Wood County Schools Lifts Mask Mandate

by Alyse Bailey

Wood county schools ends the mask mandate after instating the use of masks on August 31st, 2021, just 8 school days into the 2021-2022 school year.

After staying at gold for- days, the Wood County Board of Education held a meeting on Tuesday, February 8th, 2022, for the approval of lifting the mask mandate in schools.

Board members Justin Raber, Rick Olcott, and Debbie Hendershot voted to approve the lift of the mandate, while board members Ron Tice and Judy Johnson voted to keep the enforcement of masks in schools, bringing the final vote to 3-2.

Board member Rick Olcott, whom voted to remove the mandate, states that he made this choice “based on where we are with the virus” saying his perspective is that with “the current pandemic now moving into an endemic phase, the lifting of the mandate should be sustained.”

Olcott continued to congratulate Wood Counties effort by saying, “Wood County has done a remarkable job with safety given the unknowns and lack of experience with managing through a global pandemic” He continued to reflect on his statement by recognizing that, “Improvements are always necessary but the last two years have been a discovery process for all”.

When interviewed by WTAP, board member Justin Raber stated that vaccines have been accessible for long enough that children’s vaccination statuses should be as their parents please. When asked his view on masks, Raber said, “I’m no doctor. I don’t know if they work or not. But, I believe that where we are now, especially when the West Virginia Department of Education puts out in their guidance that we are no longer able to contact trace because of the current variant and how quickly it spreads. It’s time to move on and treat this as an endemic instead of a pandemic”

The lift of the mask mandate brings contact tracing to a minimum, requiring students to quarantine only if they are experiencing symptoms.