Danvers Schools' Mask Policy Up For Vote Monday Night

DANVERS, MA — Danvers families will likely find out Monday night whether students will be required to keep those masks on in school buildings beyond the end of the month.

The Danvers School Committee revised its agenda for Monday night's scheduled meeting to include: "A discussion and vote on the expiration of the (statewide) mask mandate."

On Wednesday, Gov. Charlie Baker and DESE Commissioner Jeffrey Riley said the statewide mask order for students and staff will not be extended a fourth time because of high vaccination rates across the state, rapidly dropping coronavirus cases and hospitalizations from the winter omicron surge, and out of a desire to return to "the familiar and normal aspects of school life" nearly two years after the onset of the COVID-19 crisis.

Starting Feb. 28, individual districts will have the choice to make masks optional or continue to mandate them for indoor spaces.

Under current DESE guidelines that will expire on Feb. 27, schools need to have at least an 80 percent vaccination rate among students and staff to request a state waiver to go mask-optional. Under the new guidelines, all students and staff will have the option to mask regardless of school vaccination rate and individual vaccination status.

The Danvers Board of Health on Thursday night voted to rescind the town's recently reimposed mask order for indoor public spaces, but that does not cover Danvers Public Schools.

(Scott Souza is a Patch field editor covering Beverly, Danvers, Marblehead, Peabody, Salem and Swampscott. He can be reached at Scott.Souza@Patch.com. Twitter: @Scott_Souza.)