The Cumberland County Board of Education last night voted 5-4 to keep the mask mandate in place for students and staff until the end of this school year which is 25 days from today (April 23, 2021).

Board member Rebecca Hamby made a motion to make the wearing of the facial coverings optional instead of mandatory. It received a second from Chris King.

Hamby said she had family members and others she was familiar with that either had COVID-19 or passed away from complications of the virus. She added she was contacted by several parents who wanted the issue to be optional and a matter of choice instead of a requirement. Other school board members said they also received support for the mandate as well as others who wanted it to be a choice.

Officials with the Cumberland County Health Department then spoke to the board. They states only 500 of the 1,200 teachers and support staff received vaccinations as of this week and the process continues.

When asked their recommendation of the requirement for the masks in schools, they said what was passed down by the Centers for Disease Control needs to be followed. (wear masks when social distancing is not possible and trying to maintain a distance from others). They also advised the school board of another rise in active cases of the coronavirus. As of yesterday, Cumberland County went up 21 cases to 132 total. Numerous counties in the state also reported rises. The county is presently at 128 deaths and 156 hospitalized since the start of the pandemic. They ended their comments by telling the board they are still learning about the virus and its variants as well as the vaccines used to combat the coronavirus.

“We just had two health experts tell us the CDC guidelines need to be followed. The mask wearing in some capacity is helping reduce the risk of catching the virus,” said school board member Stace Karge.

“We have protected our children with this process. We have not lost any children because of this so far. (one employee passed away from it as of yesterday because of COVID-19). I can’t believe we are considering changing this now,” said school board member Tony Brock.

The vote was taken to make wearing the mask optional. Rebecca Hamby, Anita Hale, Teresa Boston and Chris King voted for it. School board members Stace Karge, Robbie Safdie, Shirley Parris and Tony Brock voted against.

That left a tie with board chairman Jim Inman indicating no.

The motion to make the masks optional failed 5-4.

With 25 days left in this school year, the board of education will look at the issue again prior to the start of the 2021-2022 year and see if conditions are better.

The school board also approved academic field trips, special programs and assemblies to be held with masks and social distancing in place. This means graduations will still proceed but with a limit of tickets each senior will be given for family members to keep attendance at a set capacity level.