MANSFIELD — Students, staff and visitors of Mansfield City Schools will no longer be required to wear masks on school buses or inside school buildings starting Tuesday.
“While we still highly recommend masks while indoors due to the decline in transmission rates, masks will not be required in school buildings,” Supt. Stan Jefferson told district parents and guardians via automated message.
The change comes after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention updated its guidance on masking and COVID-19.
The CDC announced last week it would no longer require masks on buses or vans operated by public or private school systems, effective Feb. 25. This includes vehicles operated by early care and education and child care programs.
School districts are still allowed to require masks; however, most Richland County institutions announced an end to the school bus mandate after as CDC guidelines changed.
Supt. Rob Peterson of Madison posted on the district’s website Sunday that masks are not required on school transportation “effective immediately.” Ontario Local Schools and Lexington Local Schools shared similar messages.
The CDC stated on its website that the change to the school bus order reflects updated guidance. The agency is no longer recommending universal masking for K-12 and early education settings where COVID-19 transmission is at low or medium levels.
The change aligns schools with more general updated guidance from the CDC. As of Feb. 25, counties with low or medium COVID-19 Community Levels are advised to consider masking based on their personal preferences and risk. Masks are still recommended in public indoor spaces in areas of high COVID-19 transmission.
The CDC’s three-tiered COVID-19 Community Levels system is based on weekly transmission rates, new COVID-19 hospital admissions and the percent of staffed inpatient beds occupied by COVID-19 patients.
“With current high levels of vaccination and high levels of population immunity from both vaccination and infections, the risk of medically significant disease, hospitalization, and death from COVID-19 is greatly reduced for most people,” the agency stated.
