Vermont schools can no longer require masks, new guidance says
Dept. of Health still recommends masks for unvaccinated people.
Dept. of Health still recommends masks for unvaccinated people.
Dept. of Health still recommends masks for unvaccinated people.
Now that Vermont has reached its 80 percent vaccination goal, COVID-19 guidance has changed for schools. That means things will look a little different both this summer and into the fall.
Updated guidance means students are no longer required to wear masks in schools. The news caused some confusion for administrators who weren’t expecting the change.
"We’ve learned to become very flexible as the guidance frequently changes,” Amy Minor, Colchester School District superintendent, said. "We were intending on following the safe and healthy schools guidance for the rest of the school year and into the summer months. So we took a look at the guidance when it was released and realized it had changed."
Effective at midnight on Tuesday, schools can no longer require masks for any student. According to the Department of Health, it is only recommended that unvaccinated people wear masks.
"That is often a confusion when the Department of Health makes a recommendation and it’s interpreted as a requirement. And we need to make sure we get clarity around that for our students and their families. They need to understand what the expectation is," Don Tinney, president of Vermont National Education Association, said.
Tinney said some VT-NEA members are concerned about the health and safety of students under 12 who haven’t been vaccinated.
"We really want to focus on protocols being in place for fall and what those protocols should be," Tinney said.
While many students will have to wait until the fall to experience maskless classrooms, those enrolled in summer school programs will see the change in effect.
In Colchester, school ended on Tuesday so students weren't in classrooms. But school staff members were still in the building on Wednesday, maskless.
"Today, being able to see the faces of our support staff, custodians, maintenance and classroom teachers was just a wonderful feeling," Minor said.
Many parents welcomed the change, like Amy Wood, who has three children in the Richford School District.
"Just knowing that they’ll have that normalcy when they go back to school in the fall makes me as a mom feel so much better for them," Wood said.
Still, Minor has some questions.
"Will contact tracing still occur? What about outside? Is potting still a recommendation? We’re just looking for further clarity around all of the mitigation strategies. And do we need to continue to follow those or do those go away at this point in time?" Minor said.
In addition to masks not being required, there will be no social distancing requirements in the fall.