Clamourous night at the school board, but no vote

The choice of whether to mask up in Oconee public schools will remain with the children or their parents, at least for now, after last night’s highly-emotional meeting of the county trustees.  Thirty-minutes of public comment, much of it anti-facial coverings, was followed by the trustees’ decision to put off any vote, pending the outcome of a ruling by the state Supreme Court.  Denise McCormick, trustees’ chairwoman, explained that the case under review by the high court is a challenge to the state’s law against mandatory mask wearing from a Columbia area school district.  Depending on the outcome districts, such as Oconee’s, could be free to impose mask wearing. At least some of the mask opponents vow to continue to pressure, and some flatly said they’d vote to defeat any of the trustees who’d ever vote for a mask mandate.  Dr. Michael Thorsland, superintendent, said overall his goal is to keep classrooms full of students, as educators are convinced that in-person learning is the best.  He also said that, at this point, he cannot recommend Oconee schools violating the state law against mask wearing orders.