MANSFIELD — Mansfield St. Peter’s Schools will drop its mask mandate starting on Feb. 28, according to a letter released on Friday by Head of School Laurie McKeon.
McKeon’s message is below in its entirety:
Due to the significant decline in the local COVID-19 transmission rates, and in anticipation of new masking guidelines, beginning on Monday, Feb. 28, 2022, St. Peter’s School will no longer require face masks indoors in our school buildings.
In addition, at this same time, St. Peter’s School will be allowing limited volunteers to return to our school buildings.
With the CDC local transmission rates moving from high to a more moderate range, and with new masking guidelines expected later today, in keeping with our Restart Smart Plan, masks are now recommended but no longer required at St. Peter’s School.
On Monday, Feb. 28, 2022, faculty, staff and families can make their own choices regarding whether or not to wear a mask on the St. Peter’s campus.
Recognizing the varying beliefs and opinions on COVID-19 and its impact, St. Peter’s School will respect and support the decisions that our community members make on the important and personal issue of mask wearing.
In addition to loosening our mask policy, St. Peter’s School will now allow a limited number of volunteers to enter our school buildings and assist as needed.
As always, volunteers must meet all background and VIRTUS training requirements, and must have the permission of the building principal before being allowed to work in our classrooms.
Even though transmission rates are trending downward, St. Peter’s School realizes that COVID-19 is not gone. We will continue to be attentive to the health and safety of our community.
We are moving forward with both caution and optimism. While face masks will no longer be required, other COVID-19 protocols will remain in place. As our plan outlines, in this next phase of COVID-19 protocols, St. Peter’s School will:
Continue social distancing in the classrooms,
Maintain our current lunch and cafeteria protocols,
Monitor the health and well-being of our school community,
Track potential COVID-19 exposure possibilities, and respond accordingly,
Request that student or staff members experiencing any of the symptoms of COVID-19 stay home from school until symptoms abate,
Reserve the right to require masks in certain situations or certain spaces on campus where social distancing is not possible,
Reserve the right to require masks, if necessary, in situations that will protect a community member who may have a significant health issue,
Reserve the right to require masks should transmission rates in our school or in our community increase again,
Ask families to send a mask to school with their students, just in case a situation arises where a mask is required,
Require masks on school bus transportation.
Regardless of your personal opinion on face masks and other COVID-19 safety measures, the downward trend of local transmission rates is very good news. Not only are we able to relax some of our stringent safety measures at St. Peter’s, but more importantly, the spread of the coronavirus is declining in our area.
We grieve for all those who were lost in this global health crisis and are grateful that this pandemic appears to be loosening its hold on our school, our community, our state, our nation and our world.
While this pandemic has been an enormous challenge, St. Peter’s school has shown a fortitude and resilience that give us hope as we build for the future. Here are some very important reminders of the true character of our school community.
Both this year and last year, St. Peter’s School provided in person learning for our students, when many other schools did not.
Throughout this entire pandemic, our dedicated faculty and staff showed up. Every. Single. Day.
This school year, St. Peter’s is one of the few schools in our area that has not missed a single day of school due to COVID-19.
Living out our Catholic values, members of the St. Peter’s School family put aside their own personal beliefs and agendas to protect the health and welfare of those most vulnerable in our school community.
Despite widely differing opinions on COVID-19 protocols, our community was respectful, patient and understanding. This kindness and civility speak absolute volumes about our school.
When people did disagree with our COVID-19 protocols, they didn’t walk away. They didn’t scream or make threats. They stayed, politely dialogued and continued to support our school.
Prayers, faith, hard work, strong planning and a belief in our community will see us through even the darkest of times.
Over the past two years of this pandemic, St. Peter’s School has worked together, pulled together and grown together. We have weathered much but gained strength, as we learned to trust God, our school and each other. We will use this strength and trust to build a school of excellence and a community of grace.
Once again, thanks to you all for respecting and following our COVID-19 protocols. Thank you for looking out for the health of our school family and thanks most of all for staying the course and believing in St. Peter’s School.
With faith and gratitude,
Laurie McKeon
