Newtown's State Sen. Hwang Supports Ending School Mask Mandate

NEWTOWN, CT — Republican state Sen. Tony Hwang, who represents Newtown, issued the below statement this week in response to Gov. Ned Lamont announcement calling for an end to the state's school mask mandate on Feb. 28.

As of that date, Lamont will allow the decision to enforce mask mandates in schools to be determined by local school districts. But, Hwang said, if Executive Order 9-1 is passed by the state's General Assembly, the ultimate authority will still reside with Lamont in consultation with the Department of Public Health and Education Commissioners:

“My heartfelt gratitude and admiration go out to local parents for their hard fought efforts. They have been passionate advocates for their children’s educational and social emotional development! Even in the face of mischaracterization and public ostracization, these parent advocates never abandoned their mission to change public policy to better serve their children.

“I had hoped that this policy change would be accompanied by a metric-driven road map for our town and school officials to follow. While not ideal, this is at least an improvement. This welcomed change is a credit to grass root advocacy and demand for representative government. Nothing is more powerful than the parents and caregivers fighting for their children.

“It is my hope that today’s announcement is a turning point for the Governor and the administration toward empowering individual choice and a consistency in public policy. I want to note that I am still concerned that today’s announcement will cause the public, or my fellow legislators, to overlook the fact that the Governor is still asking to maintain Executive branch authority to reinstate the statewide mandate at his discretion. Without a defined, science-based criteria for the decision making from Hartford, I will not support an order which allows for a statewide imposed school mask mandate without legislative input and respecting the will and wishes of our constituencies.”