School Mask, Other Coronavirus Policies To Expire: Report

SARASOTA COUNTY, FL — At its Tuesday meeting, the Sarasota County School Board said it will let the districtwide face mask policy and other COVID-19-related measures expire after the 2020-21 school year ends.

The policy requiring all students, teachers, staff and visitors to wear masks at schools and other district properties will expire June 30, the Sarasota Herald-Tribune reported. The practice of requiring students to sit behind a desk shield while taking a “mask break” will also expire.

Concurrent learning, where teachers work with student in person and remotely using web cameras at the same time, will also come to an end, reports said. This learning model has been used for students forced to quarantine while sick with or exposed to coronavirus. The district will ask teachers to come up with educational plans for quarantined students.

The board could institute a new mask policy after June 30, if necessary, based on the number of cases reported in the area, virus variants and other factors.

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The board’s decision to let the policies expire comes after Florida’s Education Commissioner Richard Corcoran sent a memo to the state’s school districts telling them that face masks should be optional for the 2021-22 school year.

The school district’s face mask policy has been a controversial, often debated issue in Sarasota County. It prompted a group of parents to sue the district, though they voluntary dismissed the case in February.