Pender County Schools to vote on contentious mask-wearing policy next week

BURGAW, NC (WWAY) — Dozens of people spoke out about Pender County Schools’ mask-wearing policy during a board meeting Tuesday, Sept. 14.

The board heard from 43 people including 20 who attended the meeting in person, 22 who left a voice message and one person who emailed the district their comment.

A representative with the Pender County Health Department also presented to the board information about the current status of COVID-19 cases involving students and faculty.

On Monday, Pender County Schools started posting its COVID-19 dashboard on the district’s homepage.

It is important to note, however, the numbers displayed only reflect total cases of COVID-19 identified among students and staff while at school.

For example, the dashboard current shows that North Topsail Elementary School (NTES) had six students “Quarantined Due to Exposure” for the week of September 5-11. No number is listed in the column for “Confirmed Positives.”

According to school district spokesman Alex Riley, the half-dozen students at NTES were exposed to COVID-19 on campus but that person did not contract the coronavirus at school. Therefore, no number is listed under the “Confirmed Positives” column.

During the Tuesday night’s meeting, the board only heard comments from parents and no decision was made about about the face-covering policy for October.

Pender County School board members will vote on whether to extend the current policy at its next meeting on September 21 which begins at 9 a.m.