Students and staff in Utah who don’t wear a mask in K-12 schools in accordance with the governor’s mandate can be charged with a misdemeanor.
The potential criminal penalty for violating the order was confirmed by Gov. Gary Herbert’s office late Wednesday. Spokeswoman Anna Lehnardt said the decision will be up to local schools and charters on whether they want to apply it while they respond to the coronavirus pandemic.
“It’s enforced on a district and superintendent level,” she added. “But we’re not thinking, let’s slap a bunch of kids with misdemeanors.”
Herbert had issued the mask mandate for public schools in July. As classrooms have begun reopening across the state this week, though, it’s become a new source of frustration for many parents — with a focus on the enforcement.
During a legislative meeting Wednesday, one mother questioned why there should be potential misdemeanor charges associated with something she sees as a personal choice.
“Our children should not have to suffer criminal consequences for getting an education,” said Angie Martin, who has a high schooler in Cache County.
Lehnardt said she doesn’t expect that part of the mask mandate to be levied often — and schools have the choice, too, to push students who won’t wear a mask to do online work. There are also exceptions to the order for those with medical conditions and while students are eating breakfast or lunch.
If it is carried out, though, a student or school employee could face a class B misdemeanor. That is the standard for any violation of a public health order, Lehnardt added. And it can be prosecuted with a sentence of up to six months in jail and a fine of up to $1,000. That is the same level of charge, for example, as a first offense for driving drunk.
“We want our teachers to be safe,” Lehnardt said as the reasoning behind the penalty.
There was some discussion by lawmakers Wednesday over whether the K-12 mask mandate was among the emergency executive orders issued by Herbert during the pandemic that are set to expire this week. But it is not, and it will remain in effect.
Legislative leaders won’t be renewing the governor’s other orders — including a mask requirement in state buildings — and it would be up to Herbert if he wants to reissue those. The school face covering mandate, though, “is not in danger,” Lehnardt said, because it was issued in conjunction with the Utah Department of Health. It does not have an expiration date.
That hasn’t stopped parents from pushing back against the mandate, though, and trying to get it repealed.
Danielle Cottam, for instance, has taken her five children out of school so they don’t have to abide by the order. In the middle of what was supposed to be a school day on Wednesday, they instead played with a crowd of other mask-free kids at a splash pad in St. George.
“I should have the kids in school,” Cottam acknowledged. “But I chose to keep them home because of the mask crap. … It’s totally unconstitutional. It’s not even giving us a choice. I think I should have a right to choose whether or not my kids have to wear it.”
The mother is part of a growing group of families that are gaining volume as they push back against Herbert’s order.
The Salt Lake Tribune will update this developing story.
from The Salt Lake Tribune https://www.sltrib.com/news/education/2020/08/19/utah-students-staff-who/
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