The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention continues to recommend that children over the age of 2 wear masks in child care settings. Regionally, Austin-Travis County s interim health authority Mark Escott has consistently said that masks prevent classroom spread of the coronavirus, and that most outbreaks in Austin-area schools have sprung from extracurricular activities where students went unmasked.
In a spring survey conducted by DSISD s COVID-19 Preparedness Team, 66.3% of parents said it should not be required for students under age 10 to wear masks for the rest of the school year, and 62.3% of parents said it should not be required for students over 10 to do so. However, a majority of teachers and staff differed on the subject: 54.6% said they would be uncomfortable or were unsure of their comfort level working at school if students over 10 were unmasked, and nearly 70% said they would be uncomfortable if children under 10 were unmasked.