COLUMBIA, SC — Members of both the South Carolina General Assembly and South Carolina Senate have now called on Governor McMaster and Senate President Harvey Peeler to convene special sessions to reconsider the budget proviso that curbs the power of school districts to require masks.
We have already seen schools in Pickens County make the switch to all virtual learning after 142 students tested positive for COVID-19. Despite these circumstances, Gov. Henry McMaster doubled-down on his indifference to the health and safety of our students, and “reiterated…that it was important that children studied in schools to make up for the learning loss and that the choice of wearing masks was still left up to the parents.”
“Republicans and Democrats are in agreement that our schools need to open this fall, but Gov. McMaster seems hell bent on making it as dangerous as possible,” said SCDP Chair Trav Robertson, Jr. “Without masks in schools and vaccines in arms, our schools will be trapped in this deadly cycle. Until he can put two and two together, schools will have no choice but to switch to virtual learning, like what just happened in Pickens County. Thankfully Democrats in the General Assembly, a bipartisan group of South Carolina Senators, school boards and city councils across the state realize how dangerous budget proviso 1.108 is and are taking action to protect our teachers and students.”
