WINSLOW — The School Board this week decided to follow updated recommendations from the Maine Department of Education and voted to alter its policy on masks in Winslow Public Schools by making them optional, according to a letter from Superintendent Peter Thiboutot.
He recommended the change and the board on Monday unanimously approved the move. It takes effect Wednesday.
Masks will be optional on buses, as well, Thiboutot said in the letter that was released Tuesday.
The Department of Education along with the state Department of Health and Human Services last week told schools and child care providers that universal masking was no longer recommended.
Thiboutot said in his letter that the state’s procedures for responding to COVID-19 in schools is expected to be updated this week. The school district will review the update and inform the school community.
“The Maine (Center for Disease Control & Prevention) is quick to remind us that the end of mask mandates doesn’t mean that it’s the end of COVID,” Thiboutot said, noting that guidance can change depending on local conditions for the pandemic.
He said some in the school district may decide to continue wearing a mask because of “extenuating circumstance in their lives or the lives of a family member.”
“Knowing that, please take the time to talk to your children … about the importance of respecting everyone’s decision to either wear a mask or not,” Thiboutot wrote.
Several central Maine schools have shifted to a mask-optional policy since receiving the updated guidance from the state, including those in Augusta, Gardiner, Hallowell, Readfield-based Regional School Unit 38, Thorndike-based RSU 3 and Winthrop.
Regional School Unit 38, which includes Manchester, Mount Vernon, Readfield and Wayne, stipulated that universal masking will be reinstated if Kennebec County again enters the high-risk community level as defined by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control & Prevention.
The U.S. CDC recently updated its guidance to measure COVID-19 risk in each county in the country using three categories of community level: low, medium and high. According to the agency’s website, the community level is determined using three metrics — new COVID-19 hospital admissions per 100,000 people in the prior seven days, the percentage of staffed inpatient beds occupied by COVID-19 patients and total new COVID-19 cases per 100,000 people in the prior seven days.
All 16 counties in Maine are currently classified at the medium level.
Send questions/comments to the editors.
Success. Please wait for the page to reload. If the page does not reload within 5 seconds, please refresh the page.
Enter your email and password to access comments.
Hi, to comment on stories you must . This profile is in addition to your subscription and website login.
Already have a commenting profile? .
Invalid username/password.
Please check your email to confirm and complete your registration.
Only subscribers are eligible to post comments. Please subscribe or login first for digital access. Here’s why.
Use the form below to reset your password. When you've submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code.