Marlboro County School District issued the following announcement on July 13.
The Center for Disease Control (CDC) has issued COVID-19 guidelines ahead of the start of the 2021-2022 school year. Those guidelines call for masks for unvaccinated teachers and students but that won't be the case in South Carolina.
State lawmakers passed a proviso that was part of the state budget which prohibits any South Carolina school district from creating a mask mandate, in any school facility, meaning no masks in class.
In a memo to all district school districts earlier this month, State Superintendent of Education, Molly Spearman said her agency also has decided it will no longer enforce masks on buses either. In fact, any district that tries to put in a mandatory mask mandate, could face a penalty. "Should a district decide to act contrary to this law, state funding may be withheld," Spearman wrote.
Superintendent Dr. Gregory McCord stated, "MCSD will encourage those who have not been vaccinated to wear masks, however no one will be required to wear a mask or a face coving of any nature. We would like to especially encourage anyone 12 years and above who has not been vaccinated to take advantage of the free vaccination clinics in the area. We currently have 71% of our staff members fully vaccinated at this time, with that number hopefully rising as the new year approaches."
The district will still adhere to social distancing of at least 3 feet whenever possible, along with continued disinfecting of classrooms/buses, abundant supply of disinfectant hand washing stations, water bottle filling stations in place of regular water fountains, etc. including many of the sanitizing practices that were previously in place.
Original source can be found here.