Gov. Glenn Youngkin has dedicated much of his first few weeks in office to barring school systems across Virginia from mandating masks for students.

The political-outsider turned governor issued an executive order on his first day in office that allowed parents to opt-out of mask mandates, but following several legal challenges, Youngkin issued a statement asking parents to follow their local school boards’ directives. The Supreme Court of Virginia recently struck down a lawsuit filed by parents in Chesapeak against Youngkin’s executive order.

While Republicans stand united in their call for what they call the parental right to decide whether or not students should wear masks, Democrats seem to have failed to find a common stance on the issue. 

Just earlier today, the Democratic Party of Virginia sent out an email urging supporters to sign a petition against Youngkin’s policies that have targeted the public school system. The email referred to the Republican governor’s policies as “blatant government overreach.” 

But soon after that email was sent, the majority of Democrats in the Virginia Senate voted with Republicans in support of SB 739. The bill, which requires that school systems offer in-person instruction, was amended with a section that allows parents to choose whether their students will wear masks during in-person instruction.

The bill passed the Virginia Senate in a 29-9 vote with Sens. Creigh Deeds and Jeremy McPike Absent. The Democrats who were present for the vote were evenly split with nine voting in support and nine voting in opposition.

Democratic division in opposing the measures comes as a shock as Democrats in the Senate have repeatedly expressed that they will block legislation that would harm students and teachers. But the amendment was added by a Democratic Sen. Chap Petersen (D-34). 

Shortly after the bill was passed, the Virginia NAACP Conference issued a statement expressing their opposition to the legislation.

“It is disappointing to the Virginia NAACP that Senator Chap Petersen would put forth such an amendment that will knowingly harm the health and safety of our children, teaching staff, and staff personnel in schools,” said Virginia NAACP President Robert N. Barnette, Jr. in the press release. “His sly tactics will now increase the odds that hundreds of thousands of Virginia’s children may spread and contract COVID-19 while in school.”

Petersen is a controversial figure in Virginia politics. During the beginning of the COVID-19 Pandemic, while participating as a guest on a radio show, Petersen implied that schools were better during the Jim Crow era than they were during the pandemic. Prior to that, Petersen was a vocal opponent of the renaming of the Washington Football Team which was known as the Washington Redskins at the time. The NFL team changed its name due to the fact that the previous name was a well-known racial slur used to demean Native Americans.

The NAACP statement went on to express support for the CDC’s guidance for COVID-19 prevention in K-12 schools. Further, the statement urged the House of Delegates to reject the bill.

With bipartisan support for the bill in the Senate, it is unlikely the Republican-controlled House will reject the legislation. If the bill passes in the House of Delegates and is signed into law by the governor, then it will take effect in July.

While some have argued that mask mandates in public schools are unnecessary because children are not at high risk for severe cases of COVID-19, others have cited the risk posed by post-COVID-19 condition or “long COVID”. 

Long COVID can impact one in seven children who contract COVID, and the long-term effects of the condition are still unknown. At this point, what is known about the condition is that it is characterized by prolonged COVID-19 symptoms, and those symptoms can prove extremely detrimental to a child’s development.

Some have argued that masks in schools do not work, but according to the CDC, there are higher rates of COVID-19 in communities without mask mandates in schools. 

The bipartisan support that this bill has gained shows a disturbing pattern of apathy toward students in Virginia from Republicans and Democrats in the General Assembly. Legislators should stand with the NAACP in protecting students across Virginia. Democrats need to decide if Youngkin’s policies are government overreach or if they support those policies. 

With the looming threat of long COVID, legislators should be doing everything in their power to ensure students and teachers are safe and healthy, and removing mask mandates is nothing but destructive.