42 Massachusetts Schools Now Allowed By State To Lift Mask Mandates
BOSTON (CBS) – As COVID cases drop in Massachusetts, some communities are ending indoor mask mandates and several schools are doing the same.
According to the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE), 42 public schools have been given approval to lift their mask mandates as of Tuesday.
That's because at least 80-percent of all students and staff at those schools have been vaccinated, which is the state's threshold for removing the masks, under a revised policy announced September 27. Those who are not vaccinated are still expected to wear masks.
Once DESE approves a school, whether they then go on to lift the requirement is up to that individual school district. There are 1,840 public schools in Massachusetts.
The state's school mask mandate is set to expire on February 28, but Governor Charlie Baker hinted Monday that DESE Commissioner Jeff Riley will have more to say about that "in the not too distant future."
A DESE spokesperson told WBZ-TV it has received 68 requests to lift the mask mandate. Twenty-one are still being reviewed, three withdrew their request and two were denied.
The following 42 schools have been approved, according to DESE:
Algonquin Regional High School
Ashland High School
Charles S. Pierce Middle School (Milton)
Cohasset High School
Cohasset Middle School
Cotting School
Deer Hill Elementary (Cohasset)
Dover-Sherborn Regional High
Elmwood School (Hopkinton)
Essex North Shore Agricultural and Technical School
Franklin High School
Groton-Dunstable Regional High School
Hopkins School (Hopkinton)
Hopkinton High School
Hopkinton Middle School
King Philip Regional High School
Littleton High School
Littleton Middle School
Longmeadow High School
Marathon Elementary School (Hopkinton)
Marblehead High School
Marblehead Veterans Middle School
Masconomet Regional High School
Masconomet Regional Middle School
Medfield High School
Medway High School
Milford High School
Milton High School
Nashoba Regional High School
Needham High School
New England Academy School
North Andover High School
Norwell High School
Pollard Middle School (Needham)
Sarah Gibbons Middle School (Westborough)
Scituate High School
The Corwin-Russell School @ Broccoli Hall
Village Elementary School (Marblehead)
Walpole High School
Westborough High School
Weston High School
Westwood High School