KBE mask regulation will stay in place after republican lawmakers sent the policy to Beshear’s desk for review – WPSD Local 6

FRANKFORT, KY Tuesday, state lawmakers on a special subcommittee met in Frankfort, Kentucky, voted against the Kentucky Board of Education's mask mandate for schools.

The state school board recently voted that most students and adults must wear masks inside school buildings for the next 270 days.

During the panel's meeting Tuesday, lawmakers who represent communities in the Local 6 area spoke out against the mandates and voiced their frustration at the state not allowing local school districts to make their own decisions on masks.

Republican District 3 Rep. Randy Bridges argued a statewide board should not make a decision on masks, sayinglocal superintendents, teachers and parents know what's best for their kids.

"More so than appointed members of a board in other places that are not directly working day in and day out directly with these students, with these teachers in these districts and in these counties," Bridges said."I really have to question whether some of these actions are the true intent of the board or if they're just another extension of a governor's sweeping out arm of overstepping his boundaries," Bridges said.

The board's emergency mask requirement is a separate mandate from the executive order Gov. Andy Beshear issued earlier the same week requiring masks in schools, preschools and day care facilities.

Bridges went on to suggest the KBE put in place stipulations and other markers of when schools statewide could remove the mask mandate if certain low positivity levels are met.

Republican state Sen. Danny Carroll also spoke at the meeting. He was there in his role asexecutive director of Easterseals West Kentucky not in his role as a legislator.

he said it's difficult for children who are two and three years old to wear a mask all day.

"It is a little better with the 4 and 5 year olds, but we still don'tto obtain uniformity, and our entire days would be spent putting masks back on and washing hands," Carroll said."It's unfortunate that the administration has chosen not to work with legislators and not to work as a group, as a team, to navigate through this pandemic in all areas."

At the end of the day, the committee voted 5 to 2 to repudiate the KBE regulation, determining the mask policies lacked focus. Republican lawmakers made up the majority of the committee.

The vote will ultimately do very little. The vote sent the regulation to Beshear's desk for his review. The Democratic governor reviewed the policy and responded on Tuesday that the regulation will remain in effect, the Associated Press reports.

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KBE mask regulation will stay in place after republican lawmakers sent the policy to Beshear's desk for review - WPSD Local 6