Kentucky Board of Education to consider extended universal mask mandate

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- The Kentucky Board of Education could require universal masking in the state's public schools into 2022, according to a proposed emergency regulation.

According to a meeting agenda posted on the board's website, it plans to discuss the proposed emergency regulation Thursday morning that would require "all individuals inside public school facilities to wear a face covering."

If approved, the regulation would last for 270 days — which covers a majority of the 2021-22 school year — but the board could end it sooner if warranted, according to the proposal.

The BOE's emergency regulation would apply to all 171 of Kentucky's public school districts. The board says the regulation is "necessary to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 in Kentucky public schools and prevent public school closures during the 2021-22 school year due to COVID-19."

The U.S. is seeing a surge in COVID cases with the highly contagious delta variant. Kentucky reported 2,961 new cases of COVID-19 in the state on Wednesday and a positivity rate of 11.22%, according to a report from Kentucky Public Health.

In its emergency regulation, the board includes data from Kentucky Public Health "demonstrating the imminent threat to public health, safety, and welfare of public school students and the need for this regulation to be placed into effect immediately."

The board says an ordinary regulation would have taken nine months to go into effect, "leaving public school children unnecessarily exposed" to COVID-19 in schools and threaten in-person learning for the 2021-22 school year.

This comes on the heels of Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear issuing an executive order mandating masks in schools amid a surge of COVID-19 cases across the state. Beshear's mandate will last 30 days and cover preschool and child care facilities for those 2 and older, the governor said during a Tuesday news conference.

Beshear's mandate has already been met with pushback from Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron, who announced Wednesday that he would be taking the executive order to the state Supreme Court.

This story may be updated.