Council Rock Makes Masks Optional For Next School Year

NEWTOWN, PA — The Council Rock School District Board of Education voted unanimously at a special meeting Thursday to make wearing masks optional for the 2021-2022 academic year, provided a state mandate is no longer in effect.

Masks will continue to be required by students and staff for the remainder of the current academic year as currently required under a state mandate, Superintendent Robert Fraser said.

"The reality is that we are in a different place with this pandemic now," Fraser wrote in an email to Council Rock families. "Community transmission is much lower...We also know that the science is different for younger children than it is for adolescents (where vaccines are currently available), in terms of transmission and in terms of risk for developing any kind of severe illness."

The district will continue to offer a fully remote learning option for K-6 students, Fraser said.

New COVID-19 infections continue to decline statewide and in Bucks County, reaching their lowest levels since October.

On Saturday, the county will close one of its five mass vaccination clinics, shutting down the site at the Bristol campus of Bucks County Community College, as county officials focus new attention on community outreach.

The other four county-run locations – the Perkasie and Newtown community college campuses, Neshaminy Mall and the Warwick Square shopping center – will continue.

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