South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson and Columbia Mayor Stephen K. Benjamin remain at odds about students having to wear masks in the classroom as the new school year gets underway. | Stock
South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson and Columbia Mayor Stephen K. Benjamin remain at odds about students having to wear masks in the classroom as the new school year gets underway. | Stock
The state’s Republican attorney general and the Democratic mayor of Columbia are at odds over the legality of a mask mandate.
School is about to commence next week yet Attorney General Alan Wilson and Mayor Stephen K. Benjamin are farther apart on the issue of face coverings.
The state banned its local governments from implementing mask mandates, while Columbia requires students to wear masks to attend school.
“Across the @CityofColumbia, children will return to classrooms next week, even as COVID cases among children accelerate,” Benjamin tweeted Aug. 10. “We ask all of our leaders at the state level to think of how we can stand together to protect all of our children with all proven tools at our disposal.”
Wilson, however, believes Columbia’s mask requirement for students runs afoul of state law.
He told Benjamin and the city’s leaders that they either change or repeal the mandate, The Post and Courier reported.
The Post and Courier additionally reported that Wilson warned Columbia in writing that if it doesn’t take appropriate action that it “will be subject to appropriate legal actions to enjoin their enforcement.”
The top two leaders of the South Carolina Legislature told the attorney general that the body approved a budget amendment that bars mask mandates in schools.
Benjamin said that he “appreciates” Wilson’s opinion, but the Columbia mandate is to protect children ages 12 and under who are ineligible to receive the vaccine, News19 reported.
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