Rockwood School District students and staff members will be required to wear masks when the 2021-2022 school year begins Aug. 23 in an effort to stem the spread of COVID-19.
Interim Superintendent Tim Ricker announced the policy Thursday (Aug. 5) in a letter to district parents.
He said students, staff and visitors must wear masks inside any school or district building, but masks will be optional outside.
Ricker also said masks also will be required on all school buses in accordance with federal rules.
Masks were required last school year in Rockwood buildings but made optional over the summer.
“I want to assure you that we have weighed all of this in light of our objective to keep students and staff healthy and in school,” Ricker said. “We are optimistic that with this continued multi-layered approach, we can provide consistent, in-person learning for our students, despite the increase in variant cases in our communities.”
Ricker said he encourages all staff and eligible students to get their COVID-19 vaccine.
“This is the quickest and most effective path to a mask-optional setting in our schools,” he said.
Ricker said vaccination status will play a role in decisions about whether a person who is exposed to a positive COVID-19 case would need to be quarantined.
“Those who are vaccinated will not be subject to quarantine if they are determined to be in close contact with a positive case, as long as they are not exhibiting symptoms,” he said.
Ricker said an unvaccinated student who is exposed to a positive case wouldn’t have to quarantine either, as long as the student and the person diagnosed with COVID both were wearing masks at the time of the possible exposure.
Students or staff members are not required to inform the school district of their vaccination status, but those who volunteer that information will help the district’s efforts with contact tracing and determining who must be quarantined, Ricker said.
“Providing your vaccine information will also help us have a measure of vaccination rates within our school communities and guide how we might adjust our policies to promote a safe learning environment,” he said.
Mask requirements have been a controversial issue for schools during the pandemic. At Rockwood’s July 22 Board of Education meeting, 20 people spoke about masks, and of those, 19 asked for masks to be optional and one asked for masks to be required.
“Please understand that we recognize there has been much debate across the country, and here in Missouri, related to the return to school and what is best for students as we move into a second school year of navigating the effects of the pandemic and emerging COVID variants,” Ricker said. “We have heard from many parents on both sides of the issue who feel strongly about masks in schools. The American Academy of Pediatrics and the CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) are both in support of masking in school.”
Ricker said the policy could change.
“We will remain flexible and adjust this plan as needed, and potentially by building, based on a daily analysis of the data from our students, staff, district and county as far as infection rates, quarantines and vaccination rates,” he said. “Additionally, we will continue to encourage vaccinations, physical distancing, frequent hand washing, routine cleaning and disinfecting, and remind everyone to stay home if they are not feeling well.”