Students More Likely to be Masked in Private School than Public School in South Carolina

As though our times can’t get any stranger but here in South Carolina, if you have kids in elementary, middle or high school, they are more likely to be masked if they attend a private school rather than a public school. Sound crazy? It is!

Last year with all the Covid craziness with education, private schools across the nation saw an increase in students as parents looked for other options outside of the virtual learning and heavy mask mandates that so many public schools were using.

In South Carolina, the legislature wrote in to the budget bill that became law a specific order that public schools could not issue mask mandates for their students for the coming year. (Note: this might change with next year’s budget). There has been plenty of push back against that as well as court challenges. The courts ruled against the law as it pertained to state colleges…they can require mask mandates. But somehow public schools still could not require masks. The City of Columbia went ahead with their own indoor mask mandate including schools and day care centers. Well the South Carolina Supreme Court just struck down Columbia’s mask mandate. The vote was 5-0. If I’m reading this correctly, it strikes down any school official or school board thinking they can institute a mask mandate this year. With this news, I do expect a big move or schools to go to virtual. How long will they go that route? Hard to know.

I’m not going to call out the specific private schools that are requiring masks but if you’re considering a private school and the mask issue is an important one for you, make sure you do your homework.