Norfolk students and staff members will still be required to wear masks despite an order from the new governor, while Chesapeake is still deciding whether to lift a mask mandate, school leaders said in messages to parents Monday.
Norfolk and Chesapeake are the latest school districts to respond to new Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s executive order ending a statewide mask mandate in K-12 schools. Richmond, Alexandria, Fairfax County and Arlington County school district officials have also said they will continue to enforce masking, according to reporting from the Associated Press.
In a message, Norfolk Superintendent Sharon Byrdsong said students and staff would be required to wear masks on school buses and within schools and division-wide facilities.
“Please know that we will continue to keep you updated on these executive orders and specifically how they may affect the existing daily operations of our schools,” Byrdsong added.
Chesapeake students and staff will still have to wear masks, at least for the coming week, said Chris Vail, the district’s director of communications.
“We anticipate additional guidance from the Virginia Department of the Education and other agencies this week about this order,” Vail said.
Byrdsong said the district will continue to follow its Health Mitigation Plan — a 34-page guide to masking, social distancing and other school guidelines developed with the Norfolk Department of Public Health.
Trevor Metcalfe, 757-222-5345, trevor.metcalfe@pilotonline.com
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
![By LINDSAY WHITEHURST (Associated Press) WASHINGTON (AP) — Nearly two years after overturning the constitutional right to abortion, the Supreme Court will consider Wednesday how far state bans can extend to women in medical emergencies. The justices are weighing a case from Idaho, where a strict abortion ban went into effect shortly after the high […]](https://www.pilotonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Supreme_Court_Abortion_96936.jpg?w=525 "By LINDSAY WHITEHURST (Associated Press) WASHINGTON (AP) — Nearly two years after overturning the constitutional right to abortion, the Supreme Court will consider Wednesday how far state bans can extend to women in medical emergencies. The justices are weighing a case from Idaho, where a strict abortion ban went into effect shortly after the high […]")
