BOSTON — Following the lead of other states in the region, and as new cases of the Omicron variant decline, Massachusetts will lift its mask mandate for students and staff in K-12 schools and licensed child-care providers on Monday, Feb. 28.
Jeffrey Riley, commissioner of the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE), made the announcement in a statement this morning and in a televised briefing with Gov. Charlie Baker.
After February 28, DESE and the Department of Public Health (DPH) recommend students and faculty wear masks in certain situations consistent with DESE’s COVID protocols.
See video of a briefing in Boston this morning with Gov. Charlie Baker and DESE Commissioner Jeffrey Riley, courtesy of Gov. Baker’s office:
Riley said the decision was made in consultation with infectious disease physicians, DPH, and other medical experts. Riley added that vaccinations are the best protection against COVID-19, and Massachusetts has among the highest vaccination rates of young people and is a national leader in overall vaccination. In Massachusetts, 52 percent of all individuals who are fully vaccinated have received a booster dose, compared to 42 percent of the U.S. population as a whole.
Both Riley and Baker lauded the Massachusetts school testing programs, which they described as “nation-leading,” including a newly launched at-home testing program for students and educators.
The state’s school testing programs will remain in place. Last month, DESE and DPH launched updated school COVID-19 testing options, including providing participating teachers and staff with at-home rapid tests weekly, to optimize in-person learning. The two departments also released updated data on the pooled testing and Test and Stay programs, showing very few positive cases and low transmission rates.
With more than 2,000 public and private schools in the state participating in COVID-19 testing, DESE and DPH have gathered abundant data about the prevalence of COVID-19 in schools that clearly illustrates schools are safe environments for teaching and learning, in part because schools are one of the few types of settings in the state where individuals are tested on a regular basis, Riley said.
“With Massachusetts a national leader in vaccinating kids, combined with our robust testing programs, it is time to lift the mask mandate in schools and give students and staff a sense of normalcy after dealing with enormous challenges over the past two years,” Baker said. “We have all the tools to keep schools safe as we move into dealing with the next phase of managing COVID.”
The state Department of Early Education and Care (DEEC) will also lift the mask requirements currently in place for all licensed child-care providers, also effective February 28. This will allow programs to develop policies specific to the children they serve. Baker said DEEC will release additional guidance for programs next week.
With the lifting of the statewide mask requirement, school districts no longer need to request a waiver from DESE to remove masks in school buildings where 80 percent of staff and students are vaccinated. Masking will be a community choice in schools across the state, regardless of vaccination rates within a school; however, a school district could establish a local requirement. Many Massachusetts schools have already reached the vaccination benchmark and requested permission to remove masks, Riley said.
To date, DESE has received 68 requests from schools that submitted attestations that 80 percent of their students and staff are vaccinated. The department has approved 42 requests and is in the process of reviewing another 21 requests before the statewide requirement ends.
“In a state with one of the highest vaccine acceptance rates in the country, and the state with the second highest vaccination rates among 5- to 11-year-olds, we must navigate the careful transition into opening up our society while simultaneously employing public health mitigation strategies,” added Education Secretary James Peyser. “We are moving from mask-requirement to mask-optional, and we want school districts to move along with the state by making it optional, while still creating supportive environments for students and staff who choose to wear a mask.”
Masking continues to be required on all school buses, per federal order. In August, the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education gave the commissioner the authority to require masks for public school staff and students (ages 5 and above) in all grades through at least October 1, 2021.
The commissioner has used his authority to extend the requirement three times. Several other states, including Connecticut, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Delaware, have rescinded their school mask requirements in recent days.
