Mask Mandate Ending In North Kingstown Public Schools March 4

NORTH KINGSTOWN, RI — The North Kingstown School Committee voted Tuesday night to end the district's mask mandate, beginning March 4.

Under the plan put forth by Superintendent Phil Auger, masking will be optional after Gov. Dan McKee's executive order expires.

"We're at a point now where incidents of COVID are dramatically dropping since Christmas," Auger told the school committee. "We have increased vaccination rates in our schools. I've spoken with the Department of Health this morning, we've all heard from the governor, and I've talked with our physician for the district and all are in agreement that it is time to go to an optional recommendation for masking in schools."

The school committee voted 4-1 to end the mandate. The one committee member who voted against it was Jake Mather.

He said, although his personal comfort level increased dramatically, he's not a health professional. Mather said the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention still recommends indoor masking given Rhode Island's high COVID-19 incidence rate.

"I'm fine making health decisions for my two kids," Mather said. "What I'm not fine with is making health decisions for 4,000 other kids in our community."

Parents and students who spoke at the meeting were almost unanimous in supporting making masking optional.

"We simply want to have a choice to decide what's best for our own kids," parent Megan Riley said.

"I come home every day and beg my mom and dad to homeschool me, and how horrible these masks are," student Ilianna Arsenis said.

School officials said masks will still need to be worn on school buses, per a federal mandate.