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Priest New federal healthcare guidance announced Friday allows vaccinated middle and high school students, teachers and other educators to go maskless in K-12 indoor settings. Local public-health and school officials expressed hope that the relaxing of some COVID-19 restrictions by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention could spark another round of vaccinations. However, the officials also expressed concern that the new guidance could take the COVID-19 vaccination honor system to a whole new level of accountability and potential unintended consequences. The CDC noted the avail...

With the start of the 2021-22 school year for K-12 education just six to seven weeks away, some infectious diseases experts and health-care researchers continue to advise that school districts and administrators continue to require masks indoors. They said they agree that K-12 schools should be open, and that 3 feet of distance between students is sufficient. The experts and researchers say there are three main factors behind their recommendations: The likelihood of the delta variant — which is considered as more infectious with more serious cases — becoming the predominant COVID-19...

The state Senate chose Wednesday to put on pause legislation addressing whether K-12 students will be required to wear masks indoors for the 2021-22 school year. Sen. Joyce Krawiec, R-Forsyth, said much of the legislation in the revamped Senate Bill 173 was acceptable to the Senate. However, Krawiec recommended sending the bill to a concurrence committee, in part to give senators time to gain input from parents and other constituents. There is no state public-health or educational mandate requiring youths to get the COVID-19 vaccine prior to the start of the school year. One possible solution...

View the Winston-Salem Journal for Sunday, June 27, 2021

NC House votes to end statewide school mask mandate. Here's what happens next. Avi Bajpai, The News & Observer (Raleigh, N.C.) Jun. 23—RALEIGH — The North Carolina House passed a bill Wednesday that would grant local school boards the authority to make face masks optional for the upcoming school year, allowing them not to comply with the state's ongoing mask mandate that remains in effect for schools. Senate Bill 173, known as the Free the Smiles Act, would allow public school districts, charter schools and private schools to set their own mask policies. North Carolina sch...