BOSTON (WHDH) - Mask-wearing will be “strongly recommended” for many students when all districts return to full-time, in-person learning in the fall, Massachusetts school officials announced Friday.
Districts and schools across the Bay State will be required to be conduct in-person classes five days a week when the new school year begins, according to new guidance released by DESE.
DESE noted that individual districts should make decisions based on their own particular circumstances.
Students in kindergarten through grade 6 will be recommended to where masks when indoors, with the exception of those who cannot do so due to medical conditions or behavioral needs, the guidance said. Masks will not be necessary outdoors and may be removed while eating indoors.
Unvaccinated staff in all grades, unvaccinated students in grades 7 and above, and unvaccinated visitors will also be urged to wear masks indoors.
Students and staff members will be required to wear a mask on school buses.
Meyvah Colon, 13, got vaccinated because he said he and his friends were sick of wearing masks.
“Now I’m at less at risk for getting [COVID-19],” Colon said.
“We just want to play it safe,” added Erica Roche, Colon’s mother.
DESE and state health officials recommended that schools allow vaccinated students to remain unmasked.
Massachusetts Teachers Association President Merrie Najimy blasted the new guidance, calling it a “reckless decision” that could lead to schools being closed again.
“What the commissioner has done today has set us up for another potentially chaotic year with increased risk,” Najimy said.
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