Masks again are mandated in the School District of Manatee County.
But the mandate may not make much of a difference while it lasts — and it might not last for long.
The Manatee County School Board voted 3-2 Aug. 16 to direct superintendent Cynthia Saunders to implement a temporary mask mandate to prevent the spread of the coronavirus among students and employees.
The mandate goes against Gov. Ron DeSantis’ statewide ban on the restrictions but the directive includes an opt-out clause allowing parents the ability to permit children not to wear face coverings.
The mandate was to remain effective until Aug. 25, unless the school board voted to extend the mandate at its Aug. 24 meeting, after The Islander’s press deadline.
Board members Mary Foreman, the Rev. James Golden and Charlie Kennedy voted in support of the motion after a nearly three-hour discussion Aug. 16.
Board members Chat Choate and Gina Messenger voted “no.”
The decision came after the district marked 179 confirmed cases of COVID-19 between the district’s students and employees over the first week of school — 10 times more than the 17 cases registered over the first week of the 2020-21 school year.
The island’s singular school was not immune.
There was one confirmed case involving a student at Anna Maria Elementary School in Holmes Beach as of Aug. 19.
While AME escaped the brunt of the first week’s COVID-19 cases, the mask mandate may not play a big part in preventing further cases.
AME principal Michael Masiello wrote in an Aug. 17 email to The Islander that he estimated 20% of the school’s students were wearing masks despite the mandate.
“We are currently working on getting information from each family on their choice to opt-in or opt-out of their child wearing a mask,” Masiello wrote.
He wrote that, following the school district’s reimplemented safety measures from the first week, school staff had reinstalled plastic desk shields and was encouraging social distancing whenever possible.
“We are familiar with the procedures and will continue to do whatever we can to make school as safe as we are able to,” Masiello wrote. “Our goal is to keep the virus from spreading in order to keep students in school.”