WATERFORD, Wis. — The mask policy at Waterford High School will likely remain unchanged after the school district explored possibly scrapping the mandate.
School leaders issued a survey to students and staff earlier this month to gauge interest in the policy.
Roughly 70% of staff want masks to remain, while about 70% of students wish to make them optional.
“It certainly was not meant to be the litmus test for us to decide what to do,” said Waterford High School Superintendent Luke Francois to WTMJ. “Certainly we listen to our students and their voice, but we are not going to just release a full mask mandate only because the kids want it.”
Francois anticipates the mandate will remain in place after Monday’s school board meeting, though there could be a possibility of relaxing the policy in certain situations.
“If we’re doing an outdoor field trip to an environmental area or our school forest, and students are properly distanced outside and socially spaced, can they release the mask in those situations,” he gave as an example.
During a meeting earlier this month, the board instructed school leaders to find out if other schools released their mask orders after the state mandate was struck down, but the findings didn’t produce much.
“We do know that our entire athletic conference is continuing with a mask mandate through the end of the school year,” Francois said. “We were not able to find any schools geographically close to us releasing the mandate or making it optional.”
Waterford isn’t the only school district in southeast Wisconsin re-examining its policy.
The issue of masks and face coverings will be considered Tuesday night in Cedarburg during its school board meeting.
An agenda indicates the board could take action on masks, contact tracing, social distancing and quarantining for the remainder of the school year.