Mass Dept. of Education releases Fall 2021 COVID guidance for districts, schools

The Lynn Public Schools announced this week they will return to in-person learning this upcoming school year. Please click here to read more.

Today, the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) released guidance, developed jointly with the Department of Public Health (DPH), to outline recommendations on masking, COVID-19 testing and quarantine protocols for this fall.

All districts and schools will be required to be in-person, full-time, five days a week this fall. As DESE announced on May 27, all previously-released DESE health and safety requirements will be lifted for the fall. Today’s guidance is a recommendation for districts, and individual districts should make decisions based on their own particular circumstances.

Mask guidance:

• This fall, DESE and DPH strongly recommend that all students in kindergarten through grade 6 wear masks when indoors, except students who cannot do so due to medical conditions or behavioral needs. Masks are not necessary outdoors and may be removed while eating indoors.
• DESE and DPH also strongly recommend that unvaccinated staff in all grades, unvaccinated students in grades 7 and above, and unvaccinated visitors wear masks indoors, in alignment with the statewide advisory on masking.
• DESE and DPH recommend that schools allow vaccinated students to remain unmasked.
• Any individual at higher risk for severe disease from COVID or with a household member who is at high risk is encouraged to mask regardless of vaccination status consistent with the updated DPH Advisory on Face Coverings and Masks.
• Any child or family who prefers to mask at school should be supported in this choice.
• By federal public health order, all students and staff are required to wear masks on school buses at this time.
• All staff and students must wear masks while in school health offices. Additional guidance for school health professionals is forthcoming from DPH.

Back to school vaccination clinics

A number of schools have hosted vaccination clinics on campus since May, which have served as an important tool in our collective efforts to vaccinate all eligible Massachusetts residents. Vaccination clinics at schools make vaccinations easier to access and more convenient for students and their families. The Department of Elementary and Secondary Education and DPH urge all schools, and in particular those with vaccination rates below the Massachusetts state average, to host an on-site vaccination clinic during summer orientation events or when classes begin. A DPH-approved mobile vaccination provider, including clinic staff and vaccination administrators, will be provided free of charge. Interested schools can submit their request via DPH’s online form.

To view the full guidance, please visit https://www.doe.mass.edu/covid19/on-desktop.html.

The above press release was submitted to us by the MA Department
of Elementary and Secondary Education