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Jan. 27—Instead of a sweeping mask requirement for one group of Greeley-Evans School District 6 students and staff, the district will switch to a new districtwide policy in early February.
Starting Feb. 7, District 6’s mask requirement for non-charter schools and buildings will be based on 5% of the actual positive COVID-19 cases among students and staff.
The district on Thursday afternoon sent deeper and separate communication to both families and staff on the meaning and ins and outs of the new policy.
“Students and staff may be required to wear masks for a minimum of five days and possibly longer if the number of positive or probable COVID-19 cases at schools and sites reaches five percent of total population,” according to District 6.
Though the new policy favors personal choice on masks, the district’s updated guidance said it continues to strongly recommend masks for all students and staff at district sites. A well-fitting medical grade mask is strongly recommended for staff.
The District 6 board of education approved the change in a 6-1 vote at its meeting Monday night. In late August, the previous board opted for a mask requirement for students and staff in pre-kindergarten through eighth-grade buildings. A significant part of that decision was based on high school students then being eligible for COVID-19 vaccines.
The newest and latest resolution came from Kyle Bentley, one of three new board members elected in November.
“We had to get something everybody was comfortable with,” Bentley said Monday night. “With 5%, I hope we can flatten the trajectory and keep kids in schools.”
The district’s communications to staff and families said the board based its decision to go with an amended policy “on the days we are seeing.”
“The Omicron variant is extremely contagious, and it does not appear that wearing face coverings, other than medical grade KN-95 or N-95 masks, is limiting transmission of the virus,” the district wrote in its communications. “We do not see a difference in the number of positive cases in schools where masks are optional (high schools) and other schools where masks are mandated. And we know, especially with younger children, wearing a mask correctly all day is very challenging for many of our students.”
Students in three District 6 schools including a charter will be on remote learning until Monday. Brentwood Middle School was added to the remote-learning list Thursday, joining Jefferson Junior High and eighth graders at University, a public charter.
Thirty-nine students at seven schools are on quarantine status as of Thursday, according to the District 6 COVID-19 dashboard. District 6 has an enrollment of 22,170 for the current school year, according to the Colorado Department of Education.
District 6 chief of communications Theresa Myers said a separate communication was sent to staff in part because the new protocol is related to “staff-specific activities.” Myers said any district personnel supervising lunch or a meal will be asked to wear a mask. The district’s nutrition services department has been “hit hard” with COVID-19, according to Myers.
Nearly 16%, or 23, of the 145 nutrition services employees have tested positive for COVID-19 since early January following winter break. Myers said seven nutrition services workers are currently out now and 16 others were previously out following positive tests.
After Feb. 7, families will continue to be notified when students are exposed to COVID-19 at school. But quarantining for exposure will no longer be routine.
Quarantines will only occur when students who are “unmasked and unvaccinated are exposed to COVID-19 during high-risk activities.” High-risk activities include: indoor physical education at the secondary-school level, athletic practices and competitions, music and theater practices and performances, and eating with another person for more than 15 minutes.
The new guidance from the district says parents and guardians can choose to quarantine students for five days and monitor for symptoms following an exposure to COVID-19. Testing is recommended five days after exposure even without symptoms — especially for unvaccinated individuals and those who do not wear a mask.
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