RI Charter Schools Weigh In On Mask Debate

PROVIDENCE, RI — With the future of Rhode Island's school mask mandate up in the air, strong opinions have been voiced on both sides of the issue. Tuesday afternoon, the Rhode Island League of Charter Schools issued a statement urging state leaders to "be guided by science and sound public health policy in making their decisions."

"In recent days, as the severity of the omicron wave has declined, there has been a growing hope that public health measures, including masking, can be eased," the organization said in a statement. "We understand this trend – the impact of omicron is in fact easing and people have become increasingly inclined to let their guard down ... As we have repeatedly learned over the past two years, decisions about public health based solely on a date on the calendar are not effective, nor based on science."

The league went on to urge state leaders to use February vacation to establish "clear, concrete metrics that guide when and how public health measures can be eased," that can also be used in the future to determine if safety measures should be reintroduced.

The statement comes as state Republicans call for an end to all school mask requirements by Feb. 14. Gov. Dan McKee is expected to discuss the issue Wednesday during his COVID-19 news conference, which will be attended by both the education commissioner and interim director of Department of Health.

A spokesperson for the governor said McKee "met with key education stakeholders and has had calls with neighboring state Governors regarding the school masking executive order."

"Our students are taught to make sound decisions based on a mature, thoughtful assessment of the information at hand. We caution them against relying too much on information that is ambiguous, misleading or cannot be confirmed," the charter school league concluded. "We look forward to being able to show them in the coming days how the public decision-making process about how best to protect the community from COVID followed the same approach."