Horry County Schools said Monday that out of about 45,000 students, 10,360 of them have opted out of wearing masks, according to the district.
Some parents at Monday’s meeting spoke out against the opt-out form and masks required by DHEC.
“Why are we having to sign these?” one parent asked. “There is no mask mandate.”
School Board Chairman Speaks Calm
“Let’s try and finish out this year,” Horry County School Board Chairman Ken Richardson said. “It’s been a complicated year but let’s try and get them out of school and get through and hopefully everyone have a good summer and come back ready to go next year back to normal.”
The deadline to opt-out of in-person learning (physically attending school) was midnight Monday, but there is no hard deadline for students to opt-out of wearing masks.
“Either opt out of the mask with the signed signature and go to school without the mask or put on a mask and go to school because they need to be in school,” District 6 Board Member Helen Smith said.
Number of students opting out of masks by school groups:
- High schools: 2,729
- Middle schools: 2,514
- Elementary schools: 5,117
Number of students opting out of in-person school attendance by school groups:
- High schools: 480
- Middle schools: 67
- Elementary schools: 37