Masks Now Required Inside Lakewood Schools

LAKEWOOD, OH — All students and staff in the Lakewood Schools are now required to wear face masks indoors.

The district revised its mask policy on Monday. Students and staff won't have to wear masks outdoors or while eating, Superintendent Maggie Niedzwiecki said in a communication to families.

"Student and staff safety has always been the District’s top priority. We believe that requiring masks at this point in time is the best way to ensure a safe start to the school year and to allow us to reach our goal of being ALL IN every day," Niedzwiecki said in the letter.

The revision in the district's mask policy was spurred by the rise of the delta variant of COVID-19. When the district first issued its back-to-school plan, in July, Cuyahoga County had "moderate" COVID-19 spread, according to CDC definitions.

Since then, the county's COVID-19 spread has increased and its classification has been changed to "high" COVID-19 spread. Both the Ohio Department of Health and the CDC have recommended school districts begin the year with a mask requirement for anyone inside school buildings.

"We are wearing masks to prevent the spread of illness at the beginning of the school year. Therefore if your child displays any symptoms of illness your child must remain at home until they are symptom-free," Niedzwiecki said. "We will reassess this policy half way through the first quarter. We encourage those who are unvaccinated and eligible to receive the vaccine to do so. This will help speed us along the road to normalcy."

The state health department also recently revised its quarantining policy recommendations for public schools.