Masks no longer required in Monroe County Schools after board amends COVID rules

Monroe County Schools announced new COVID-19 safety precautions Tuesday night, requiring face masks for students and staff “in school settings” for the next 30 days.

By the following evening, the Monroe County school board had amended those restrictions, opting instead to encourage, but not mandate, masks. Masks are required on school buses, and the district is providing vaccination opportunities for students and staffers who want to get a coronavirus vaccine.

According to a district press release, Monroe County Schools is “highly encouraging” staff and students to wear masks while in a school setting, and also recommending that eligible students and teachers get vaccinated.

School superintendent Dr. Mike Hickman said the vote came from the districts’ want to model and educate instead of requiring and mandating for face masks.

“We felt that going with the original recommendation would fit our staff, our students, and community best for us to have school and to educate our kids,” he said.

The district will have face masks available for students and leaders felt this was the best decision after receiving feedback from parents.

“We’re doing everything we can to mitigate, and educate to get past this spike we are seeing with this delta variant,” Hickman said.

The school district announced yesterday that more than 51 students and 11 staff members had tested positive for COVID-19 since school resumed last week.

The back and forth comes as school districts across Georgia grapple with the highly contagious delta variant of the coronavirus, a variant that has sent case numbers and hospitalizations spiking across the country and the region. In Bibb County, school leaders announced mask requirements before classes began on Aug. 2, and the Baldwin County School District also recently mandated face coverings while inside.

This story was originally published August 12, 2021 at 1:16 PM.