When it comes to requiring students to wear masks in Bryan County Schools, advocates of prochoice and no-choice are likely to be in attendance at Thursday night’s Bryan County School Board meeting in Black Creek.

Seven people had already signed up to speak at the meeting by Tuesday night’s release of the board’s draft agenda, about seven times more than normal for such meetings. Recently, a group of parents and others in Richmond Hill have resumed protests against the decision by Bryan County Schools to again require masks in the face of rising COVID-19 numbers and the Delta Variant.

Bryan County has had 581 confirmed cases of COVID over the past two weeks, up from 331 last week, according to the Coastal Health District. And while opponents have questioned the science behind calls for masking, the Centers for Disease Control on those shown Aug. 4 recommended “universal indoor masking for all students, staff, teachers, and visitors to K-12 schools, regardless of vaccination status.”

Bryan County Schools Superintendent Dr. Paul Brooksher said the mandate will remain in effect until the end of the first nine weeks on Oct. 8.

Schools to be closed on Sept. 3

The Governor recently announced all state employees will be given September 3rd off for the purpose of encouraging individuals to get vaccinated. 

 While this declaration does not apply to school staff, Bryan County Schools will be closed on Friday, September 3rd. 

Bryan County Schools will use this extended break to deep clean the facilities and buses as well as support Governor Kemp’s encouragement given to all state employees.