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The Southampton County School Board announced Saturday afternoon, Jan. 22, on social media that it would be holding a special called school board meeting Monday, Jan. 24, to discuss masks.

The meeting will be held in the Commons at Southampton High School, and it will start at 6 p.m.

The announcement continued by noting that there will be no public comment period at this meeting.

“We plan to have updated guidance on mask wearing following this meeting,” the announcement stated.

On Jan. 17, SCPS posted on its Facebook page, “Southampton County Public School Division will continue to require everyone to wear a mask while on our campuses and our school buses.”

On his first day in office Jan. 15, Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin signed Executive Order No. 2. The order itself notes it is designed to reaffirm the rights of parents in the upbringing, education and care of their children.

The second directive of the order states, “The parents of any child enrolled in (an) elementary or secondary school or a school-based early child care and educational program may elect for their children not to be subject to any mask mandate in effect at the child’s school or educational program.”

The executive order went into effect at midnight Monday, Jan. 24.