Most families want masks in schools – so why did Virginia’s new governor make them optional?

Emily Paterson was finally feeling able to relax. Her two sons were now fully vaccinated, and with mask policies in place at their school in northern Virginia she felt safe sending them every day, even as the Omicron variant surged.

Then Virginia’s new governor, Glenn Youngkin, took office on 15 January of this year – and, with his second executive action, he made masks in schools optional.

A Virginia judge has blocked Youngkin’s order for now, allowing school districts to continue to enforce mask mandates in schools.

But the decision “immediately threw the whole state into an uproar”, Paterson said. “It felt really like a slap in the face. We felt really happy that this year wasn’t virtual, and that we could rely on our kids going back to school in person and being safe. So it was pretty shocking.” Read more at the Guardian.