Do students have to wear masks in West Ada School District? Not after Thanksgiving
Students and staff in the West Ada School District won’t be required to wear masks in the classroom when they return from Thanksgiving break.
Trustees at a board meeting Monday unanimously approved moving to a mask-optional policy beginning Nov. 29.
The district will not change its current policy on contact tracing and quarantining. When students or teachers test positive for COVID-19, the district will identify the classrooms they attended and notify students they may have been in contact with and their parents. No one will be required to quarantine after possible exposures to the virus if they are not symptomatic, as was the previous policy.
Trustees at the board meeting said the coronavirus will remain in the community for a long time, and that the district needs to figure out a way to handle it.
“We are convinced that COVID-19 is not going to just be gone,” West Ada Superintendent Derek Bub said.
Trustees hope all parents who want to get their kids in the 5-11 age group vaccinated will have had the chance to get their child at least one shot by the end of November. However, it takes two shots three weeks apart and an additional two weeks after the second shot to be considered fully vaccinated. None of the kids in the 5-11 age group will have had enough time for that by the time classes resume after the break.
“The game changer for me is that vaccines are available for kids (ages 5-11),” Trustee Ed Klopfenstein said. “I just want to make sure that parents have enough time to get those vaccines into arms.”
The change in policy comes as the district has been seeing a drop in COVID-19 cases. From Oct. 31 to Nov. 6, the district reported 53 total cases among students and staff. A few weeks earlier, the district reported 90 positive cases in one week.
Still, health officials have cautioned school districts not to move too quickly in removing their mitigation measures as the holidays and flu season approach.
West Ada School District mask policy has been fluid
Over the past several months, West Ada has changed its policies on masks multiple times. Days before the start of the school year, the board passed a mask mandate but gave parents the option to opt their kids out.
Shortly after school started, as COVID-19 cases surged in the community, Bub implemented a strict mask mandate, temporarily eliminating the opt-out forms.
At a board meeting last month, the board voted to keep the mandate in place and revisit it only if one of three things happened: vaccines were made available to kids ages 5-11 and parents had time to vaccinate their children; crisis standards of care are removed from St. Luke’s and Saint Alphonsus hospitals within the Treasure Valley; or the rate of community transmission in Ada County moves to moderate.
COVID-19 vaccines were authorized for kids ages 5-11 at the beginning of the month. Kids in that age group receive a lower dose of the Pfizer vaccine, but still need two doses three weeks apart. About two weeks after the second dose, people are considered fully vaccinated. The vaccine is more than 90% effective for kids after both shots, according to the Food and Drug Administration.
According to the latest data from the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare, 7,692 children in that age group have had one dose of the vaccine.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention still recommends universal masking in schools. Kids typically experience more mild symptoms from the virus, but they can be hospitalized or spread the virus to more vulnerable adults. In Idaho, 263 children have been hospitalized with COVID-19 since the start of the pandemic, according to Health and Welfare. The state has reported one pediatric death due to the virus.
Last week, the Caldwell School District removed its mask mandate. The Boise School District still has a mandate.
This story was originally published November 16, 2021 at 8:30 AM.
