Wilton School Board Votes To Make Masks Optional

WILTON, CT — The wearing of masks in the Wilton Public Schools will soon be optional.

The Board of Education voted to eliminate the mask mandate for students and staff inside school buildings, effective Feb. 28. The decision came during the Thursday evening BOE meeting.

The school mask mandate was a product of Gov. Ned Lamont's pandemic emergency executive orders, which are no longer in effect. Last week, Lamont recommended the mandate be dropped in favor of local control effect Feb. 28. The House agreed to extend the governor's executive orders through the end of the month, and the Senate did likewise on Monday.

Superintendent Kevin Smith, who formally recommended to the BOE on Feb. 9 that masks be made optional for grades K-12, and encouraged in preschool, reiterated his opinion at the Thursday meeting.

"The primary difference there is that children in the preschool aren't yet eligible for vaccination," Smith explained.

The public transportation mask mandate, coming down from the Feds and not Hartford, will remain in effect, so masks will still be required on school buses.

The superintendent recommended families have their school age children tested for COVID-19 over the upcoming winter break, prior to when the masks optional policy goes into effect.

"And then should the test be positive, they follow the isolation protocols, and also contact the school nurse."

Smith said the schools had a large supply of at-home tests, and a small supply of N95 and K95 masks, which could be made available to families. Schools would also continue to maximize ventilation, offer weekly surveillance testing, and promote hand hygiene, respiratory etiquette and social distancing.

The transition to a masks optional policy is "step one," Smith said.

“Should case rates remain stable or decline, then we can look at stepping back other mitigation strategies. If we start to see a spike, we need to reconsider the plan and masking in some form," Smith said.

Guidance on how schools should best navigate a transition to a masks optional policy is forthcoming from the state Departments of Health and Education, as well as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and is expected before Feb. 28.