Most area schools undecided on ending mask mandate

While most area schools have not yet announced whether they will follow Gov. John Carney’s guidance to end the mask mandate March 31, Sussex Technical School District will cease requiring masks beginning April 1.

Sussex Tech Superintendent Kevin Carson said Feb. 17 that masks will be recommended but not required for students, staff and visitors, provided the downward trend in cases continues.

The district will continue to encourage vaccinations and booster shots, and will carry out all current sanitation procedures, Carson said. Sussex Tech will also participate in the test-to-stay program as long as it is available, Carson said.

Cape Henlopen School District spokesperson Steph DeMalto said Feb. 18 that the district would make a decision on mask-wearing protocols in mid-March.

Indian River School District spokesperson David Maull said Feb. 17 that the school board has not yet decided whether the district will be mask-optional once the mandate expires. 

At Indian River school board’s Feb. 11 meeting, 11 members of the public, including district teachers, a student, and one woman who said she lives in Milford and has no children, spoke out against school quarantine protocols and the mask mandate. The board will meet again Monday, Feb. 28, Maull said.

Sussex Academy spokesperson Gina Derrickson said Feb. 17 the school board will decide in March whether masks will be optional for students and staff as of April 1.

A Delmarva Christian spokesperson could not be reached for comment by the Cape Gazette press deadline.

Citing dramatic decreases in new COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations, Carney announced Feb. 8 that the school mask mandate will expire at 11:59 p.m., Thursday, March 31. 

Carney said the six-week period between his announcement and the mandate expiration will give parents time to get their children vaccinated, allow school districts time to set mask policies, and offer state agencies time to update quarantine and contact tracing guidance.