COVID Spread Prompts Masking Change In Mooresville Schools

MOORESVILLE, NC — Four days into the new school year, Mooresville Graded School District abruptly called for immediate universal masking in all school district buildings Thursday after COVID spread prompted the quarantine of more than 80 students, including an entire class.

Late last month, school district leaders voted to make masking optional for students and teachers when classes resumed Aug. 2, saying that enforcing a mandatory mask policy would be difficult to enforce and disruptive to learning. The decision countered guidance issued by North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention calling for mandatory face coverings in all K-12 schools.

By Thursday afternoon, however, increasing community spread of COVID in Iredell County had found its ways into the schools.

"In the first four days of school, we have quarantined over 80 students, including an entire classroom," MGSD Superintendent Stephen Mauney said in a message to school families announcing the policy change. "If required masking were in place during the first four days, our quarantine number would have been less than 10 students total. This data point itself shows us that we can keep more kids in school when we all wear masks."

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As of Friday morning, the school district reported 88 individuals in quarantine and nine positive cases of COVID, according to the MGSD COVID-19 Data Dashboard.

Mauney said the decision to require masking in school facilities was made through consultation with the Iredell County Health Department.

"Over the last two weeks, Iredell County has seen significant increases in our percent of COVID positive tests, our number of new COVID cases, and our number of hospitalizations due to COVID," he said. "As a result of these rapidly increasing numbers, and from discussions with our local health department, MGSD will follow our plan to require all students, staff, and visitors to wear a face covering while inside our facilities or on our school buses."

This requirement went into effect at the start of the school day Friday, August 6.

"Individuals who do not have an approved exemption on file with the school, will not be permitted to enter school district facilities without a proper face covering," Mauney said.

In the past week, Iredell County has reported 342 new COVID cases, representing a 66 percent increase, according to the CDC's COVID tracker. Hospitalizations for COVID illness are up about 87 percent in the county.

Statewide, the number of COVID-19 cases rose by 4,331 new cases Thursday, the largest daily jump in new cases reported in the state since February, the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services reported. As of Thursday, at least one out of every four of the 1,651 patients hospitalized in the state for COVID illness were in an intensive care unit, leaving 19 percent of the state's staffed ICU beds available, according to DHHS data.

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