State Senator Tony Hwang, whose 28th District includes Newtown, issued a statement Tuesday praising the tireless work of parents and advocates after Governor Ned Lamont announced the statewide school mask mandate will expire on February 28.

In a webcast press briefing February 7, Lamont joined Connecticut Department of Public Health Commissioner Dr Manisha Juthani and Connecticut State Department of Education Commissioner Charlene Russell-Tucker to announce their decision to end the order.

As of February 28, the governor will allow the decision to enforce mask mandates in schools to be determined by local school districts.

The plan is contingent upon the Connecticut General Assembly voting to extend — through legislation — the governor’s existing executive order that enables the public health commissioner with the ability of implementing mask requirements in certain settings.

“It is my hope that [this] announcement is a turning point for the Governor and the administration toward empowering individual choice and a consistency in public policy," Hwang said. "I want to note that I am still concerned that [this] announcement will cause the public, or my fellow legislators, to overlook the fact that the Governor is still asking to maintain Executive branch authority to reinstate the statewide mandate at his discretion."

Hwang said without a defined, science-based criteria for the decision making from Hartford, he will not support "an order which allows for a statewide imposed school mask mandate without legislative input and respecting the will and wishes of our constituencies.”

“I had hoped that this policy change would be accompanied by a metric-driven road map for our town and school officials to follow," the senator said. "While not ideal, this is at least an improvement. This welcomed change is a credit to grassroots advocacy and demands for representative government. Nothing is more powerful than the parents and caregivers fighting for their children."

Lamont’s COVID-19 emergency declaration and related authority to issue executive orders in response to the pandemic are set to expire on February 15. On that date, the governor will no longer be able to enact emergency orders on the pandemic.

Legislative leaders recently reached an agreement with Lamont under which the legislature will pass a resolution continuing the public health and civil preparedness emergencies and determine which of the governor’s orders to continue through legislation and which to let expire. The governor recently provided legislators with a list of 11 orders he recommends continue after February 15.

“Connecticut is seeing a dramatic decline in cases caused by the Omicron variant, and children over the age of 5 have had the ability to get vaccinated for more than three months now,” Lamont said. “With this in mind, I think we are in a good position to phase out the requirement that masks be worn in all schools statewide and shift the determination on whether to require this to the local level.”

While Lamont endorses the plan to eliminate the universal mask requirement for schools and childcare centers, he recommends that it remain in place in other settings where it currently is in effect, including healthcare facilities, facilities housing vulnerable populations, public and private transit, and correctional facilities.

Hwang expressed his admiration to local parents for their hard fought efforts to overturn the masking policy.

"They have been passionate advocates for their children’s educational and social emotional development," he said "Even in the face of mischaracterization and public ostracization, these parent advocates never abandoned their mission to change public policy to better serve their children."

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