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No Mask Mandates In Utah Schools This Fall, Wasatch Back Delegates Mixed on Law

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Masks will not be required in schools this fall.

 

 

  

Utah legislators were called to Special Session earlier this week to figure out how to spend more than $1.6 billion in federal funding. Lawmakers have also introduced bills and resolutions on some of the hot-button issues concerning Utahns. 

One of the bills would ensure that face coverings won’t be required in schools once summer break is over. The bill’s sponsor Republican Rep. Val Peterson said it would ensure a return to normalcy next school year. 

"It's really about the mental health of our students, about making sure that they as they come back to their school situation that they already have those assurances right now," he said. "That they can come back to school and be able to get right into the school year and start to regain some of that academic learning that they need to do and that they need to advance."

He said the bill allows some local control if there was an outbreak at a school. Local school boards could implement a mandate if they work with and have approval from their health department and the county executive power. 

Wasatch Back delegates were mixed in their votes on the bill. Republican Sen. Ron Winterton and Republican Rep. Mike Kohler voted for the ban. However, Republican Rep. Kera Birkeland spoke out against it. 

During House floor debate she said local school boards will have to jump through a lot of hoops if they need to enforce face coverings. 

"First of all, that seems like an overburdening of our school board," Birkeland said. "[Telling them:] you don't have the permission to do it, so we're going to regulate you and make you go through another layer of government to do something. I prefer to peel back the layers of government for elected officials on the local level. But also again, every community is not the same. And when some communities have to work through a health department that's overseeing multiple health departments in our counties, it complicates it." 

The bill passed both the House and Senate Floors. Gov. Spencer Cox confirmed Thursday he plans to sign the bill. 

 

Jessica joins KPCW as a general assignment reporter and Sunday Weekend Edition host. A Florida native, she graduated from the University of Florida with degrees in English — concentrating in film studies — and journalism. Before moving to Utah, she spent time in Atlanta, GA.
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