West Virginia lawmakers advance bill that would ban mask mandates, limit COVID testing for students
January 25, 2022 | West Virginia
West Virginia (LifeSiteNews) — The West Virginia House Education Committee passed the “Parent and Student Health Rights Act” last week to prevent schools from forcing students and employees to wear masks, or to quarantine or test for COVID when asymptomatic.
HB 4071 states, “regardless of a confirmed outbreak, no school … may impose a COVID-19 mask or face covering requirement for any school student, grade K-12, or school employee,” since the “parent of a student maintains the right to determine whether their child will wear a mask … on school premises.”
It further states that no school or official “may impose a mandatory COVID-19 testing requirement on any asymptomatic or pre-symptomatic student and/or school employee,” nor may they require quarantine or isolation of students and employees “unless a case of COVID-19 is confirmed by a positive test result.”
The bill restricts the duration of quarantine for students and employees to five days, or to when a negative COVID test result is received.
According to West Virginia’s MetroNews, the lead sponsor of the bill, Delegate Jordan Maynor, R-Raleigh, suggested that its provisions are the result of “overwhelm[ing]” feedback from his district’s constituents. …. (Excerpts from LIFESITE NEWS.COM)
