Reading Schools To Revisit Mask Policy Next Week

READING, MA — The Reading School Committee will revisit the district's mask policy at a meeting next week, as the statewide mandate is set to expire Feb. 28.

Reading Superintendent Thomas Milaschewski said the school committee reviews the policy on an ongoing basis and will next consider it Feb. 17.

Gov. Charlie Baker and DESE Commissioner Jeffrey Riley said Wednesday the mask order for students and staff will not be extended a fourth time because of high vaccination rates across the state, rapidly dropping coronavirus cases and hospitalizations from the winter omicron surge, and out of a desire to return to "the familiar and normal aspects of school life" nearly two years after the onset of the COVID-19 crisis.

Starting Feb. 28, individual districts will have the choice to make masks optional or continue to mandate them for indoor spaces.

Under current DESE guidelines that will expire on Feb. 27, schools need to have at least an 80 percent vaccination rate among students and staff to request a state waiver to go mask-optional. Under the new guidelines, all students and staff will have the option to mask regardless of school vaccination rate and individual vaccination status.

In Reading, 73 percent of residents between the ages of 5 and 19 are fully vaccinated, according to data from the state.