and counties should have autonomy to make decisions that best fit their communities, something N.C. Republicans say they believe but regularly forget. (See: teaching about race.) So long as those local decisions don’t perpetuate a larger, lethal health crisis, school districts should get to make that call with masking students.

One quibble: The state’s guidance recommending masks for unvaccinated high school students is impractical. Our educators shouldn’t and won’t be police tasked with determining who should have a mask and who doesn’t need one.

Cooper’s approach to masks is not new. When COVID began to rage in North Carolina in early 2020, Cooper closed schools, bars and restaurant dining rooms but initially left it up to counties to decide on stay-at-home orders. The virus soon left him no choice but to issue a statewide shelter in place order, and the governor’s subsequent aggressiveness with COVID surely saved countless lives in North Carolina.

COVID may again force the issue — at least with schools. The Delta variant is highly contagious, and we’re learning more about the impact it has on younger populations. But while a crisis might eventually become imminent, it isn’t yet, and the need for masks might soon become moot as the governor confronts a thornier question. COVID vaccines are headed toward final FDA approval, perhaps this fall. When that happens, Cooper should strongly consider requiring them for all eligible public school students and staff, just as North Carolina does for other immunizations.

For now, the governor can have it both ways. Recommending but not requiring masks is the right path to take.

©2021 The Charlotte Observer. Visit charlotteobserver.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.