KY General Assembly votes to end school mask mandate and keep limits on home learning

The Kentucky General Assembly gave final approval Thursday to a bill that eliminates the state’s mask mandate in K-12 schools and wouldn’t give districts any more than 10 non-traditional instruction days that allow district-wide learning from home.

Gov. Andy Beshear vetoed the bill late Thursday night but the legislature promptly overrode his decision. The bill carried an emergency clause, which means it took effect immediately. Under the bill, the Kentucky Board of Education’s mask mandate will be voided in five working days, giving school districts a limited amount of time to decide if they will impose their own mask requirements.

Senate Bill 1 cleared the Senate on a 28-8 vote. It immediately went to the House, where the House Education Committee quickly approved the bill Thursday afternoon and sent it to the full House, where it was approved 70-25.

Kentucky Education Commissioner Jason Glass said the bill does not go far enough in providing the flexibility that schools need.

“Further, the politically motivated effort to remove masking requirements in public schools weakens our virus mitigation efforts as a state at the very time they are needed most,” Glass said. “We will be working with ... school districts as they continue to try to keep students in school safely and do our best to manage the consequences of the decisions made by our legislature.”

Senate Education Committee Chairman Max Wise, R-Campbellsville, said SB 1, which he sponsored, allows individual school boards to make their own policies about masking in schools.

The bill would allow school districts to temporarily shift specific groups of students, classrooms or schools to remote learning for up to 20 days before Dec. 31, but the existing limit of 10 NTI days for an entire school district would remain.

Wise said the bill is “a fair and flexible” solution that superintendents can get behind as they focus on in-person learning. At least 38 Kentucky school districts have shut down for various time periods this school year, some without offering at-home learning.

The Kentucky General Assembly began a special session Tuesday to deal with COVID-19 policies.

After the Senate vote Thursday afternoon, Beshear said universal masking in schools is “absolutely necessary.”

“Most superintendents know that now, even the ones who didn’t think that was true in the beginning,” Beshear said during a news conference.

He said it would be “foolish” for school districts “to put that many kids in danger by not requiring masking in schools.”

More than 27% of the 4,468 new coronavirus cases reported Wednesday in Kentucky were in school-aged children, and kids between the ages of 10 and 19 continue to account for the highest incidence rates.

State Sen. Reggie Thomas, D-Lexington, said the legislation was “a life and death bill” given the escalation in COVID-19 cases. He said he wanted children to have in-person learning but that it should be done safely. He advocated for the mask mandate.

Senate Bill 1 also declares regulations requiring masks in daycare centers null and void.

Wise, speaking in support of the bill, said something needed to be done to reduce the thousands of students in quarantine at home. He said the bill calls for “Test to Stay” programs that allow students who have been exposed to but test negative for COVID on consecutive days to stay in the classroom.

Fayette County Public Schools are implementing a pilot “test to stay” program backed by the federal government.

The bill also makes it easier for retired teachers to return to the classroom to help with staff shortages.

State Sen. Alice Forgy Kerr, R-Lexington, who was vaccinated and contracted and recovered from a break-through COVID-19 case, voted against the bill. She encouraged everyone to wear a mask.

Sen. Danny Carroll, R-Paducah, spoke in favor of the bill, saying that school districts and child care center operators could make their own decisions on masks.

Senate Minority Floor Leader Morgan McGarvey, D-Louisville, said the bill was rushed and that school districts should have the option to take more NTI days if needed.

“To have kids safely in school,.... then we have to be OK with them wearing masks right now,” he said.

In the House debate, state Rep. Cherlynn Stevenson, D-Lexington, said the bill should be changed to help school districts like Fayette County, where a severe school bus driver shortage is canceling several routes a day.

Stevenson said Fayette Superintendent Demetrus Liggins supported a floor amendment she filed on the bill to temporarily eliminate a requirement that bus drivers have a high school diploma or GED. House members voted against considering the amendment.

Rep. Jason Nemes, R-Middleton, drew applause when he said the bill provides school districts with more flexibility.

Stevenson said she thought Fayette schools would require masks under the bill but other districts might not. She listed school employees who died of COVID.

“There should not be one more,” Stevenson said.

This story was originally published September 9, 2021 at 2:25 PM.