‘We must stop giving into fear’: Lincoln County School Board votes to make face masks optional for students, staff

Face masks will soon be optional for students and staff at Lincoln County Schools.

This comes after the board of education voted 5 to 2 in favor of making masks optional. However, it didn’t come without heated debate from parents and educators.

On @WBTV_News This Morning:

*The Lincoln Co. school board voted 5-2 to be mask-optional starting Sept 29th. Plus,

*Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools now requiring staff to show proof of vaccination or undergo weekly #COVID19 testing.

Details on the two changes beginning at 6am. pic.twitter.com/0WKtbwcatu
— Sharonne Hayes (@SharonneHayesTV) September 15, 2021

“We must stop giving into fear and emotional decision-making and start using logic and risk analysis,” one parent said. “We need to vote against this mask mandate.”

“We’re going to be – I think – stupid because we’re not taking care of our kids, our teachers, our administrators, cafeteria workers. Everybody needs to wear the mask the next 30 days and then see where it’s going to drop down to,” one board member said.

The masks will become optional for the district starting Sept. 29.

Lincoln County joins Union County Public Schools as some of the last districts in the area to keep face masks optional.

Last week, the Union County Board of Education voted to make face masks optional, despite an outbreak in COVID-19 cases.

On Monday, the Union County board also voted to do away with COVID-19 contact tracing, allowing nearly 7,000 students and staff who didn’t test positive or show symptoms of the virus to return to school.