Mask Mandate Lifted At Stillwater Area Public Schools

STILLWATER, MN — Masks will no longer be required in Stillwater Area Public Schools starting Monday.

Officials announced Friday that they will drop the districtwide mask mandate next week after a significant drop in coronavirus cases.

The district’s board voted in January to expand a mandate that was already in place at elementary and middle schools to the high school following a surge in cases among staff and students at the start of 2022.

Officials said about 5 percent of Stillwater Area High School students and staff reported coronavirus cases during the first week of the new year.

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The district reported 336 cases from Jan. 7-13 and 329 cases from Jan. 14-20, but weekly totals have fallen since. Officials reported 198 cases from Jan. 21-27 and 113 cases from Jan. 28 to Feb. 3.

The board voted Feb. 3 to authorize administration officials to lift schools’ mask mandates if cases continued to decline from Feb. 4-10.

Seventy-one cases were reported during the past week, leading officials to drop masking requirements at all schools in the district starting Feb. 14.

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“With a decline in COVID positive cases in our school, the widespread availability of vaccines, and concerns about the social and emotional well-being of our students, we’ve made the decision to lift the mask mandate at this time,” officials said in a statement Friday.

Students and staff must continue to wear masks on buses, officials said.

Anyone who tests positive for the coronavirus must isolate at home for five days and wear a mask at school for the next five days, according to recently updated guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

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Those who cannot wear a mask for the second five-day period will not be allowed back in class until the full 10-day period has expired.

Students will be required to quarantine for five days if there is a positive case in their household unless they are fully vaccinated or had COVID-19 in the past 90 days, the CDC guidelines state.

Individual classrooms or schools could shift back to increased health and safety measures, including mask requirements, if cases start to rise again, officials said.

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Students in grades 6-12 can pick up free KN95 masks from the main office at their schools.

Stillwater Area Public Schools officials are urging parents to keep their children home if they are sick and to get them tested for COVID-19 if they show symptoms related to the coronavirus.