Number of Massachusetts schools with state approval to lift COVID mask mandate rises to 13; DESE has received 23 total requests

[Yongpeng Sun-Tastaufen]

These 13 schools have approval from DESE to lift mask mandate

Just because a school gets DESE approval does not mean students automatically ditch masks. Local school officials are part of that decision.

www.masslive.com

More Massachusetts schools are getting approval from state education officials to move away from a COVID-19 mask mandate.


Schools that can show a COVID vaccination rate of at least 80% can seek permission from the state Department of Elementary and Secondary Education to end the mask mandate for individuals who have been immunized.


Just because a school gets DESE approval does not mean students and staff automatically ditch masks. Local school officials and school committees decide whether to lift the mandate after receiving the OK from the state.



So far, DESE has received 23 requests to lift the mask mandate and has approved 13, officials said.



Schools with approval are Hopkinton High School, Ashland High School, Westborough High School, Westwood High School, Sarah Gibbons Middle School in Westborough, Algonquin Regional High School in Northborough, Norwell High School, Medway High School, Franklin High School, King Phillip Regional High School in Wrentham, New England Academy School, Corwin-Russell School at Broccoli Hall and Cotting School.



Those 13 approvals and 23 requests are up from 11 approvals and 18 requests last week.



Hopkinton was the first to get DESE approval and did not end the mask mandate until the school committee voted.



When an approved school ends its mask mandate, unvaccinated individuals must continue to wear masks, according to DESE guidelines.



Statewide, DESE has extended a mask mandate into 2022, requiring students and staff to wear a face covering until at least Jan. 15 unless a school reaches the 80% COVID vaccination rate and seeks approval.



This month, children ages 5 to 11 have started to get vaccinated against COVID.



In the last week, there was an increase in cases of COVID reported among Massachusetts school students. DESE reported Friday that there were 2,640 students and 381 staff members who tested positive for COVID from Nov. 4 to 10.




Comparatively, from Oct. 28 to Nov. 3 there were cases among 1,879 students and 339 staff members. From Oct. 21 to 27, there were 1,502 students who tested positive as well as 243 staff members.



This comes as the state generally is seeing an upward trend in virus cases. New infections rose about 24% last week over the previous week following seven weeks of a slow decline.