MENASHA, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) – Beginning Monday, most students at Menasha public schools will no longer be required to wear face masks.
The change to masks-optional covers grades 5K-12. Masks will still be required for early childhood and 4K students. Masks may also be briefly required when students and staff members are in a “close contact protocol.”
“There have been ample opportunities to get vaccinated and the local case burden rate has decreased to a level where we feel it is safe to proceed in this manner,” superintendent Chris VanderHeyden wrote in a letter to parents.
By federal order, masks are still required on school buses.
VanderHeyden said mask requirements could be put back into place if COVID-19 circumstances change.
Menasha’s decision comes ahead of an expected update on mask guidance from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The Green Bay, Appleton and Oshkosh school districts have recently made similar decisions, as has the University of Wisconsin System.
