Loudoun Superintendent Outlines Criteria For Relaxed Mask Mandates In Schools

LOUDOUN COUNTY, VA — Schools in Loudoun County have outlined a process that would allow for relaxed mask mandates. The superintendent outlined the guidelines at this week's school board meeting.

Mask mandates could be relaxed if there are fewer students and staff in quarantine procedures, and if the community transmission rate in Loudoun County drops below "substantial" levels, as defined by the Virginia Department of Health.

School mask mandates have been a hot topic through the beginning of 2022. On his first day in office, Gov. Glenn Youngkin issued an executive order that would make masks optional in all public schools. Several school boards challenged the mandate in court and were granted a temporary injunction last week.

Read more: School Mask Mandates: VA Judge Rules On Youngkin Order

Loudoun County was not part of the lawsuit and injunction that was issued in Arlington Circuit Court last week. However, in a January update, the school system announced that they would maintain their mask mandate despite the governor's order.

On Feb. 1, a group of Loudoun County parents filed a lawsuit against the school board over the mask mandate. The lawsuit claimed that the school board "is defying a lawful public health directive issued by the governor."

Read more: Parents Sue Loudoun School Board Over Continued Mask Mandate

At a school board meeting on Tuesday, Superintendent Scott Ziegler outlined the guidelines that would allow for the relaxation of mask mandates in Loudoun's schools.

Ziegler said that the school board has been discussing "when it will be impractical to wear masks and when it will become practical to relax some of our COVID mitigation measures."

To relax the mask mandate, the number of students and staff isolating due to COVID exposure would have to drop below 50 and remain below 50 for at least 14 days. The community transmission and percent positivity rates would also have to drop below substantial levels and remain below substantial levels for 14 days.

Ziegler told school board members that the guidelines had been vetted by Loudoun County Health Director Dr. David Goodfriend. "He believes these are in line with scientific thinking and certainly in line with the numbers the county is using," Ziegler said.

On Thursday, 28 staff members and 126 students were isolating with active COVID cases, the school system's data dashboard note. Meanwhile, Loudoun County's is in high levels of community transmission, according to the Virginia Department of Health.

To drop below substantial levels of community transmission, fewer than 8 percent of PCR tests would have to be positive and there would need to be fewer than 50 new cases per 100,000 people over the previous 7 days.

Currently, 11.5 of PCR tests are coming back positive in Loudoun County, and there were 312 new COVID cases per 100,000 people last week, according to the Virginia Department of Health.

When Loudoun County reaches the criteria outlined by Ziegler, he believes it would be impractical to continue the mask mandate. "Until then, I think it is a wise decision to continue our stringent COVID guidelines and mitigation efforts."

Students who have refused to wear masks in Loudoun County schools have been subject to suspension, depending on their reasoning. The school system has said they would work with students who are unable to wear masks for medical reasons.

"Students who decline to follow COVID-mitigation protocols, such as wearing required face coverings after repeated warnings and redirection, may be suspended for 'Willful or continued disobedience of school rules and regulations or school personnel' or 'Defiance of the authority of any teacher, principal, or other person having authority in the school,'" Ziegler wrote in a letter to community members last week.