School makes masks optional
Masks will be optional for students and staff next school year, the SD6 board voted Monday night.
The Columbia Falls School District 6 board voted Monday night to make masks for the upcoming school year optional.
The move comes as more people get vaccinated against coronavirus and infection rates continue to fall.
The school will continue to offer remote learning for families who want it for their children next year. Right now vaccines are only approved for children 12 and older.
One parent said her children wouldn’t return to school until children themselves were vaccinated. Another parent said she supported making masks optional and another individual expressed disappointment that the school hadn’t made masks optional sooner.
All told, infection rates at the school were low with the mask mandate and other measures in place. About 5.4% of the student body tested positive for the illness.
Staff had much higher rates of infection. Fifteen percent tested positive for the disease, or 43 staff total.
The school will continue to use sanitation teams to clean classrooms, Superintendent Dave Wick said, but it will no longer screen students, staff and visitors at the door.
In Flathead County, vaccination rates remain low, with just 36% of the eligible population vaccinated. Statewide, 45% of the population is now fully vaccinated.
The county currently has 64 active cases.