Henrico School Board sets guidelines for when mask requirement will end

The four-metric plan includes three standards that already have been met:

• a minimum 70% vaccination rate in the county (Henrico's reached that level Jan. 21 and is currently 72.2%);

• the mitigation of student outbreaks at the school level, in partnership with the Virginia Department of Health, which has been ongoing throughout the pandemic;

• having COVID-19 testing available in schools, a standard that was met Thursday when the school system implemented its test-to-stay program.

The fourth metric, which the county has not yet met, is a two-pronged one; the county's COVID transmission rate must be less than 100 new cases per 100,000 people for two weeks in a row (it's currently just about half that), and its positivity rate among PCR testing encounters must remain below 10% for two straight weeks (it's currently just more than 16%).

The metrics for removing mask rules were developed by the Henrico County Public Schools’ division leadership team.

The board voted to take away its own authority to end the mask mandate and put it in the hands of Superintendent Amy Cashwell, who will do so when the county reaches the last metric.

“It's a transition, not a pivot,” said School Board Vice Chair Kristi Kinsella, who represents the Brookland District.

The plan for when masks will become optional for students would be superseded if a bill currently passing through the legislature becomes law and is made effective before the last metric is met.

The bill, which includes a provision that would give parents the legal right to send their children to school without masks, is expected to pass through the Republican-controlled House of Delegates. It then will advance to Gov. Glenn Youngkin, who has been pushing for an end to school mask mandates.

Youngkin has the option to put an emergency clause on the bill, which would make it effective immediately. The bill would then go back to the House and Senate for a vote.

Cashwell said Thursday that the school division will comply with the law if it’s enacted.