With classes set to begin in less than two weeks in Gloucester and Mathews counties, the face of the 2021-2022 school year will continue to be one wearing a mask, at least for the foreseeable future.

The Mathews County School Board met Tuesday night for one last time before the Aug. 30 opening day, and the Gloucester School Board had been expected to meet tonight to make a decision on whether to make masking mandatory in the classroom—but that became moot late last week when Gov. Ralph Northam issued an executive order requiring universal masking in all public and private K-12 schools in Virginia, regardless of vaccination status.

In light of the governor’s order issued last Thursday, the Gloucester board (which had been unable to reach consensus on whether to implement a mask mandate when it met on Aug. 10), canceled its Aug. 19 special meeting on the matter.In Mathews, Superintendent of Schools Nancy Welch reviewed opening guidelines for the division’s fall semester on the Del...