Henry County Schools on Friday announced that masks will no longer be required for students and staff, a reversal from the mandate imposed earlier in the year.
Citing “improving health metrics in the county and school community,” the school system moved to reduce restrictions in place.
“As a part of our commitment to keeping our students, staff, and families safe over the past 19 months, we have closely monitored and shared the health metrics from the impact of COVID-19 in order to make the best decisions regarding learning options for our students,” said Superintendent Mary Elizabeth Davis. “I have been committed to being responsive to the data that captures the prevalence of COVID in our community which is why after further study this week and continued collaboration, I am announcing that we will move to the Level 3 mitigation phase on our continuum of mitigation strategies effective starting next Monday.”
According to the district’s plan, masks will still be “strongly recommended” and large classrooms will have increased space. Furthermore, there is a pause in on-campus visitors and volunteers.
Additionally, capacity restrictions at sporting events will be lifted and school field trips will resume.
“We have a plan that is working to keep schools open and to keep students and employees safe, and just as decisive as we demonstrated we may need to be if the community health conditions changed, we will stand ready to do that in future instances, if that becomes necessary,” Davis said. “In the meantime, we have to use our plan and take the cautious step to lower levels of mitigation intensity, and now is the right time to do that.”
Across the country, positive coronavirus cases have. Many models have predicted a continued, steady decline.
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Cooper Moran is a reporter for the Star News Network. Follow Cooper on Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
Photo “Classroom” by Henry County Public Schools.
