New Hanover County Schools to mandate masks for grades K-12

NEW HANOVER COUNTY, NC (WWAY) — The New Hanover County Board of Education voted unanimously to mandate masks for grades K-12 during its August meeting.

The decision comes after Pender County Schools and Columbus County Schools recently voted to make masks optional. Some parents hoped New Hanover County would follow suit, like mother of three Janaiah Von Hassel.

“The mask mandate I feel has an extremely negative effect on children, specifically children like mine who is non-speaking Autistic,” Von Hassel said.

Von Hassel feels the mandate could hinder her son’s development and potential to one day learn to speak.

“There’s so much more to communicating than just talking and there’s so much to reading the face and to understanding social cues, it’s such a huge part,” Von Hassel said.

The issue has sparked recent debate, with two opposing groups meeting outside the Board of Education building on Monday.

“No one has the right to make our schools unsafe by refusing to wear a mask,” said Sandy Eyles with New Hanover County Educational Justice.

“They’re not saying that no one wears a mask, they’re saying optional,” argued Gail Major. “And I believe it’s the parents’ right.”

The board cited rising case numbers in the county and a desire to keep kids in classrooms as reasons for implementing the requirement.

“If a COVID case happen in a classroom, if the children are masked, there is no quarantine requirement for the children exposed which keeps kids in the classroom,” said chair Stefanie Adams. “Without masks, kids may be home.”

All students, teachers, and staff in all grades will be required to wear masks.

The board plans to revisit its decision in upcoming meetings, reviewing the current case trends.

Also at Tuesday’s meeting, the board discussed naming Laney High School’s football field after a former coach, Larry Tootoo. No action was taken, and the item will be reviewed in 60 days.

The board also discussed a policy which has received criticism from some in the community. Policy 5120 outlines how students can be questioned by law enforcement.

The board voted to send it back to the policy committee for further discussion.

You can watch the full board meeting here.