Mask use will continue in Oak Ridge Schools through the end of the school year, May 28, but will be optional for summer school.
Oak Ridge Schools Superintendent Bruce Borchers recommended the change during a special meeting Monday evening. The Oak Ridge Board of Education approved it unanimously.
Masks have been required in Oak Ridge Schools to help prevent the spread of COVID-19. Students can take off their masks outside. Visitors will be allowed starting in school in July.
The policy approved Monday could be revised if conditions change, Borchers said.
There are currently no active COVID-19 cases among Oak Ridge Schools students or staff.
Borchers said school officials are monitoring health information, and the change recommended Monday is in line with recommendations of other schools across Tennessee.
COVID-19 peaked in Anderson County in December and January—as measured by cases, hospitalizations, deaths, and positivity rate—but the number of new cases in the county each day has fallen below six and the positivity rate is below 3 percent. The number of cases has also fallen significantly nationwide from its winter peak as more people have been vaccinated.
Leave a Reply