SALT LAKE COUNTY, Utah (ABC4) – A Utah school district that has been at the center of the discussion of requiring students to wear masks will drop that rule for the last week of school.
On Thursday, during an information-packed COVID-19 briefing, Utah Governor Spencer Cox announced that the state’s requirement for K-12 schools to require masks will end ahead of each school’s last week of the 2020-21 academic year. This ultimately gives schools the power to require – or not -require students to continue wearing masks during the last week of the school year.
“We believe that this is the right thing to do, the prudent thing to do,” says Cox, while also encouraging Utahns to do what they need to do to remain comfortable and safe.
The Granite School District, recently the home of anti-mask protest that shut down a board meeting, says that while masks are still recommended, they will not be required for the last week of the school year, starting June 1.
In a statement shared with ABC4, the Granite School District says masks will not be required for summer programming and, unless a new statewide order is initiated, will not be required in fall. A distance learned option will still be available to families who request it.
The district says the new order will impact two full days of in-person instruction and end-of-year activities like graduation.
“We express our profound gratitude for your patience, help and support through what has been a very challenging school year,” the district adds.
