New Bill Will Return Student Masking Decisions to Parents

Raleigh, NC— Today, North Carolina House Speaker Tim Moore announced a new bill that will give parents the right to opt out of student mask mandates for their children.

Although Governor Cooper said last week that the NC DHHS would be updating COVID guidelines for students, the only update to the toolkit was to contact tracing. Unfortunately, North Carolina students are still masked in the classroom.

North Carolina House Speaker Tim Moore said, "Let me be clear: It's parents, not politicians who should be making these decisions for their children. As other states across the country lift mask mandates and restrictions, North Carolina's children will not be left behind."

He continued, "Confusing guidance from politicians has kept student masking policies in place, despite the fact that children are the demographic with the lowest risk, cases are plummeting, and the data has shown the learning loss and delays that have resulted from ongoing restrictions. It is time to return this decision back to parents, where it belongs."

Senate Bill 671 is scheduled to be heard tomorrow in House Education K-12 at 9:00 AM.