The St. Joseph Public Schools Board of Education is keeping in place its districtwide mask mandate to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
During a Monday meeting, President Barry Conybeare read a statement saying with the Berrien County Health Department’s mask order no longer in place, the district will not rescind its own order.
The health department last week dropped the school mask order due to a change in state law that would have deprived it of funding if it kept the order in place. However, local school districts can still issue their own mask rules.
Conybeare said the local mask requirement was issued in an effort to keep students in the classroom.
He said with the mask rule, the need for quarantines is reduced, students can maintain three feet of social distance instead of six, and the district will be able to follow a “test to stay” policy.
A test to stay policy allows an unvaccinated, quarantined student to remain in school if they provide the school with a negative COVID test each day of their quarantine period.
Conybeare said St. Joseph Public Schools will “in the very near future” provide on site, rapid testing each morning at its central office for any quarantined student who attends school that day. He said a “test to stay” policy isn’t allowed without a district mask rule.
The board then heard several comments from those opposed to the mask rule. Conybeare said about 60% of the correspondence the board has received has been in support of the mask mandate.
