Wake schools drop outdoor mask rules for student athletes, band members and others
Wake County student-athletes and band members will no longer have to wear face masks when they’re outdoors at school events.
The Wake County school system has been requiring students who participate in athletics, band and extracurricular activities to wear face coverings outdoors except when they’re actively in a game or contest or practicing. But the school board voted Tuesday to make outdoor face masking optional after administrators said COVID metrics are improving.
However, Wake will still require all students and school employees to wear face masks when they’re indoors at schools. Most North Carolina school districts are still requiring indoor masking, but the number making them optional is increasing as COVID cases drop statewide.
“In consultation with our public health experts, we do not anticipate a change in face covering requirements indoors until after Jan. 1, 2022,” Paul Koh, Wake’s assistant superintendent for academic services, told the board.
But Koh said metrics are improving enough to loosen some restrictions, such as the outdoor wearing of face coverings.
The school district began requiring the limited wearing of face masks outdoors in September “due to the increased number of clusters and exposures involving high school athletics.” Students participating in those outdoor activities had to wear a mask when they were on the sidelines and whenever athletes and staff congregated.
In addition to athletic teams and bands, other groups which had been impacted by Wake’s outdoor mask requirement included cheerleaders and Junior ROTC members.
Under state law, school districts must vote at least monthly on their face mask policies.
Voluntary COVID testing
Also on Tuesday, administrators presented an updated timeline for beginning voluntary COVID-19 testing of students and school employees.
Phase one could now begin in late November with voluntary testing at schools with active and potential COVID clusters and with district employees not based at schools. Parental consent would be needed for students to get tested.
Phase two could start between early December and early January with voluntary testing at all schools.
Phase three will begin when a new federal mandate goes into effect that employers with at least 100 employees get their workers fully vaccinated or give them weekly COVID tests. As part of this requirement, the district is developing a process for requesting proof of vaccination from staff.
The plan is for Mako Medical to pool test the combined samples of six people. If the pool comes back positive, each person will be asked to complete an individual follow-up test.
People who refuse to to participate in the follow-up test will be required to stay home until they’re retested or meet the criteria to return to school.
This story was originally published November 3, 2021 at 9:48 AM with the headline "Wake schools drop outdoor mask rules for student athletes, band members and others."
