State education leaders on Tuesday extended the mask mandate for public school students through Jan. 15, 2022. The mandate was originally set to expire on Nov. 1.
The order applies to all students and school staff members 5 years and older, and requires masks to be worn indoors regardless of vaccination status, unless they are eating or drinking.
The extension was necessary, education Secretary James Peyser said, to provide elementary school students time to get vaccinated, as 5 to 11-year-olds will soon be eligible to receive the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine following an FDA advisory panel’s recommendation yesterday.
Public schools can still request permission to lift the mask mandate if their student and faculty achieve a vaccination rate of 80 percent or higher. In Massachusetts, 14 schools have requested to lift the mask mandate, and seven have been approved, according to the Boston Globe.
Nantucket Public Schools Superintendent Elizabeth Hallett told the Current Tuesday that the student vaccination rate at Nantucket High School was 80 percent, but she was unsure of the staff rate because “we are not permitted to ask due to HIPAA regulations; we can only ask staff to share voluntarily.” A request to lift the mask mandate at NHS has not been discussed, and would be a joint decision between Hallett and the School Committee.
