OKLAHOMA, USA — Earlier this year, a law was passed in Oklahoma that prevents schools from being able to enforce a mask mandate. Some large districts, like Oklahoma City Public Schools, have gone against state law and are requiring students to wear face masks.
According to the Oklahoma State Health Department, more than 15,000 new cases of COVID-19 have been reported in the past week.
Nearly 11.5% of the total cases, or about 60,000 out of 500,000 cases across the state, are within children ages 5 to 17.
“At this point, the governor and his staff are not imposing any penalties for school districts doing this," said Representative Mickey Dollens. "They’re not taking any legal action towards districts who are imposing the mask mandates.”
Muldrow Public Schools in Sequoyah County say they have seen an increase in positive COVID-19 cases within their district. They could not provide an exact number of how many are COVID positive, but say their teachers are watchful for COVID-19 symptoms.
A few weeks back, Democratic leaders were calling Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt to amend a state law that prevents schools from enforcing a facemask mandate, but nothing came from that. We reached out to Republican Representatives for their take on students going back to school, but we did not hear back.
"The call for special session went largely ignored," says Oklahoma Representative Mickey Dollens, District 93.