MALDEN, MASS. (WHDH) - The Department of Elementary and Secondary Education announced Tuesday that after consulting with medical experts and state health officials, Elementary and Secondary Education Commissioner Jeffrey C. Riley will extend the mask requirement in all K-12 public schools in Massachusetts through at least Jan. 15.
School officials will continue to be able to lift the mask requirement if they can demonstrate that at least 80 percent of all students and staff in a school building are vaccinated after submitting documentation to DESE. Lifting the mask mandate through the vaccination threshold is a local decision made by school and district leaders if they choose to take advantage of it.
The following mask requirements will remain in effect:
- Public school students ages 5 and older in all grades and staff are required to wear masks indoors in schools, except when eating, drinking or during mask breaks.
- All visitors are also expected to wear a mask in school buildings, regardless of vaccination status.
- Masks are not required outdoors.
- It is strongly recommended that students younger than 5 also wear a mask in school.
- Students and staff who cannot wear a mask for medical reasons, and students who cannot wear a mask for behavioral reasons are exempted from this requirement.
“Massachusetts is a national leader in vaccination rates for adults and eligible children, and in anticipation of the vaccine becoming available in the coming weeks for children ages 5 to 11 years old, this extension of the mask requirement will allow time for the elementary school population to receive the COVID-19 vaccine,” Education Secretary James Peyser said in a statement. “This will be another big step forward in our efforts to keep school safe for our kids.”
“Masks remain a simple and effective measure to prevent the spread of COVID-19 and keep students in school safely,” Riley said in a statement. “Together with the Test and Stay program, high vaccination rates, low transmission rates in schools and all the hard work in keeping our students safe, our kids are able to stay in school where they belong and can flourish.”
All districts are required this school year to provide in-person learning to all students. Since the start of the year, approximately 920,000 public school students have been learning in schools with minimal disruptions. In addition to masking, this progress has been possible thanks to school communities working together to participate in the state’s COVID-19 testing program, combined with high vaccination rates among eligible populations.
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