ATLANTA — Gov. Brian Kemp is expected to sign a bill that gives parents the right to opt out of masking their children in Georgia classrooms.

Senate Bill 514, also known as the “Unmask Students Act”, passed the state House 93-52 on Friday. The ban would last for five years until 2027 although lawmakers say that a governor could override it if a public health emergency is declared.

“Our Unmask Georgia Students Act was just passed by the Georgia General Assembly. I look forward to signing this measure into law,” Kemp tweeted Friday.

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Republicans argued that parents should be able to reject “misguided policies” to make children wear masks. Democrats argued the move would gut a protective measure that could still be needed if COVID-19 resurges or another respiratory illness becomes widespread.

Atlanta Democratic State Sen. Elena Parent worries the bill would tie the hands of school districts trying to protect students.

“To tie the hands of local school districts and say that tools cannot be uniformly employed just flies in the face of science and frankly common sense,” Parent said.

Buford State Sen. Clint Dixon is sponsoring the bill. He disagrees.

“This is the epicenter of local control, giving control to the parents. It is the ultimate local control in my opinion,” Dixon said.

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Most of Georgia’s 180 public school district did not implement a mask mandate. Almost all of the districts that did have dropped them citing low COVID-19 transmission rates.

Clayton County remains the last metro Atlanta county to keep their mask mandate in place, citing low vaccination rates.

“While we still feel that Clayton County needs to have a higher vaccination rate, especially in light of a potential surge in cases due to the new variation of the omicron strain, we will adhere to the law enacted by the Georgia General Assembly and when signed by Gov. Brian Kemp,” White said in a statement.

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The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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