More US Schools Remove Student Mask Requirements
May 18, 2021
Christie Black, middle, with her two children, Angela and Luke, left, and the family dog Teddy, pose at their home, Tuesday, May 11, 2021, in Mesa, Ariz. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)
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A growing number of U.S. school systems are removing
mask requirements for students. But some public health experts and parents are concerned that it is too soon to lift the rules.
In Florida, the head of a school system recently announced she would agree to remove a mask requirement that had been in place since September. The decision came after a long, angry fight over mask requirements.
Schools ditch mask mandates despite lack of vaccines for children
Jenea Edwards, of the North Side, helps her son Elijah, 9, with his mask before heading into Manchester Academic Charter School on the first day of in-person learning in Pittsburgh. ap photos
Christie Black, middle, with her two children, Angela and Luke, left, and the family dog Teddy, pose at their home, Tuesday, May 11, 2021, in Mesa, Ariz. The students, a third grader and a kindergartner, attend a school where mask wearing is optional. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin) Ross D. Franklin
Angela Black, right, with her brother Luke Black at their home, pose for a photo Tuesday, May 11, 2021, in Mesa, Ariz. The students, a third grader and kindergartner, attend a school where mask wearing is optional. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin) Ross D. Franklin
US schools ditch student mask requirements in growing numbers Wednesday, 12 May 2021 11:21 PM
[ Last Update: Wednesday, 12 May 2021 11:21 PM ]
As a lengthy, bitter fight over mask requirements for students neared its conclusion, the chairperson of a Florida school board announced that she would agree to lift a mandate that had been in place since September even though she preferred leaving it in place until the end of the academic year. Parents hurled insults in response.
“Communist! Democrat!,” opponents of making children wear masks in school shouted as board chair Wei Ueberschaer and the district superintendent explained at a May 3 meeting that they still considered masks advisable. “This is Santa Rosa County, America, not China!”
Dozens of school districts around the country have eliminated requirements for students to wear masks, and many more are likely to ditch them before the next academic year
Even as a number of U.S. schools remain closed to minimize infections, districts in states from Alabama to Wyoming decided to ditch student mask mandates.