Mask mandate could come for Columbia schools as mayor issues COVID state of emergency

Columbia Mayor Steve Benjamin has declared a new state of emergency in South Carolina’s capital city because of rising cases of COVID-19.

By emergency order, public and private schools as well as daycares must require all students, faculty, staff and visitors to wear face coverings to stop the spread of the coronavirus, the mayor’s office announced Wednesday.

The emergency ordinance, which will have to be approved by a meeting of Columbia City Council, will apply on the premises of all places “whose purpose is to educate and/or care for children between the ages of two (2) and fourteen (14),” a draft ordinance reads.

The City Council will meet at 10 a.m. Tuesday to vote whether to approve the emergency order.

The order, if approved, would apply to about 40 elementary and middle schools in the city limits, both public and private, the mayor said. City fire marshals would help enforce the law, and the city could fine school leaders $100 for violations of the mask order — though a fine would not be imposed on students or teachers, Benjamin said.

The effort is targeted at those students who are too young to be vaccinated against COVID-19. Vaccines are currently only approved for use by those age 12 and up.

The new highly contagious delta variant of the coronavirus has shown “an amazing ability to not only infect all of us but an incredible ability to infect our children,” Benjamin said at a Wednesday afternoon news conference. He noted that children’s hospitals across the country, including Prisma Health Children’s Hospital in Columbia, are reporting that they are reaching their capacities as more and more children are experiencing COVID-19 and respiratory illnesses.

“Let’s save our babies. Let’s protect our babies. Let’s protect the men and women who educate them every day,” Benjamin said.

The mask declaration puts the city at odds with state officials and lawmakers. Gov. Henry McMaster blocked all school districts and local governments from requiring face coverings by issuing an executive order in May. McMaster recently has said he believes parents alone should decide whether their children wear masks in school. The state Legislature also adopted a proviso for the 2021-22 school year that prohibits schools from requiring masks be worn by students.

Benjamin said that the language of the state proviso does not affect the city’s ability to hand down a mask mandate of its own for schools. Benjamin added that the city’s legal advisers believe the local order will stand up and that the city would be willing to fight it to the Supreme Court, if necessary.

“To those who disagree, I respect their ability and right to disagree. We’re going to continue to move forward to save lives and livelihoods,” Benjamin said. “This is a time we’ve got to put foolish politics behind us and ... save lives.“

There was no immediate response from the governor’s office Wednesday afternoon.

Nearly all public schools within the Columbia city limits are in the Richland 1 school district. In response to Benjamin’s announcement Wednesday afternoon, Richland 1 Superintendent Craig Witherspoon said his schools “will encourage our students and staff to wear masks, which public health officials advise to help mitigate the spread of COVID-19. We also urge everyone who is eligible to be vaccinated to get vaccinated.”

Witherspoon added that Richland 1 schools “will do everything in our power to protect the health and safety of our students and staff.”

Benjamin said that a citywide mask order for schools will “remove every sense of uncertainty from (school leaders’) decision-making process. This is the law in the city of Columbia.”

Benjamin signaled that he was considering a mask mandate at Tuesday’s city council meeting, citing rising numbers of COVID-19 cases as the highly contagious delta variant spreads through the Midlands. Benjamin specifically cited the fact that Prisma Health Children’s Hospital in Columbia reported this week it has hit capacity because of a rise in hospitalizations due to respiratory illnesses in patients, many of whom are too young to get the vaccine.

“To have a hospital at capacity day-to-day, it would be immoral for us not to act if we don’t see a change in the trend of these numbers,” Benjamin said Tuesday. “We make a choice about whether or not to be vaccinated. Our children don’t have that choice... You can do what you want with your child, but I have a responsibility and right to protect my children.”

The emergency ordinance, if approved by a special meeting of the city council, will be in force for 60 days, with the option for city leaders to renew it. It would only apply to schools inside the Columbia city limits.

This is a breaking story. It will be updated.