ASHEBORO NC – On July 19th, 2021, the Randolph County School board voted to drop its individual mask mandate for all staff, students, and members of the community.
that the Randolph County Board of Education has no individual mask mandate. Failure to wear a mask on the property of the Randolph County Board of Education or at a school in the Randolph County School System will not be considered a violation of Board policy or school rules. All students, staff, and community members are encouraged to make their own decisions respecting their personal health and to choose whether to wear masks. Any harassment, discrimination, bullying, or intimidation based on any person’s decision to wear or not to wear a mask will not be tolerated.
Adopted by the Randolph County Board of Education this 19th day of July 2021.
The resolution cites the Governor’s Executive Order issued on June 11th, that rescinded the requirement that masks be worn indoors as well as that Randolph County is no longer labeled as critical according to the County Alert System developed by the North Carolina Department
of Health and Human Services.
The change comes after the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (“CDC”) issued new guidance for COVID-19 prevention in K-12 schools which indicates that the mask requirement can be lifted for fully vaccinated people in most settings including schools.
As of July 22nd, 2021, 48,779 people in the county had received at least one dose with 46,289 people being fully vaccinated. That brings the percentage of the population in the county that is fully vaccinated to 32%, according to data from the NC Dept of Health and Human Service. Randolph County is starting to lag behind other counties in the area when it comes to the percentage of fully vaccinated residents with our neighbors in Guilford, Forsyth, and Chatham counties reporting 48%, Davidson County at 35%, and Montgomery at 34%.
State officials are rolling out all the stops to try to get more people vaccinated with a $1 million “Summer Cash Drawing” for those who are vaccinated as well as $25 gift cards and other incentives at participating locations.
Those interested in getting a vaccine can visit https://covid19.ncdhhs.gov/vaccines for more information or to find a location.